Exploring India’s Regional Flavors at Agni
Agni by Mantra marks Ranjit Chimni’s move beyond comfort food, opening the door to India’s vast regional cuisine.
by Rhia Grana
Published on Feb 22, 2026
For almost ten years, Mantra Indian and Kitchen Bar has been a go-to spot in the metro for Indian comfort food. Butter chicken, palak paneer, chicken tikka masala, mutton biryani, tandoori prawns, naan—diners recognize them before the menu even hits the table. That sense of familiarity is intentional. For Indian expat Ranjit Chimni, Mantra was never about novelty; it’s about the food he grew up with.
This 2026, the former BPO exec deliberately steps outside his comfort zone with his new passion project, Agni by Mantra. It’s a shift from the crowd-pleasing Indian classics to a more curated, regional, and modern expression of Indian cuisine.
“Mantra and Agni come from the same soul, but they serve different purposes,” says Chimni. “Mantra is about comfort and continuity. It celebrates the flavors many of us grew up with…familiar dishes, time-honored recipes, and the warmth of tradition.”
Agni, on the other hand, digs deeper. “It’s a space where regional Indian dishes are explored through organic produce, house-ground masalas, refined technique, and thoughtful modern interpretation,” he explains.
The menu features dishes inspired by India’s diverse culinary regions — from Beef Galouti Kebab from Lucknow to slow-cooked Lamb Shank Nihari to the chef’s smoked iteration of the timeless Butter Chicken. These are complemented by thoughtfully crafted cocktail pairings, fine wine selections, and Indian single malt whiskies, all chosen to make the experience even more memorable.
At his new 26-seat dining spot, Chimni wants the experience to feel “refined casual—attentive but unpretentious, intentional without being intimidating.”
“Agni invites you to engage, discover and slow down with the meal,” he adds.
From BPO floors to restaurant tables
Chimni didn’t take a straight road to the culinary world. Born in Delhi, he originally dreamed of entering hotel and restaurant management straight out of college. But life intervened. Instead, he spent seven years in a different world altogether, eventually moving to the Philippines in 2008 to help open a regional office for a BPO company. What was meant to be a career detour stretched into more than a decade.
By 2015, the restlessness had set in. A disagreement with his boss over when he should return to India left him with no choice—he resigned without a backup plan and finally committed to what he had long postponed. “I had no choice but to get into it,” he remembers with a smile.
With no formal industry background, Chimni struggled to convince landlords to take a chance on him. The only space willing was a small spot along Bolano Street in Legazpi Village, Makati, where Mantra quietly opened in May 2016. Recognition came slowly at first—and then all at once, fueled by press attention in late 2018.
Why Agni had to happen
By the time Mantra expanded to Alabang and briefly to Vertis North, Chimni found himself asking a difficult question: What next?
Repeating Mantra would have been the sensible move. It was scalable, proven, and safe. But Agni was born because playing it safe no longer felt enough.
Indian cuisine, Chimni insists, is barely understood in the Philippines. “What people know are butter chicken, palak paneer, rogan josh,” he says. “But the cuisine changes every 100 to 200 kilometers in India. We’ve barely scratched the surface.”
At Agni, that vastness is distilled into small plates—individual portions designed to encourage curiosity rather than overwhelm. The menu moves across regions: mustard- and coconut-laced prawns from Bengal, lamb stews paired with fermented khameeri roti from the north, keema pau rooted in Bombay’s Irani cafés, and even thoughtful fusions like burrata standing in for traditional cottage cheese.
Each dish is deeply personal. “These are my favorites,” Chimni says. “Things I’ve eaten growing up or while traveling around India—dishes that are common at home but rarely make it to restaurant menus.”
Agni’s menu is intentionally tight, designed to change every six months. The challenge, Chimni says, is not creativity but consistency—getting a dish to taste the same, day after day. To make that happen, he brought in consultants from India and hired Indian chefs, grounding his kitchen in technique as much as intuition.
Spices are blended in-house. It’s labor-intensive, but non-negotiable. “Shortcuts show,” he says. “And once you know your food, you can always tell.”
Despite misconceptions, Chimni believes Filipino diners are among the most adventurous, once they get past the fear of heat. “They often confuse Indian food with simply ‘spicy’ food,” he observed. “With Indian dishes, the heat builds gradually. Compare that to a hot sauce—that hits all at once, and people think it will burn their mouth. That’s the impression many have, but it’s not true. I make it a point to explain this whenever I can. And once they try it, they come back.”
Still getting started
Chimni’s journey from the BPO world to running a restaurant wasn’t straightforward, but he has no regrets. “Maybe my only regret is that I wish I had started sooner,” he tells this writer. “I might have done some things differently if I had, or had some formal training. But having said that, I’m very happy going to work every day.”
It hasn’t always been easy. There are moments of doubt—times when he wonders, Why did I do this? Yet those moments are fleeting, replaced by the fulfillment of creating something that’s entirely his. “I enjoy what I’m doing. I like meeting people, even though I’m a bit of an introvert. I’ve also met some great people and made some wonderful friends along the way.”
And he’s far from finished. The dishes most Filipinos know—butter chicken, palak paneer, rogan josh—are only the beginning. “Indian cuisine is enormous,” he says. “There’s so much more to offer. I’m just getting started.”
Every day, he walks in with the same sense of purpose that brought him from a corporate office to a kitchen filled with spice, flavor, and possibility—a reminder that some journeys are worth taking, even when the path isn’t clear.
Agni is located at G/F Comuna Building, 238 Pablo Ocampo Sr. Extension, Makati City. It's open from Tuesday to Sunday from 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM. The restaurant accepts guests by reservation only. For bookings, call or message to 09276784041.
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