Michelin-starred chef Karunesh Khanna, who is well known for his haute cuisine curries has reportedly admitted to using shop bought chicken stock to flavour his acclaimed dishes.

The Michelin-starred chef of the Tamarind chain of Indian restaurants also allegedly used the Knorr cubes in vegetarian and vegan meals but failed to tell customers that they contained meat, reported UK’s Daily Mail.

Following complaints from six staff members, Khanna, who trained at The Dorchester, Four Seasons, The Ritz and Claridge’s hotels allegedly told one manager: ‘Guests don’t need to know.’

The revelations came to public light during an employment tribunal case in Central London’s Soho brought by a former assistant manager, who lost his job after he alerted the bosses about the use of the cubes. The tribunal was informed that when the issue reached Tamarind’s director Fateh Dhaliwal, he backed the chef.

In the hearing on September 23, the judge passed a ruling in favour of the former assistant manager. The judge said that the former assistant manager was unfairly sacked and that he should be compensated, limited to one month’s wages of around £2,500 (over Rs two lakh).

The executive chef still works for Tamarind at its flagship Mayfair restaurant, which reopened in December last year after a multi-million-pound refurbishment.