July ’25 Vastrapur

Ala sambhad! At LFC Ahmedabad, food is never just food. It’s where connections simmer, and jalebi-fafda and chai are served at crowded pols. Bring a dish, pour the chaas, and get ready to feast.

Photos by Host Sneha, Co-host Vrinda, and Member Aastha.

HOST

Sneha P

CO-HOST

Vrinda Menon

CONTENT VOLUNTEER

Bhavana Srivastava

WHERE WE MET

Sea Salt Cafe in Ahmedabad is an artfully designed cafe and cloud kitchen run by chef Anokhi Sheth, who champions seasonal, locally sourced ingredients in creative desserts, wholesome savouries, and specialty coffees.

What Members Said

There were so many dishes I loved! My favourite was the Jhal Muri by Monali, and I also loved the Mediterranean platter by Ravi.

Durga

The Millet Khichdi by Rachnaji and Khichu by Muskan were highlights for me. The venue was well located and easy to reach. Overall, a good time.

Bhavna

I thoroughly enjoyed the stories people shared and also realised how much I love talking about food! It was a very nice experience.

Dipna

What We Loved

A community favourite — this ‘Draw yourself as a food/drink’ activity had everyone sketching and sharing while snacking!

Shared by Anurag, the red kharik—the fruit of the date palm—and Kankora, a wild spiny gourd found across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha in the monsoon, made for a bitter-sweet pairing.

The Locavore Shuffle is consistently a crowd-pleaser! Built around the idea of facilitating meaningful conversation around food, it invites participants to share their experiences and views with strangers through curated prompts.

MEET YOUR HOST

Sneha is a pastry chef-turned-yoga educator who works at the crossroads of food, movement, and ancient wisdom. Her work explores seasonal meals inspired by Ayurveda, emotional eating, and modern Indian kitchens. She hosts intimate supper clubs and loves weaving stories through and around food. For her, food carries memory, ritual, and cultural identity.

What does ‘local’ mean to you?

Food that doesn’t need to be explained. It is the seasonal produce at my sabziwala, the regional seed or crop I see in abundance in my city or state.

What is your most enduring food memory?

The sound and smell of chaunk (oil tempering/tadka). Every time my mother added tadka to plain dal, it felt like a ritual. I would be mesmerised by how chaunk would deepen the flavour of the dal—the aroma has still stayed with me.

Since Sandila is a small station, the stops are brief, lasting just a few minutes. Vendors would hesitate to enter the AC coupe, which meant that Baba always had to stand at the door and step out immediately to pick up a few pots and climb back up. The laddoos and their packaging have stood the test of time, but the activity is now fondly recalled more than the taste of the laddoos.

What is the most adventurous food you've tried and loved?

It might not be adventurous for many, but I love frozen imli ki meethi chutney. I scoop it out with a spoon and add some chaat masala to it. The texture is neither like a chutney nor a sorbet.

If you were a seasonal ingredient, what would you be?

Cinnamon. Grounded and earthy, calm but bold. I accentuate the flavour of most things I am combined with. Liked by many, but not necessarily loved by all.

How do you see your Local Food Club flourishing?

I would love for my Local Food Club to be an archive of food stories, memories of dishes, and of recipes passed over generations as well as those with a modern take on local ingredients.