August ’25 Koregaon Park

Old soul, young blood. LFC Pune’s tables brim with banter, bhakarwadi, family recipes, and friendships. Come as you are, leave a little fuller.

Photos by Host, Priyaranjan, and Member, Sonal.

HOST

Priyaranjan Singh

CO-HOST

Falguni Nimje

WHERE WE MET

Soy Como Soy in Koregaon Park, Pune is a Nikkei restaurant blending Japanese and Peruvian cuisines, serving sushi, ceviche, tiraditos, and robata grills in a contemporary, stylish setting. The meetup space was shared partly with Soy Como Soy’s sister venue BNTR, which is a modern craft beer and cocktail bar.

What Members Said

I loved all the flavours, the stories, and meeting fellow food enthusiasts. The friendship bands were such a cute touch! Happy Friendship Day, everyone at LFC Pune!

Sonal

I was able to take only one good picture at the meetup as I was too eager to get my hands on the food. I also got a friendship band after many years, and loved it! Looking forward to the next meetup.

Antariksh

So much flavour and fellowship on one table. To everyone who cooked, stirred, seasoned, and brought a little piece of their story to the table—thank you for an incredible evening. One for the memory books indeed!

Sudipta

What We Loved

Manda Pitha, traditional sweets from Odisha, are steamed rice flour dumplings filled with coconut, jaggery, chhena, and surprisingly—a hint of black pepper! These are often made during monsoon and post-monsoon festivals.

Khandeshi Phunke (also called Funke or Muthiya) are steamed lentil dumplings made from a mix of soaked chana and moong dal, flavoured with garlic, chillies, onions, coriander, and spices. These are a cherished snack in Maharashtra’s Khandesh, traditionally enjoyed with kadhi.

A popular street food commonly prepared in Bihar and Jharkhand, Ghugni is a hearty Eastern Indian curry of dried peas (Matara) simmered with spices and topped with onions and lime.

MEET YOUR HOST

Priyaranjan is a business analyst by profession and a traveller by passion. She has explored more than 40 cities and towns across 21 Indian states, often living in many of them. Changing schools often, she found friendships through shared tiffins, each lunchbox a mix of regional flavours and stories. Now, she often seeks out local food and markets to understand culture.

What does local mean to you?

‘Local’ means food that carries a sense of place. Moving across cities and states, I saw my mother adapt to native ingredients, which were fresh, seasonal, and the most flavourful. ‘Local’ is also what my Nani cooked with in my hometown—produce from her backyard, recipes she’d tweak based on seasons.

What is your most enduring food memory?

The most enduring food memory I have is also closest to my heart. We had moved to a small town near Nagpur, when the domestic worker, who was elderly, made Bharli-Vangi for dinner. I was a little girl who loved spicy food and instantly devoured it. From that day, she became Aaji (grandmother) to me. I’d run to her house after school, sit by the mitti ka chulha, give it aanch, grind peanuts, shred coconut. This was my introduction to Maharashtrian food, and where my lifelong love for Bharli-Vangi comes from.

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

I’d be Amra: tangy, and a little offbeat. Often found in chutneys and pickles or simply eaten with mirch and namak, it is always a part of summer meals.

What is one unusual food pairing you swear by?

Lauki ka Raita with a dash of mustard oil in it. Not many are familiar with it, but that sharp kick of mustard oil transforms the humble vegetable into something bold and delicious.

How do you see your Local Food Club flourishing?

I see the Local Food Club as more than just a place to eat; it’s where food helps us reconnect with seasons, rediscover forgotten stories, and connect with each other. I hope it grows into a space to share lost recipes, traditional techniques, and local ingredients from different corners of India. Through a simple meal, I hope we keep these traditions alive and pass them on.