September ’25, Miyapur

Where Irani cafés fuel big dreams and the biryani debate never ends. LFC Hyderabad plates up slow-cooked stories, secret spice blends, and a warmth that always feeds you more than you asked for.

Photos by Co-host, Harshita and member, Niharika.

HOST

Smit Zaveri

CO-HOST

Harshita D

WHERE WE MET

Charcha in Hyderabad is a café and community space inspired by South Asian veranda culture, hosting chai, conversations, and creative gatherings.

What Members Said

Thank you, Smit Zaveri and Harshita D, for holding the space for us. Thank you everyone, for such rich conversations and food stories. My stomach and heart are full with this desi platter!

Yashnashree

Thank you, Smit and Harshita, for hosting today’s LFC. Yum food and lots of fun conversations. I was excited to try the Neti Beerakaya from Anusha and the Mutton Masala from Yashna.

Niharika

What a fun meet! Thank you everyone, for all the wonderful dishes.

Meera

What We Loved

At LFC Hyderabad, Chukku Kura Pachadi, an Andhra chutney made with sorrel leaves took on a new avatar as a coating for paneer tikka, showing how tradition and creativity can share the same plate.

Kokum Chocolate Cake, where the tangy, berry-like sharpness of kokum met the rich decadence of chocolate. This inventive bake shows how this coastal ingredient, more often used in curries and sherbets, can find its way into dessert.

Kanda Bachali is a traditional Andhra dish made with Kanda (elephant yam) and Bachali Kura (Malabar spinach). The dish is usually flavoured with ginger, green chillies, tamarind (or lemon), sometimes mustard paste or a mustard-based seasoning (ava pettina style), and a tempering of lentils, mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

MEET YOUR HOST

Smit Zaveri hustles between three jobs: being a baker, a children's book editor, and an agent of chaos. She calls any city where her oven is home. Her Instagram is @smits_bookery.

What does local mean to you?

Mumbai trains, always. But more seriously, I do think it’s about what’s from around the neighbourhood I am in, while acknowledging the changes or gentrification around the neighbourhood and accepting a world that shifts. It means understanding why the idea of what ‘local’ is is constantly evolving for that place, socially, economically, and culturally.

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

I was raised in a vegetarian household and was a practising vegetarian until 2021, when various food intolerances made the foodie in me quite sad. After debating the reason for my vegetarianism with a friend, who made me question my casteist approach to food, I went out for a meal one night and popped some salmon nigiri in my mouth. I have never looked back, and that has been the first of several adventurous foods over the last 4 years.

If I was a seasonal ingredient?

Avarekai, no doubt. As a Bangalorean, I love that stinky, green, finicky, delicious bean so much.

What comfort do you reach for when you are unwell?

Rasam-rice or Khichadi, most days. But if I am at my mother’s house, then it’s her Khatta Mugh and Chodeli Rotli (sour green mung dal with crushed phulkas).

How do you see your Local Food Club flourishing?

By being community-driven and community-led. By taking it away from bougie cafes and into markets and homes. By being more intimate and group-conversation focused. Always being about sharing and eating each other’s hand-cooked meals.