Watermelon Rind Rotti: Arpitha Bhat and Sarojini

DECEMBER 2025

Photo by Apritha Bhat.
A Longing for Home story from LFC Bengaluru about a grandmother’s summer ritual of making watermelon rind dosa.

In many homes, recipes come to be, through memory, season, and whatever is growing in the backyard. For Arpitha, that dish is a dosa made from watermelon rind. Every summer, her Ajji, turned that ‘nothing part’ of the fruit into a comforting dosa — a recipe shaped by patience, frugality, and inventiveness.

In this recording from their home in Bengaluru, Arpitha sits with her grandmother, Sarojini, to remember how the recipe began and what it means to them. Their conversation is part of Longing for Home — our ongoing audio collection of memories carried through food.

Listen to the full conversation:
Arpitha with her grandmother, Sarojini, in their home in Bengaluru.
A handwritten, doodled version of the watermelon rind dosa recipe by Arpitha. Photo by Arpitha Bhat.

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