June ’25 Jayanagar

Mild weather, wild hearts. LFC Bengaluru swaps homemade dosas and tech rants under sunset skies. Easy laughter, shared plates, and community await!

Photos by Member Snehal, and Content Volunteer, Madhusmita.

HOST

Kamal Merchant

CO-HOST

Mohanavalli

CONTENT VOLUNTEER

Madhusmita Rawooth

WHERE WE MET

Pure & Sure Organic Cafe, in Jayanagar, Bengaluru, is an eatery and storefront by Phalada, an Indian organic food brand. Phalada’s vision is to promote healthy eating, where organic food is a daily staple that is grown sustainably, free from harmful chemicals and artificial additives. As a food brand, they aim to build a fair and honest supply chain, one that nurtures small farmers and the environment.

What Members Said

The Shuffle was an interesting way to get started—to get acquainted with each other. I wanted to stay longer with everyone, discussing ideas of what we can do as a group.

Jagan

It was mango season, and I was pleasantly surprised by the dishes folks came up with! I would love to create a memory book of every potluck, where we collect snippets, pictures, and drawings to remember them by.

Anjali

The meetup was amazing, I literally had a giant smile all the way back home!

Snehal

What We Loved

Long pepper, or pippali—a slightly sweeter version of pepper that is often dried and used as a spice in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia.

Familiar steel boxes filled with tapioca mash and onion chutney.

Hungry, eager eaters lining up for the diverse potluck dishes!

MEET YOUR HOST

Kamal is an engineer based in Bengaluru who fell in love with food. Moving away from home fuelled a love of food and cooking, and her travels further ignited a fascination with regional and lesser known foods and recipes. When she’s not travelling, she’s cooking up a storm, and nothing brings her more joy than making and sharing a warm plate of food with a loved one.

What does local mean to you?

Food, ingredients, or techniques from the surrounding area, especially ones that are slowly being forgotten or erased by an influx of new trends. It also includes using fresh, seasonal produce.

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

Outenga or elephant apple in northeast India. To me, this was something unheard of. Plucking it straight from the tree and having it made into a tangy stir-fry over an open fire was a revelation.

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

Not exactly an ingredient, but I would say Gajak. Nothing like the combination of crunchy sesame and molten jaggery to bring a burst of sweetness and warmth to a cold winter evening.

What is one unusual food pairing you swear by?

Growing up, I ate a version of besan cheela that was wrapped in a warm roti slathered with jam. Or creamy, savoury scrambled eggs with a side of bananas. The sweet-salty combination always hits the spot.

How do you see your Local Food Club flourishing?

I see it expanding to chapters across the city, bringing people together over the simple joy of food. Multiple members have expressed how happy they are to find a community that is as passionate as them about food, so I have no doubt that the Local Food Clubs will continue to grow and spread joy.