Stories - The Locavore

8 min

An Excerpt From The 1Shanthiroad Cookbook

Suresh Jayaram

Like most other things at 1Shanthiroad—an arts space in Bangalore—the kitchen is open to all. Suresh Jayaram remembers bright flavours from his childhood, and talks about how his family’s affinity towards feeding influences how he runs the studio.

13 min

Inside My Kitchen

Cooking for Many is an Exercise in Endurance

Riddhi Dastidar

Between March and May this year, Riddhi Dastidar knocks on the doors of Mazdoor Kitchen—a welfare initiative that feeds Delhi’s labourers and homeless—many times. During these visits, they unravel a story of persistent survival in the face of state failure.

6 min

From the Fields

Beekeeping Advocacy: Beyond Hives and Honey

Chetana Divya

The founding team of Tenacious Bee Collective, working in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, talk of their quest for raw Himalayan honey and where it has taken them.

7 min

‘Aai loved eating the really small fish’

Oishika Roy

Shraddha Patil’s modaks and puran polis are popular festive fares in Mumbai’s Worli Koliwada. Feasting on kupa biryani, Oishika Roy learns about how Shraddha’s kitchen came to be, her mother’s delicious kanji, and the ways of communal cooking.

5 min

From the Fields

When Bamboo Rice Carpets the Forest Floor

Manju Vasudevan

Forested groves in central Kerala’s Edamalayar valley have showered the Muthuvar people with bamboo rice for the first time in six decades. In a labour of love, women of the community have gathered, cleaned, and dehusked the seeds to bring them to our plates.

6 min

Books on Food

An Excerpt From The Sweet Salt of Tamil: Things We Do Not Know About Tamil Country

Tho Paramasivan

The Tamils of the past regarded salt as a symbol of taste and wealth. Read this short excerpt from The Sweet Salt of Tamil in which chronicler Tho Paramisavan writes on salt, feeling, and the symbolism of salt in Tamil culture.

9 min

Culture

Following Judima in Dima Hasao: A Rice Wine Story

Dejna Daulagupu and Dolly Kikon

Judima is a rice wine predominantly brewed by Dimasa women in Assam. Based in Tereh Village, Khimkho Hojai—a self-reliant farmer—brews it for her household, with help from her husband.

13 min

Market Archives

Beyond Transactions: People Hold This Market Together

Pankhuri Agrawal, Amiya Chaudhuri, Sreepathy Paliath, Shreshtha Chhabra, Chetana Divya

A morning spent at Bengaluru’s Russell Market reminds us of the forgotten art of engaging with familiar strangers, and taking pleasure in hand-picking fruits and vegetables for our everyday needs. Meet its people, and the produce they bring to the table.

8 min

Market Archives

Built in 1820, an Old Clock Tower Forms the Nucleus of the Market

Shivani Unakar and Dhiraj Chilakapaty

This heritage building is a mere shade of what it once was, and a visit doesn’t reveal its historical significance easily. Shivani Unakar and Dhiraj Chilakapaty on the design, structure, and systems of trade within a market that was established to serve the cantonment.

8 min

Market Archives

Russell Market: Almost a Century-Down, But Not Out!

Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

It is clear that the heydays of Bengaluru’s Russell Market are behind it. But it exudes an old-world charm, despite the disrepair and the slump in business, says Ruth Dsouza Prabhu, part of The Locavore-led group that documented this market.

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