Feature Stories - The Locavore

7 min

Mrs K.M. Mathew gained popularity after her column on Mutton Bafath

Thangam Mammen

Generations of Malayalis have grown up with Mrs K.M.Mathew’s treasured cookbooks. Read the foreword of her latest book, Mrs K.M. Mathew’s Finest, by her daughter Thangam Mammen. In a short interview with her, we discover more about her mother’s measured approach to cooking and living.

11 min

Songs of Survival: The Cultural Memory that Kept Millets Alive

Sohel Sarkar

Certain food memories linger in a community’s collective consciousness long after the food itself may have disappeared from people’s plates and farmers’ fields. Sohel Sarkar writes on the farming songs and rituals that have sustained millets in different parts of India.

4 min

From the Fields

‘Pounding and pickling was a community activity’

Chetana Divya

Usha Rayalu, who co-founded The Manduva Project with Neha Alluri, says the central courtyard for which the brand is named was where women in their family could be themselves.

17 min

Recipes of Revolt and Resistance: Artist Rajyashri Goody Challenges Deep-Rooted Casteism

Khorshed Deboo

Through her practice, artist Rajyashri Goody probes the perversions of caste in India, and how food forms a locus where the interplay of power and powerlessness is unfortunately most evident.

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.

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.

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.

7 min

Books on Food

Strawberry Farms: An Excerpt From Seeds and Food Sovereignty

Dolly Kikon and Dixita Deka

With an increase in demand for strawberries in Northeast India, Dolly Kikon and Dixita Deka attempt to understand what it takes to grow this short duration crop. Read an excerpt from their book Seeds and Sovereignty: Eastern Himalayan Experiences.

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