India’s new spice merchants
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Updated:
April 30, 2021 21:38 IST
The focus is clearly shifting to small farmers, fair trade, traceability and provenance. Meet a few people who are leading the change
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Farmer Tamala Ramulu from the Araku project | Photo Credit:
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The focus is clearly shifting to small farmers, fair trade, traceability and provenance. Meet a few people who are leading the change
It is estimated that a spice changes hands almost 10 times (in trade) once it leaves the farm. Inevitably, freshness is lost, and valuable essential oils are sometimes extracted before it lands on retail shelves. For something that forms the underpinning of most Indian cuisines, it is ironical that the way spices are sourced and used gets such little attention in the modern Indian kitchen.
Chef Dhruv Oberoi has come up with recipes like an amla and strawberry salad and Nilgiri passionfruit cocktail. Photo credit: Dhruv Oberoi
Amla and strawberry salad, shankalu chaat, guava baked into immunity-boosting pizza bases, tadgola ceviche. Indians are rediscovering local, seasonal fruit like never before, with everyone from top chefs to home chefs and caterers using it in inventive ways.
For years, fruit lovers had decried the loss in local varieties as restaurants and homes embraced imported apples, oranges, kiwi et al that were available round the year. Seasonality and local diversity, two cornerstones of Indian farm produce seemed to be getting lost in the process. But post-pandemic, foreign fruit does not command as much a snob value as local desi varieties.
Updated:
December 15, 2020 12:04 IST
Fresh, local, artisanal are what the conscious food movement is at today, and here are Andaz Delhi’s AnnaMaya awarded brands that are feeding it
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Fresh, local, artisanal are what the conscious food movement is at today, and here are Andaz Delhi’s AnnaMaya awarded brands that are feeding it
Last month, Andaz Delhi launched the AnnaMaya Artisan Awards to celebrate local talent and artisanal processes that feed into the plant-forward way of life. These are brands they use in their kitchens and offer at their tables. Here are a few that won, and how you can get access to them.