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Radio Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar

Radio Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar

By Kalyan Karmakar

Things that make me happy from the world of food
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Eating at the movies

Radio Finely Chopped by Kalyan KarmakarOct 30, 2019

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31:55
Karen Anand, the OG food influencer

Karen Anand, the OG food influencer

She was referred to as the 'salad queen' before salads became a thing.She hosted a food and travel show before they food and travel shows became a thinfg.She came up with a farmer's market before farmers became a thing.Watch Karen Anand in this episode of #foodocracyforher to find out what drives this force of nature.

Jun 02, 202359:31
Makhanas are not lotus seeds: Darbhanga's Makhana Girl Pratibha Bondia Kheria on Foodocracy For her

Makhanas are not lotus seeds: Darbhanga's Makhana Girl Pratibha Bondia Kheria on Foodocracy For her

Makhanas are trending in the Indian dietary world these days but do you know what they are? How they are grown? How they are processed? If not, then this podcast episode featuring Pratibha Bondia Kheria of Pearl Mithila Makhana...and organic and ethically driven enterprise...will give you the answers that you are looking for. Along with the inspiring story of this socially conscious entrepreneur. 

The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Dec 10, 202201:03:51
Bio-tech to Banana chips. Two sisters from Kerala who are empowering home based food entrepreneurs through tech

Bio-tech to Banana chips. Two sisters from Kerala who are empowering home based food entrepreneurs through tech

Reshma and Annu are two sisters who grew up in a small town near Kochi in Kerala. Reshma went to Mumbai for her studies and to work. Annu went to Chennai to study and now works out of Bangalore. The two sisters are part of India's tech boom, having worked in the intersection of bio-tech and radiology and in AI.  The lockdown and going back home and seeing the power of the cooking of their amma and amma chechi (maternal aunt) and their ambitions (the two matrons reached the semifinals of a cooking competition aired on TV), they felt the need to create a platform for such unspoken stars of Indian kitchens. Out of this came the inspiration to start Meengurry Memories, with their mum's banana chips as the first product. The brand and their vision has grown since then and they have now come up with TOCCO, a digital market place who want to create food products (not fresh meals). Annu is a sounding board and has a day job. Watch the episode to know more of this amazing story. The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Nov 26, 202257:20
Most chefs don't give eggs the importance they deserve: Annie Bafna of The Nutcracker Mumbai on Foodocracy For Her

Most chefs don't give eggs the importance they deserve: Annie Bafna of The Nutcracker Mumbai on Foodocracy For Her

Annie Bafna is a CA as many of her fellow Parsis are. What makes her rare in the community is that she is a vegetarian! She used to eat eggs once but has given that up apart from when she needs to do tastings at The Nutcracker Mumbai which has an egg-etarian menu. Like any good Parsi, Annie reveres eggs. This ensures that the scrambled eggs coming out of her kitchen are consistently creamy and dreamy. Annie is not a chef. She worked for 7 years in the finance industry and then 7 years in the design industry before she followed her longstanding dream of being in the food business by opening the first Nutcracker outlet in Mumbai's art district, Kalaghoda. This was 8 years back in October 2014. Since then she has opened 3 more outlets in Bandra West, Palladium and Jio World Drive with a menu that has much more than scrambled eggs. Be it her customers or her team, putting people first is Annie's success mantra. To know the secret behind the Nutcracker scrambled egg and the story behind the name Nutcracker, tune into the episode and sit back and listen to Annie tell her story. The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Nov 06, 202201:07:51
Be it on stage singing, or cooking out of a Cloud Kitchen. This home chef from Kolkata has done it all. Nandini Deb on Foodocracy For Her

Be it on stage singing, or cooking out of a Cloud Kitchen. This home chef from Kolkata has done it all. Nandini Deb on Foodocracy For Her

Nandini Deb grew up in Sovabazar, Kolkata, in a family obsessed with food. And music. Sounds like the average Bengali family? Well her family ran a restaurant and her grandmother was the first thumri singer in Kolkata. Nandini left Kolkata for Mumbai as she wanted to be a background singer. She has done many stage gigs across the country and the world and has given her voice for a Hindi film. She started a catering business from home with her partner Nirban Goswami during the pandemic. As time went by and things opened up, she realised that she enjoys this facet of her life and invested in a cloud kitchen. She has set up stalls at Bar Bank Juhu, the Bandra Durga Puja and Jio World Drive which have allowed her to interact with consumers in person. Her food line features Bengali (Habudubu), Awadhi (Lucknowi Chowk) and most recently DT (poi sandwiches). Singing remains her primary interest and career goal. How does she manage it all? Listen the episode to know more. 

The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the podcast to bediscovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Oct 28, 202201:05:42
Mumbai's taco evangelist Kartikeya Ratan on Foodocracy For Her

Mumbai's taco evangelist Kartikeya Ratan on Foodocracy For Her

My interview with chef Kartikeya Ratan is by far the longest Foodocracy For Her podcast interview that I have done till date. When you listen to the story of a child from a doctor's family who wanted to be a chef and subsequently went to India's top hospitality school, worked in one of the top hotel kitchens in India and then one of the most inventive ones, went abroad and worked in top rated restaurants in the US and Europe where she got exposure to the diverse worlds of elevated dining, sustainability and organic produce, came back to India and worked with a very hip and forward thinking cafe 'un-chain,' first in Delhi and then Mumbai, before opening her Mexican cloud kitchen delivery and catering outfit, Kiki and Pastor, you will realise why neither of us realised the time spent. I came out of the interview inspired, as I am sure you will too. There were some internet glitches. Please treat it as the sauce that might spill out of eating a tacos. Embrace the experience ☺️ The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Oct 05, 202201:54:15
From ready to wear fashion to ready to cook gravies. Home chef Misbah Mitha aces it all. #foodocracyforher

From ready to wear fashion to ready to cook gravies. Home chef Misbah Mitha aces it all. #foodocracyforher

Misbah Mitha has run a successful business as a fashion designer for 33 years. The pandemic was the first time where she sat with no work. A friend and neighbour, who was well aware of her cooking skills, bumped into her during his walk one evening. He suggested that she become a home chef as that was the need of the hour. Her husband, a retired banker, was sceptical at first. That made Misbah even more determined! She discussed the idea with her school friends. All fans of her cooking. One suggested brand names for her. Another chose the final one: Tadka Tales.  The customers of her fashion business were the early adopters of her cooking.  As life comes back to near normal, Misbah's fashion business took off again. Her home chef business is thriving too and she now runs two businesses. The need of a friend's son who had gone to Amsterdam to study, made Misbah launch dehydrated gravies and that's where her future focus is. Though she knows she can never stop making her butter chicken, white chicken pulao, chicken mayo sandwiches and other crowd favourites.  Her husband? He became her biggest supporter once she decided to embark on this journey and is very happy to be her chief taster. 

The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Sep 26, 202250:44
The former beauty industry marketer who is championing to cause of sustainable eating through jackfruits. Keertida Phadke on #foodocracyforher

The former beauty industry marketer who is championing to cause of sustainable eating through jackfruits. Keertida Phadke on #foodocracyforher

Keertida Phadke is a Pune girl who spent the formative years of her life in Tokyo before she moved to Pune with her parents. She went to Paris to study business management, joined L'Oreal and came back to India with them. This time to Mumbai. Her love for food made her quit and move to NYC to study to be a chef at the Natural Gourmet Institute. To know how from there she became the co-founder of Eat With Better, an enterprise that promotes sustainable eating by getting plucked and pre- cleaned unripe jackfruit to you, do catch the latest episode of #foodocracyforher featuring chef Keertida Phadke.

The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Aug 08, 202201:17:59
Remembering Pia: The first star of the #foodocracyforher Hall of Legends

Remembering Pia: The first star of the #foodocracyforher Hall of Legends

The world of Indian food became poorer on the 21st of July 2022 with the passing away of Pia Promina Dasgupta Barve in Mumbai. 

There was a spontaneous outpouring of grief from the many lives she had touched. To know about the multifaceted life she led, do read this article by food researcher Pritha Sen...https://tinyurl.com/4eeevr7t 

Many call Pia the pioneer home chef. She was baking from a time when most of us were not even born. She was behind the setting up of the iconic Kewpie restaurant in Kolkata. She moved to Mumbai where she was a lone woman working in the meat industry and she had also worked closely with the agricultural produce sector. Her culinary skills spanned not only her native Bengali cuisine, but that of the Maharashtrian side of her husband, whom she called Brave (from Barve), the colonial cuisine of the British Raj, anglo Indian, Jewish, Iranian (she had fed me tahdig once when she read that I had fond memories of it), Asian and what not; but what was most special to me were the eclairs she would make for my wife, Kainaz, because they made K smile like few other treats would. 

It is one of my regrets that I was not in touch with her in her last few months. I was going through my own health issues but to be honest, it was nothing that was big enough to stop me from making a phone call or from sending a text. 

My little way of making up to her was to reach out to some of the many whose lives she had touched and invite them to speak about her in my podcast. As I listened to Reshmy Kurian, Tara Deshpande, Manzilat Fatima and Mashushree Basu Roy & Anindya S Basu  @Cook with Pikturenama    share their memories of Pia, I realised that not interviewing her while I could for the #foodocracyforher is something I will always regret. 

Which is why, as I typed this, I decided that #foodocracyforher should have a Hall of Fame and that I would like to most humbly declare Pia Promina Dasgputa Barve its first star. 

The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Jul 26, 202201:22:14
Not all our Gujarati is sweet. Mumbai's home chef Shital Kakad wants to bust myths around Gujarati food on #foodocracyforher

Not all our Gujarati is sweet. Mumbai's home chef Shital Kakad wants to bust myths around Gujarati food on #foodocracyforher

Mumbai born Shital Kakad of Shital's Food Cottage loved food ever since she was a child. This soon translated into a love for feeding. Her initial enthusiasm was around what one could call 'world cuisine'...pizza, pasta, cakes... turning any dish that her husband liked during their travels into a vegetarian one once back home, was her super power. She then came across the world of food bloggers and chefs, initially through the FBAI, and realised the need to understand, document and share the marvels of ones native cuisine. She began cooking and feeding people dishes from her family's Surti heritage as well those that she learnt from her husband’s family, whose origins lay in Rajkot in Gujarat. She did a few pop ups, opened her own cook studio, teamed up with a gym to create keto vegetarian meals (thrice a day, across cuisines), started a food magazine till the pandemic hit us. That is when Shital decided to become a 'serious' home chef and has not looked back since then. This podcast episode tells her story till date.
The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business. Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.
Jul 25, 202252:07
Life, like chocolate, is bitter sweet. What matters is what makes you happy: Sanjana Pate of La Folie on #foodocracyforher

Life, like chocolate, is bitter sweet. What matters is what makes you happy: Sanjana Pate of La Folie on #foodocracyforher

Her home town of Mumbai was like a new city for her when chef Sanjana Patel moved back to India from France and opened a patisserie here. This was 9 years back when the city had just begun to wake up to modern patisserie trends. She opened La Folie in Fort from where she did largely chocolate based confectionery. It was with her outlet in Bandra, La Folie Lab, that she began introducing the city to the wonders of complex French pastries and then the world of sourdough breads before the small outlet became a very popular ingredient focussed cafe. Within a short time, both Sanjana and La Folie became the talk of the town.  This is when she was struck by a series of health challenges. She had to take a 8 month break during which she and her husband and business partner, Parthesh Patel, went to South America on a cacao trail (she was on crutches due to a fracture). That's when she 'rediscovered' her passion for chocolate.  Then came the Covid pandemic which put a halt on La Folie's growth path. This provided an excellent opportunity for Sanjana to do a lot of soul searching on what she wanted from life, before she took La Folie on a new direction, with her husband fully backing her.  'I am happy now,' says Sanjana, to know why and what she did to reach there, you have to listen to the interview.  The award winning #podcast #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Jul 16, 202201:09:60
The story behind Mumbai's favourite Gujarati restaurant Soam:Pinky Chandan Dixit #foodocracyforher

The story behind Mumbai's favourite Gujarati restaurant Soam:Pinky Chandan Dixit #foodocracyforher

The inaugural episode of #foodocracyforher features Pinky Chandan Dixit of Soam. She tells the story behind her setting up the restaurant which keeps winning hearts with its soulful Gujarati vegetarian food and how she tackled the pandemic months. This episode aired on 21st May 2020 as an Instagram live and Pinky and Soam have gone from strength to strength since then.

Jul 15, 202258:22
We want to take the story of Maharashtra's food culture to the world: Devika Kotibhaskar Khadapkar of Kokan Bazaron #foodocracyforher

We want to take the story of Maharashtra's food culture to the world: Devika Kotibhaskar Khadapkar of Kokan Bazaron #foodocracyforher

#foodocracyforher is back after a break and we have got a most wonderful episode for you. Y

You will get to hear Devika Kotihaskar Khadapkar talk about Kokan Bazar which turned 14 on 9th July 2022. Kokan Bazar was founded by her mother in law, Nayan Khadapkar, who is an alumni of TISS and has been involved in social work through her career. Her aim was to generate sustainable employment for the women in the Konkan region of Maharashtra through her enterprise. 

Devika is a B School graduate who left her successful corporate career to join Kokan Bazar. She is trying to take the founder's values ahead by scaling and modernising the business and trying to bring the story of Konkan AND Maharashtra's food to the world through Kokan Bazar while creating wealth for its stakeholders, viz, those who create the produce. 

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the episode be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Jul 09, 202259:16
The noodle maker's granddaughter who is taking the family legacy ahead through her food: Kolkata's chef Sachiko Seth on #foodocracyforher

The noodle maker's granddaughter who is taking the family legacy ahead through her food: Kolkata's chef Sachiko Seth on #foodocracyforher

Chef Sachiko Seth, who is of Tibetan origin, was born in Kalimpong in the hills of Bengal. Her mother Doma Wang (pronounced Wong) had started a home chef enterprise in Kolkata back then. Making momos at home and selling them across Salt Lake. Sachiko, whose pet name is Puchu, remembers waking up as a 4 year old to the sight of her mum and her team making momos, thukpa and chowmein in their house for orders. It was her breakfast too. When a bit older, she was given the responsibility of helping deliver the momos and later learnt how to make them. She took some time to figure out what she wanted to do in life and after school went to Chandigarh to be a tattoo artist. Which is when it struck her that she wanted to carry on her family legacy. Her grandfather was a noodle maker and Puchu had fond memories of his enterprise in Kalimpong. Sachiko returned to Kolkata and told Doma (a #Foodocracyforher alumni) that she wanted to work with her at Blue Poppy, the Sikkim House canteen in Kolkata that her mother was running. She was a bit shocked when she was told she had to wait on tables first before she worked in the kitchen and in the kitchen wash dishes first, then chop and prep ingredients before she got anywhere close to the cooking area. All of these experiences came of use when Sachiko opened  Blue Poppy Thakali, 'based on memories on the range of food I had as a kid in Kalimpong', in Kolkata after the Sikkim House canteen lease got over. The family also runs Blue Poppy Express, a delivery kitchen in Kolkata, and Blue Poppy in Gangtok. Doma di, as she is fondly known in Kolkata, remains the guiding force with the new gen taking her legacy ahead. Chef Sachio0 is painfully shy and it was a privilege to get to interview her. Do not miss out on the chance to listen to her cook. #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

May 18, 202201:06:35
I want to make India proud by celebrating our ingredients: Chef Niyati Rao, Ekaa, Mumbai

I want to make India proud by celebrating our ingredients: Chef Niyati Rao, Ekaa, Mumbai

There was once a little girl in Mumbai who would go to school every day and fret over the three R's ... reading, writing and 'rithmetic. She was dyslexic and these shibboleths of the conventional education system just didn't talk to her. She would come home feeling frustrated, sit in the kitchen and see her mother (a Gujarati) and paternal grand-mom (an Andhra'ite) cook for the family. This was her happy place. She would see the joy that the food cooked by the two ladies would give to all at her home and then had her eureka moment, 'cooking can be my super power.'   'I want to be a chef,' she told her mother. Not that our young hero had any reference point to go by then. Her dad was a renowned musician. Her mother a scientist in pharmacalogy. Her parents did not say anything. A few days later, the little girl and her mum were travelling down Dadar in Mumbai in a cab. "See that building to our left?" asked mum to her daughter. "That is where India's top chefs come from." Fast forward a few years and our superhero, now a teen, cleared the competitive exams and walked into the hallowed portals of IHM, Mumbai, aka the 'Dadar Catering College."  'Hallowed portals' became synonymous with the story of chef Niyati Rao. She said goodbye to India's straightjacketed education when school got over. She came into her own at college and then walked down the 'hallowed portals' of Taj Mahal Mumbai, where she worked at the legendary Zodiac Grill, the Chambers and Wasabi, Mumbai, at the very start of her career.  She then spent some time at A Reverie, Goa, where she learnt what it meant to helm a kitchen and create a menu. More 'hallowed portals' followed. She worked at Noma, Copenhagen, for a while before the pandemic and a personal health crisis made her return to India. After two years of cooling her heels at home, a message from Sagar Neve, once a fellow intern at the JW Marriott, Mumbai, led to their getting together and opening Ekaa, Mumbai. Will it gain 'hallowed portals' status one day is anybody's guess. Some say Ekaa is India's best restaurant...our food media glossies do tend to go overboard at times. Others were in a hurry to say why it is not 'India's best' ...we are the original 'crab in a pot' country after all.  Chef Niyati has no time for this. As the co-founder and head chef of Ekaa, her focus is to put ingredients first. And the customer. That's all.  Oh and yes, after her Noma experience, she is hellbent to make India proud by "the time I am done with it." Sounds like the stuff of a biopic? Hold on. Niyati is just 28 (!) and has many more stories to create. For now, do listen to the podcast where for the first time ever (yay) she talks about her life and dreams as a chef. Oh, and she is a fellow cat parent and our respective cats sat by us during the interview.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

May 09, 202201:17:03
From wanting to make films to running her own restaurants. Kolkata's Chef Urvika Kanoi on #foodocracyforher

From wanting to make films to running her own restaurants. Kolkata's Chef Urvika Kanoi on #foodocracyforher

Once upon a time, there was a Marwari girl from Kolkata who grew up in a family with no food restrictions. She went to Singapore to study film making after her school finals. Cooked for her friends there. Realised that she enjoyed cooking more than she enjoyed making films. Still in her teens, she went off on a journey of self discovery by attending a cooking course. She attained enlightenment there and went to Le Cordon Bleau, London, to study. She returned to Calcutta. Interned in top hotel kitchens. Realised that everyone treated her as her papa's daughter and decided that she did not want to be pampered by her bosses! She quit to start a Latin American restaurant in Kolkata which had the city eating out of her hands. It imploded in a couple of years thanks to investor issues and she decided that independent was the way for her. She set up her own contemporary European cafe in the city of tetrazini, fish a la Diana, chicken a la kiev and managed to finally shake Calcutta out of the age of classic French sauces. Not before she faced a lot of trouble from the para uncles and mastans whom she faced head on. She then decided to come to Mumbai and Bandra west at that, land of some of the most prime real estate in the world, and opened a small Latin American Cafe. She claims to be a non-baker, but my wife orders in her keto brownie almost everyday.  I am and proud to present a global citizen from my home town, chef Urvika Kanoi of The Daily, Kolkata, and Cafe Duco, Mumbai, in the latest episode of #foodocracyforher  #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

May 01, 202201:14:26
The home baker from Allahabad who established a brownie empire in Mumbai: Prachi Agarwal Goel of Brownie Cottage in #foodocracyforher

The home baker from Allahabad who established a brownie empire in Mumbai: Prachi Agarwal Goel of Brownie Cottage in #foodocracyforher

Prachi Agarwal Goel is the head chef and co-founder of Brownie Cottage, established in 2005. In the first episode of the podcast she spoke about how her summer holiday trips to Mumbai from Allahabad as a child got her interested in the world of baking. Of how she did a bakery course at the Sophia Polytechnic after her graduation at Allahabad as the love of her life and her future life partner had (and still has) 'a massive sweet tooth.' In the second and concluding part of the podcast, chef Prachi talks about starting a home baking enterprise after marriage and of then moving to Mumbai with her husband to create something of 'scale,' as that was the life goal inculcated in her during her three month internship in the bakery department of the Oberoi, Mumbai. A decision which led to the birth of the Brownie Cottage. An enterprise that has grown from strength to strength and is in its 18th year now.   #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Apr 26, 202251:01
How interning at the Oberoi Mumbai led to the birth of Mumbai's Brownie Queen. Prachi Agarwal Goel of Brownie Cottage on #FoodocracyForher

How interning at the Oberoi Mumbai led to the birth of Mumbai's Brownie Queen. Prachi Agarwal Goel of Brownie Cottage on #FoodocracyForher

Prachi Agarwal Goel is the head chef and co-founder of Brownie Cottage, established in 2005. Setting up a food business was never the life plan of this academic topper from Allahabad who grew up in a conservative Marwari joint family. It was her love for baking and her future husband and co-founder of Brownie Cottage, Raghav Goel's, massive sweet tooth which led her to do a course on baking at Mumbai's Sophia Polytechnic. From there she was selected to do a specialised training programme at the Oberoi, Mumbai. At the end of her three month internship, Prachi was convinced that she wanted to build a business that espoused the values that she had internalised at this Indian run world class luxury hotel group. A dream which eventually led to the birth of the Browni Cottage. Listen to Part 1 of the podcast to know more about the inspirational story of the Brownie Queen of Mumbai.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Apr 23, 202251:01
Bachi Karkaria on the Curries and Caviar that Captured the Dreams of Captain C.P. Krishnan Nair

Bachi Karkaria on the Curries and Caviar that Captured the Dreams of Captain C.P. Krishnan Nair

"We didn't talk about food. I read up on my notes on the food bits for you,' exclaimed the indomitable Bachi Karkaria at the end of my interview of her on her latest book, Capture The Dream. Her biography of the late Captain C.P. Krishnan Nair, the founder of the Leela Group. Truth be told, this very readable book left me with so much food for thought that I forgot to ask Bachi about the role the Captain's mother's prawn pickle and his wife Leela's prawn curries played in shaping his rather eventful life. So WHAT did we talk about? For that you have to click and listen and at the end is a bonus, a masterclass on journalism by Bachi. This is part 1 of our chat Do click on like if you enjoyed the chat, share the episode, subscribe to the channel and above all, buy the book.  #book #bookpodcast #amwriting bachikarkaria #captainnair #leelalace #bleedingmadras #leelahotels #finetlychoppedTV #radiofinelychopped #kerala #curry #hotel #besthotels #kalyankarmakar #finelychoppedpodcasts

Mar 02, 202251:05
The Tails of My Life Ep 4: Billi Bhaag Jayega. The runaway bride.

The Tails of My Life Ep 4: Billi Bhaag Jayega. The runaway bride.

The story of a cat called Maharani. An outside cat. Who became an inside outside cat. And now is an inside cat named Baby Loaf, lying beside me on the bed while I type this. Things might change the moment the bell rings though as he would make a dash to run out of our apartment which has been his too for more than 2 years now. I do hope you liked this episode and do share it. #cat #catperson #catlover #radiofinelychopped #thekittykarmakars #thetailsofmylife #catpodcast #mumbaicat #adoptdontshop
Mar 01, 202221:46
The Tails Of My Life 3: It takes a village. The story of Mau. The cat formerly known as Baby Marsh.

The Tails Of My Life 3: It takes a village. The story of Mau. The cat formerly known as Baby Marsh.

The story of a cat named Mau and of how he brought a bunch of us together through his search for his forever home. While I am yet to meet him in person, Mao is special as he is the first kitten whom I helped find a house for. After opening our own home to two. All the people mentioned in the podcasts have themselves adopted community cats and feed and look after many more. #TheTailsOfMyLife is my podcast on cats and I hope you like it and share it and do rate the channel on whichever podcast app you use so that more can listen to it. I hope to make a book out of this someday. cat #catlover #catsofmumbai #catpeople #adoptdontshop #radiofinelychopped
Feb 27, 202217:52
The Tails of My Life Ep 2: There’s a Maharani in the building

The Tails of My Life Ep 2: There’s a Maharani in the building

In this episode on my podcast on the cats in my life, which will hopefully someday become a book, I tell you the story of a cat whom I named Maharani who met me in our building lobby and made me fall in love with cats. I narrated the episode while our cats Baby Loaf and little Nimki sat by me on the bed before they went off to sleep. Was it really so boring? What happened to Maharani? Tune in the listen and do subscribe to the channel and leave a comment and a review too. #cats #catperson #catpodcast #kittykarmakars #podcasts #bandra #mumbai #adoptdontshop
Feb 23, 202218:26
The Tails Of My Life Ep 1: The Crazy Cat Dad

The Tails Of My Life Ep 1: The Crazy Cat Dad

Hi, my name is Kalyan Karmakar. I am a food writer based in Mumbai. This is the first episode of my new podcast, ‘The tails of my life.’ A title given by my wife for a book she thinks I should write. No, it’s not about food. It’s about the cats in my life. Someone who disliked cats till November 2019 and whose word now centres around them. Do tune in as I stories from our lives together and tell you how our lives have become magical since then. Do show this some love, share with fellow cat and pet lovers and with anyone who wants to switch off from the daily grind for a bit and wants to unwind over a good yarn. #adoptdontshop #catpeople #kittykarmakars #babyloaf #littlenimki #bandra #mumbai #cat #radiofinelychopped
Feb 22, 202211:36
My kingdom for an egg; The K&K Dig Food Podcast.

My kingdom for an egg; The K&K Dig Food Podcast.

Pre recording. K: What should we talk of today? K: Let's talk about eggs. I had some lovely eggs for breakfast. K: So did I. You do realise that by this logic we will do a podcast on eggs every week?! K: What a lovely idea! In this episode Kurush and Kalyan speak about poached eggs and French toasts and of how Bengalis revolutionaries have 'redefined them both,' while the Parsis remained loyal to Her Majesty. Of how one must take stories told by grandmoms about the stretchability of a single egg with a pinch of salt. They talk about the Parsi 'par eedu' concept of eggs, and of how to any Bengali an egg curry where the boiled egg is not slit and and tempered in oil first is nothing worse than a CIA conspiracy. In between Kurush shares his father's mayonnaise recipe and if you wait till the end, you will hear him share his akoori recipe, but not before Kalyan talks about how deem sheddo and phyana bhaat is all about pure love. 'K&K Dig Food' is a podcast on food hosted by Dr Kurush Dalal and Kalyan Karmakar from Mumbai (and navi Mumbai). Kurush is an archeologist and food ethnographer, who is a proud son of Mumbai ,and is possibly one of the most quoted people in articles on Indian food written in recent times. He runs a series of very popular online courses on food writing and is a much sought after speaker in food events. He is married to a Bengali (not Kalyan), Rhea Mitra Dalal  and runs Katy's Kitchen with her, a Parsi catering company started by his mother the late Dr Katy Dalal. Kalyan is a sociology student and an MBA, who started his career as a qualitative market researcher where he figured out that he loves interviewing people and moderating.  Anchors he likes to model himself on swing from Dr Prannoy Roy to Cyrus Broacha! He is a food blogger, published author and likes to call himself a 'columnist' so that he can write about his breakfast and get done with work for the day! He is married to a Parsi (not Kurush), Kainaz Karmakar, who when not babysitting the three boys at home, Kalyan, Baby Loaf and Little Nimki (the last two are cats, but no one has broken this to them), works in advertising. Kalyan and Kurush bond over a shared love for food, wry humour and Valibhai. You can google the more boring parts about their lives. Now be a dear and share this, click on like and subscribe to the channel
Feb 03, 202258:33
Are you sleeping with the enemy: Breast cancer survivor Shormista Mukherjee on #foodocracyforher

Are you sleeping with the enemy: Breast cancer survivor Shormista Mukherjee on #foodocracyforher

#foodocracyforher is where I speak to women doing amazing work in the world of food. My next guest, Shormistha Mukherjee, is not in the food business. Yet. Not directly at least. Though as the co-owner of the digital agency Flying Cursor, this former legacy advertising professional has worked with clients in the food space and with creators too. She is an enthusiastic patron of home chefs and was part of the jury of the Home Cheffies 2021, India's first Home Chef Power Brand Awards. She is a former colleague of my wife and one of the earliest friends that I made through blogging and now a friend of the entire family. Her cat Tugga is big brother to our Baby Loaf and little Nimki. This interview is about none of that. A few years back, Shormistha was diagnosed as having breast cancer. She battled it and then wrote a book. 'Cancer, you picked the wrong girl.' Her mission, to alert women to the need to check for breast cancer. A stitch in time saves nine, as the adage goes. And it's never 'too early' to check, she adds. A big supporter of #foodocracyforher, Shormistha most kindly came here to spread this important message on #worldcancerday. We do hope you watch it and share it...and...once you do, you will realise that the message goes out as much to women as us men.  #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Feb 02, 202201:05:33
The former fashion marketer who is now helping you gift people delicious, yet healthy treats: Megha Phull on #foodocracyforher

The former fashion marketer who is now helping you gift people delicious, yet healthy treats: Megha Phull on #foodocracyforher

Megha Phull was born in Bhillai, grew up in Delhi and lived in various cities ranging from Glasgow to Mumbai before moving to Singapore last year. She worked in the fashion industry after completing her higher studies in the field. She took a break when her son was born 12 years back, conscious of the fact that she would like to resume her career once her son was a bit older. Resume she did, but not in fashion, it was food this time! Always a foodie, Megha had got a perspective of clean and conscious eating thanks to her dietician Charmaine D'Souza. 5 years back Megha started Zealo Foods, with an aim to offer tasty and yet healthy gifting options to people. The last 5 year has been an interesting ride and the business, which initially started with her two house help as her first employees, has grown organically. 'Focus' and 'take and work on advice' and her two success mantras. Watch this episode for more practical tips from her. Having tried some of her products, I must say that I vouch for her work.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Jan 28, 202258:25
The neuro biologist who is on a mission to make chefs out of the differently abled. #FoodocracyForher

The neuro biologist who is on a mission to make chefs out of the differently abled. #FoodocracyForher

Find purpose and work will follow, they say. Dr Tatyana Dias, whom I interviewed for the latest episode of the #foodocracyforher podcast, is a great example of this.  Her sister, Veruschka, was born when Tatyana was 4. 4 years later the doctors diagnosed Veruschka as being autistic. From then on the lives of young Tatyana and her parents revolved around Veruschka's well being. Tatyana felt very protective towards her sister. When in high school she decided that she wanted to study and know more about how the brain works so that she could make a difference to the lives of those who were like her sister. This led her to going to Cambridge to study neuro biology and she did her Phd on the same.  Veruschka unfortunately passed away a few years back. Tatyana then decided put her scientific work on hold and opened the Veruschka Foundation, to empower the differently abled, in memory of her sister. She started the Culinaris Cookery Institute to impart culinary vocational training to her 'bacchus' (children) as she lovingly calls them. Folks who biologically adults. but mentally children. Then, realising the difficulty in placing girls with autism in mainstream kitchens, she opened A Bite Better, a sustainable food retail offering, where she could employ her female students.  This episode is longer than others in the series, but do tune in to listen to Tatyana first lovingly reminisce about life with Veruschka whereby she helps understand what autism is, and then the various steps she has taken so far in memory of her sister. It is bound to leave you inspired!  #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Jan 25, 202201:19:31
The Coimbatore born Marwari home chef who is introducing Mumbaikars to home cooked south Indian food: FoodocracyForher

The Coimbatore born Marwari home chef who is introducing Mumbaikars to home cooked south Indian food: FoodocracyForher

I am thrilled to  present Trishla Lunawat of Meal On Leaf in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer. Trishla is a Marwari who was born in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. She was exposed to the food of different states of south India while growing up in Coimbatore, with her father turning out to be her cooking guru. Trishla then moved to Mumbai, where she lives with her husband and son. During the first Covid 19 pandemic lockdown of 2020, she got the idea of offering home styled south Indian food in Mumbai. Somehing that she felt was lacking here. She visited her in laws in Madhya Pradesh with her family a couple of months later where on hearing her plans, her father in law became her biggest supporter and said she must work on this dream. Thus was born Meal on Leaf in October 2020, through which she offers a variety of vegetarian meals from across south India. Packed in  neat boxes, with bio-degradable packaging wherever possible and banana leaves to eat on. Do tune in to the listen to the story of this Mumbai's Coimbatore born Marwari home chef and also get a glimpse into what life in Coimbatore is all about and do try her food if you can. It's really good!   #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Jan 19, 202201:02:48
K&K Dig Food: Battling over the B Word

K&K Dig Food: Battling over the B Word

In this episode of their podcast, Kurush and Kalyan talk about the concept of barter and its relevance when it comes to social media marketing, they skirt away from the four letter B word in the world of Indian food which can be contentious on social media and move on to biryani, a topic that often leads to serious debates between the two of them. Each takes a swipe at the biryani from the other's home base, Kalyan on Mumbai's and Kurush on Kolkata's. They then use their childhood biryani experiences to reconstruct the social fabric of the Bombay and Calcutta of their times and use this as an example to express their points of view on what makes for engaging food writing. Oh yes, Kalyan does outrage this time too and has a strong message to non-Kolkatans claiming to reconstruct the 'Kolkata biryani' outside of Kolkata.

'K&K Dig Food' is a podcast on food hosted by Dr Kurush Dalal and Kalyan Karmakar from Mumbai (and navi Mumbai).

Kurush is an archeologist and food ethnographer, who is a proud son of Mumbai ,and is possibly one of the most quoted people in articles on Indian food written in recent times. He runs a series of very popular online courses on food writing and is a much sought after speaker in food events. He is married to a Bengali (not Kalyan), Rhea Mitra Dalal  and runs Katy's Kitchen with her, a Parsi catering company started by his mother the late Dr Katy Dalal.

Kalyan is a sociology student and an MBA, who started his career as a qualitative market researcher where he figured out that he loves interviewing people and moderating.  Anchors he likes to model himself on swing from Dr Prannoy Roy to Cyrus Broacha! He is a food blogger, published author and likes to call himself a 'columnist' so that he can write about his breakfast and get done with work for the day! He is married to a Parsi (not Kurush), Kainaz Karmakar, who when not babysitting the three boys at home, Kalyan, Baby Loaf and Little Nimki (the last two are cats, but no one has broken this to them), works in advertising.

Kalyan and Kurush bond over a shared love for food, wry humour and Valibhai. You can google the more boring parts about their lives.

Now be a dear and share this, click on like and subscribe to the channel

Jan 18, 202201:07:51
Saheb, biwi aur cutlet: K&K Dig Food Ep 2

Saheb, biwi aur cutlet: K&K Dig Food Ep 2

In this episode of their podcast, Kurush and Kalyan reminisce about the street food culture of Bombay and Calcutta (as the cities were then known) of their childhood and youth. From Kurush you will hear memories of the samosa-wala outside St Xavier's School, his first vada pav (which he remembers far more vividly than his first crush) and the secret of what went into kebabs outside Novelty Cinema. Kalyan talks about how it was the parar dokaner egg rolls which Calcutta ran on (not mutton kathi rolls), the chops and cutlets that the rolls shops offered and movie theatres in Kolkata which had bars. They reflect upon how there was a fair bit of Portugal, Spain and Great Britain in the desi street food that made them the men they are today. The episode ends with Kalyan's rant against Bengali home chefs who offer street food dishes and how they have messed it all up. How? You have to listen till the end!

'K&K Dig Food' is a podcast on food hosted by Dr Kurush Dalal and Kalyan Karmakar from Mumbai (and navi Mumbai).

Kurush is an archeologist and food ethnographer, who is a proud son of Mumbai ,and is possibly one of the most quoted people in articles on Indian food written in recent times. He runs a series of very popular online courses on food writing and is a much sought after speaker in food events. He is married to a Bengali (not Kalyan), Rhea Mitra Dalal  and runs Katy's Kitchen with her, a Parsi catering company started by his mother the late Dr Katy Dalal.

Kalyan is a sociology student and an MBA, who started his career as a qualitative market researcher where he figured out that he loves interviewing people and moderating.  Anchors he likes to model himself on swing from Dr Prannoy Roy to Cyrus Broacha! He is a food blogger, published author and likes to call himself a 'columnist' so that he can write about his breakfast and get done with work for the day! He is married to a Parsi (not Kurush), Kainaz Karmakar, who when not babysitting the three boys at home, Kalyan, Baby Loaf and Little Nimki (the last two are cats, but no one has broken this to them), works in advertising.

Kalyan and Kurush bond over a shared love for food, wry humour and Valibhai. You can google the more boring parts about their lives.

Now be a dear and share this, click on like and subscribe to the channel.

Jan 11, 202259:52
#FoodocracyForHer: Tanvi Shah's Millennial Kitchen is all about recipes of sustainability & inclusivity

#FoodocracyForHer: Tanvi Shah's Millennial Kitchen is all about recipes of sustainability & inclusivity

I am thrilled to drop the first #foodocracyforher episode of 2022 which features Tanvi Shah from Mumbai. She is an economics student who then studied MIS. She was always interested in cooking, but did not get a chance to do so till she went abroad to study. She came back, got married, ran a handicrafts enterprise. Life was on cruise mode till one day a question from her then 9 year old son, after visiting the langar at Amritsar, on how he could help those who are in the weaker sections of the society led to Tanvi guiding her son Vir and elder daughter Mira to start a dips making enterprise, the proceeds of which went into supporting a charity. Tanvi and her daughter then co-authored a book called 'The Millennial Kitchen' which featured their recipes. The profits from which went to supporting the Akshay Patra Society. Mira is now in college abroad, studying about sustainability in her undegrad studies, and Vir is about to finish school, making Tanvi wonder what to do with the impending empty nest syndrome in her life. Not to worry, her vision for promoting sustainability and inclusivity in food have led to her conduct a TV show for Tata sky, start a salad dressing business and teach recipes (through Instagram on @cookwithnmk for now) and lot more. Listen in to hear what Tanvi, who epitomises the spirit of moving ahead no matter what, has to say.  #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and hopefully and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast. And have a great new year!

Jan 08, 202201:03:35
Dropping the banana leaf: K&K Dig Food EP 1

Dropping the banana leaf: K&K Dig Food EP 1

I sacrificed my afternoon nap to drop the historic pilot episode of the podcast that will change your life forever: 'K&K Dig Food,' and you have not heard it yet. Seriously? I mean, come on.... please listen to it. Pretty please. We need motivation to make the next episode! (KK)  In this episode, Dr Kurush Dalal and (son of a doctor) Kalyan Karmakar give you a peek into their bromance as they introduce each other to you at the start. Kurush then defends the drink called raspberry, an acquired taste which is hard to acquire, which Parsis seem to love. Post which, the two give you a dummy's guide to the legendary patra ni machhi of the Parsis and the more recently legendary machher patoori of the Bengalis. The episode ends with both berating Keralites for appropriating the banana leaf platter concept as their own with multiple sadya reels on Instagram.    'K&K Dig Food' is a podcast on food hosted by Dr Kurush Dalal and Kalyan Karmakar from Mumbai (and navi Mumbai).  Kurush is an archeologist and food ethnographer, who is a proud son of Mumbai ,and is possibly one of the most quoted people in articles on Indian food written in recent times. He runs a series of very popular online courses on food writing and is a much sought after speaker in food events. He is married to a Bengali (not Kalyan), Rhea Mitra Dalal  and runs Katy's Kitchen with her, a Parsi catering company started by his mother the late Dr Katy Dalal.  Kalyan is a sociology student who started his career as a qualitative market researcher where he figured out that he loves interviewing people and moderating.  Anchors he likes to model himself on swing from Dr Prannoy Roy to Cyrus Broacha! He is a food blogger, published author and likes to call himself a 'columnist' so that he can write about his breakfast and get done with work for the day! He is married to a Parsi (not Kurush), Kainaz Karmakar, who when not babysitting the three boys at home, Kalyan, Baby Loaf and Little Nimki (the last two are cats, but no one has broken this to them), works in advertising. Kalyan and Kurush bond over a shared love for food, wry humour and Valibhai. You can google the more boring parts about their lives. Now be a dear and share this, click on like and subscribe to the channel.

Jan 06, 202255:59
The investment banker turned chef who fought her way out of dark space to find her happy space: Chef Hemal on #foodocracyfprher

The investment banker turned chef who fought her way out of dark space to find her happy space: Chef Hemal on #foodocracyfprher

I am proud to present Investment banker turned independent chef entrepreneur, chef Hemal Shah in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.  Hemal is a Mumbai girl, whose father is an oncologist and mother a gynaecologist. It was a given that she would be a doctor and she passed her pre-med and got into one of Mumbai's top medical colleges. She then realised that she did not want to lead the sort of life her mom led ('on call at all times') and decided to study economics instead ('that was all that was available by then to me'). Hemal then went to the US for higher studies and worked in top investment banking firms. That's when she suddenly realised that it was really the kitchen that was her calling and got a job as an unpaid intern in the sushi joint she and her colleagues used to frequent! Follow the rest of the episode to know of Hemal's move back to India and her stints at Aura in Goa and La Folie by chef Sanjana Patel in Mumbai which gave her the confidence to strike it on her own as a chef. Of how the pandemic hit just as her business was taking flight. Of how she herself got covid followed by a ligament tear just as she was coming to grips with the new reality. Listen to her tell you about how she bounced back from the dark spaces that her mind took her to. I promise you that this is just the moral booster that you needed. . #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and hopefully and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Dec 14, 202101:04:14
Why Deeba Rajpal urges you to think out of the box in her book on baking with chocolate: #foodocracyforher #eatingbooks

Why Deeba Rajpal urges you to think out of the box in her book on baking with chocolate: #foodocracyforher #eatingbooks

I am proud to present food blogger turned author, Deeba Rajpal in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer AND of my new podcast series #EatingBooks.

Deeba was interested in baking from the time she was in school and wryly says that she belongs to an era where dalda featured in baking recipes. Fast forward to a few years later when she was married and her husband gifted her a digital camera. Deeba, like me, belongs to an era where cameras worked on 36 exposure rolls where each shot was precious. Noone would photograph food then. Imagine! The digital camera gave her the freedom to take as many clicks as she wanted and she began to shoot her bakes. This led her to open her blog, Passionate About Baking, in 2007. In the early years she would look to blogs from the west for inspiration as she is a self taught baker, photographer and food stylist. 14 years down the line, Deeba has successfully navigated social media channels such as Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to become an inspiration herself. She has recently come out with her debut book, Passionate About Baking. Published by Penguin India. In the book she shares recipes for baking with chocolate  AND without fear. 'Think out of the box' is her message to her readers.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and hopefully and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

#EatingBooks is a new series where I will chat to authors of food books. In Deeba I found someone who fits both briefs!

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodwriter #socialmedia #foodinstagram #foodinfluencer #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #chef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

#fbaking#radiofinelychopped #homebaker #eathealthy #covid19diaries #eatlocal #womenentrepreneur #Indianfood #chocolate

Nov 20, 202147:59
The home chef from Malvan who came to Mumbai & opened its most well regarded Malvani restaurant: Surekha Walke on #foodocracyforher

The home chef from Malvan who came to Mumbai & opened its most well regarded Malvani restaurant: Surekha Walke on #foodocracyforher

I am proud to present home chef turned restaurant owner Surekha Walke, of Chaitanya Restaurant and Mother of Malvan, in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.

Surekha ji was born in Malvan in coastal Maharashtra. While growing up she was interested in everything but cooking...sports, theatre, politics (in college)..even though she came from a family that owned a Malvani bakery and sweets shop. She married Nitin ji who loves food. Surekha ji learnt how to cook from her mother in law and won her husband's heart with her cooking. He suggested that they open an eatery and that is how Chaitanya (which means satisfaction) was born in 1992. The restaurant grew over time with Surekha ji cooking Malvani food that appealed to locals and then tourists. She moved to Mumbai in 2010 to be with her son Mitra and daughter Saili who were studying here. She was unhappy with the Malvani food on offer at local restaurants and decided to matters in her own hands and opened a tiny eatery near Shivaji Park (I have been a fan of her food since then). The rest is history. Chaitanya now has a 36 seater aircon restaurant at Prabhadevi and one at Andheri. The family decided to launch 'Mother o Malvan' in the pandemic which offers Malvani spices and meva (sweets). Do watch the video to hear her amazing story. This is the first #foodocracyforher interview in Hindi and I provided translations at the end of each section.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and hopefully lead to more business for Chaitanya and Mother O Malvan and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodwriter #socialmedia #foodinstagram #foodinfluencer #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #chef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

#foodhistory #radiofinelychopped #homechef #mumbaifood #malvanifood #konkanifood #eathealthy #covid19diaries #eatlocal #womenentrepreneur #Indianfood

Nov 16, 202148:28
Why Nobel Laureate Abhjit Banerjee recommends cooking the kabuli pullao from his new cook-book in Gabbar's den

Why Nobel Laureate Abhjit Banerjee recommends cooking the kabuli pullao from his new cook-book in Gabbar's den

Folks far more accomplished and adept than me have written about the exemplary work of Professor Abhijeet Banerjee. I won't make any attempts to do so. I know my limits.

In 2019 Banerjee was the co- winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics. #nuff said as the kids say these days.

What you might not know, is that Abhijit da (this is what I settled on after I asked him 'should I call you Mr Banerjee, Abhijit or Abhijit da') has been cooking since the age of 15. Primarily because his mother, Nirmala Banerjee (nee Patnakar), was a feminist. No, no. She was not against women cooking. She was a great cook with a wide repertoire of dishes. Her work led her to travel a lot though which meant that Abhijit da and DB were left in the hands of the family cook. "He was a good cook, but had a limited range and hence I entered the kitchen," says Abhijit da.

"I continue cooking till date. I cook everyday. I find it a great way of unwinding and putting behind whatever happened that day."

Abhijit da has come out with a cookbook called 'Cooking To Save Your Life.'

Demystifying cooking is a key purpose behind writing 'Cooking to Save your life,' says Abhijit da.

"We wanted to move away from the picture perfect world of recipe television and talk about real life cooking instead," said Abhijit da. His associate and illustrator, Cheyenne Olivier, uses geometrical designs to show each dish. They encourage you to create your path instead and feel good about it.

The book can be divided into two sections. The short section introductions, where Abhijit da gently slips in some of his socio-economic beliefs such as the need to redefine what non-vegetarian means in the Asian context and the need to look beyond basmati and seek out indigenous grains such as millets and seasonal rice; and the relevance of both in the context of sustainability..

The other, constituting the bulk of the book, are his recipes. These cover multiple genres reflecting the distinguished  and colouful path that his life has traversed. Each preceded by a tongue in cheek scenario where Abhijit da lets the aspiring  humourist in him loose.

Do watch our chat till the end to figure out why Abhijit da recommends cooking his kabuli pullao in Gabbar's den.

Nov 15, 202150:52
The interior designer turned home chef who wants you to be conscious of what goes into your body: Sonali Naik on #foodocracyforher

The interior designer turned home chef who wants you to be conscious of what goes into your body: Sonali Naik on #foodocracyforher

I am proud to present home chef Sonali Naik of Divine Flavour in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.

Sonali is a Mumbai based interior designer who loves and lives to eat. A conscious eating and exercise based regime helped her lose 40 kilos a couple of years back. "I wanted to feel good and eat clean," she says. Then came the covid pandemic. Her interior design work dried up. She was sitting at home with no access to even her 'happy place,' the gym! She felt overwhelmed. Put on a bit of weight. Then the 'spirit of Mumbai' kicked in and she and her friend from the last 18 years, Mehul who is a commodity trader by day, opened Divine Flavour together. Inspired by the overnight oats breakfast that was a mainstay of her healthy eating regime a couple of years back, Sonali began making granola from home for sale. 'The idea was to make something where people would know what's going into their bodies.' Divine Flavour was launched in October 2020 after 4 months of meticulous planning and R&D. To know where it stands 13 months later and the role that Sonali's 92 year old aaji (granny) plays in the granola your get, do watch this episode on your #FinelyChoppedTV medium of choice or listen to the podcast on #RadioFinelyChopped

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and hopefully lead to more orders for Divine Flavour and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodwriter #socialmedia #foodinstagram #foodinfluencer #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #chef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

#foodhistory #radiofinelychopped #homechef #mumbaifood #granola #eathealthy #covid19diaries #cereal #oats #womenentrepreneur #divineflavour

Nov 09, 202150:17
The chef who chose the tandoor over test-tubes to tell the story of Indian food. Amninder Sandhu on #FoodocracyForHer

The chef who chose the tandoor over test-tubes to tell the story of Indian food. Amninder Sandhu on #FoodocracyForHer

I am proud to present Chef Amninder Sandhu in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.     Amninder Sandhu was a science student and a very good one at that. Her father's dream of her becoming a doctor lying at the back of her mind. One day, while playing around with test tubes in the lab, epiphany struck her. It is cooking that she had always loved. What was she doing in a science class?!  She joined IHM Aurangabad and began the journey towards living life the way she wanted it to be. She worked in the Taj Hotel chain, went independent and ran restaurants such as Aarth first and then delivery kitchens ('I do not like the term 'dark' kitchen. Our kitchens were very bright') such as Iktaara in collaboration with others before she went completely independent with her chef based wedding catering company, Bliss Foods, and recently launched delivery kitchens in Mumbai and Pune - Ammu Delivery and Barfi & Sons. 'All parts of a jigsaw puzzle that I am looking to complete,' she says. What kept her going through good and bad and these very diverse working environments is her pure love for cooking. Thanks to which she won many accolades both in India and abroad. To know more about this fabulous chef who was pushing the envelope when it came to presenting Indian food even before it became trendy, watch this episode where the normally reticent chef Amninder speaks from her heart.  Happy Diwali folks! #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.   #indianfood #foodblogger #foodwriter #socialmedia #foodinstagram #foodinfluencer #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #chef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped  #foodhistory #radiofinelychopped #amnindersandhu

Nov 01, 202155:59
The food social media influencer who is helping small business owners build their brands. Vernika Awal on #foodocracyforher

The food social media influencer who is helping small business owners build their brands. Vernika Awal on #foodocracyforher

I am proud to present Vernika Awal in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.

Vernika Awal is a Punjabi who has lived in different parts of India while growing up thanks to her father's 'transferrable job', but never in Punjab. She did her postgraduate studies in media, worked in legacy media (Times of India), then with the site Exchange4Media, before she decided to go independent as a writer. Initially through her blog, Delectable Reveries, and then her Instagram account under the same name.

On the young shoulders of Vernika rests a very mature head and her quest to discover her own roots took the shape of the Delectable Punjab series and this helped her carve an identity for herself. She sees herself as a storyteller first and was conscious not to box herself in a silo. She has written in publications such as the Indian Express, Zee Zest, Travel and Leisure and the international horeca summit, Host Milano, on different facets of Indian food culture. Not just Punjabi! She, along with her husband Shouvik Das, run a series very successful and practical online workshops on social media management, food photography and videography specifically aimed at helping small business owners to build their brands. I have attended her workshops myself and gained a lot from them. She also takes a module on social media in the Studying Food Workshop run by Kurush Dalal & Mythopia.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodwriter #socialmedia #foodinstagram #foodinfluencer #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #homechef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #homechef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

Oct 19, 202156:23
Want to support farmers? Pay them the just price. Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty on #FoodocracyForHer

Want to support farmers? Pay them the just price. Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty on #FoodocracyForHer

I am proud to present Sreedevi Lakshmikutty AKA Devi in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.

Devi grew up in in Trivandram and then moved to Mumbai where she and her husband, Ramesh, worked in LIC. They then went to Kentucky where Sridevi decided to do a mid careers masters in Sociology. That is when she awakened to the challenges that the agrarian sector faces. An understanding which got deepened when the couple went to Hague where she got to see the importance given to organic produce and sustainable farming. She was in Mumbai in between where she got iactively nvolved with the GM Free and Save Our Rice campaigns. She is currently based in Coimbatore and is the co-founder of a social venture, Bio Basics, which retails organic food, popularises and curate indigenous food crops. She has also been a part of the Alliance for Sustainable  and Holistic Agriculture for a decade. In this chat, she tells us why issues such as sustainable farming should concern us, can help us eat better and leave a better planet for the next generation.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

#indianfood #foodblogger #farmermovement #gmfree #saverice #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #homechef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #homechef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

Oct 12, 202155:56
Discover the story of Assamese food with Sanjukta Das on #FoodocracyForHer

Discover the story of Assamese food with Sanjukta Das on #FoodocracyForHer

I am proud to present Sanjukta Dutta nee Das in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.    Sanjukta Das is a passionate narrater of the story of Assamese food. She grew up around the tea gardens of Dibrugarh in Assam and then went to Ahmedabad for further studies and later to Mumbai. She and her husband decided to return to Assam after spending a short while in Mumbai as the pace of India's Maximum City got to too much for them. Ironically, Sanjukta was more at home at Ahmedabad and Mumbai than Guwahati where they moved to as this was the first time that she was living there. So she took a diary with her everyday and stepped out of home to discover more things about the city and in the process fell in love with it. She runs a business which does the last mile delivery for Amazon, a rare woman professional in a male dominated field. She had studied international relations in her masters and her interest in telling the story of Assamese food has led her to being a junior ambassador for the India Food Tourism Org. Do watch the rest of the episode to know more about the fascinating work that Sanjukta is doing and about why she is a big advocate of the slow food movement. #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.   #indianfood #foodblogger #assamesefood #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #homechef #slowfood #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

Oct 04, 202151:10
The former journalist who is working hard to bring back the golden age of Bengali Cuisine: Pritha Sen on #foodocracyforher

The former journalist who is working hard to bring back the golden age of Bengali Cuisine: Pritha Sen on #foodocracyforher

I am proud to present Pritha Sen in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.   

Look up any article on the food of Bengal and its history in recent times and chances are that you will find a quote from Pritha Sen in it. She has been called a food historian and anthropologist, though she likes to call herself a food researcher. Her story did not start with food though. She was a teacher at the start of her career. Then a journalist with marque publications such as Sunday, Business Today, Asian Age and Outlook, where she got to work with some of the top editors of our time. She then worked in the sustainability sector. Food happened somewhere along the line and she began writing on food, researching its oral history, conducting pop ups, curating pop food festivals. She worked as a chef consultant for the Mustard Restaurant and with hotels such as the Oberoi Hotels and the ITC Hotels and creating Bengali menus for them. She is currently associated with Gormei platform in creating some fabulous food experiences.   

We first met through social media and I feel privileged to call her my friend. She is elder to me and I jokingly call her pishi (aunt), but our chat today shows the deep respect and affection that I have for her.  

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.  

#indianfood #foodblogger #bengalifood #foodhistory #finelychoppedTV #homechef #prithasen #finelychoppedtv #radiofinelychopped

Sep 27, 202101:02:56
Dr Nandita Iyer of Saffron Trail talks about super foods and super blogging on #FoodocracyForHer

Dr Nandita Iyer of Saffron Trail talks about super foods and super blogging on #FoodocracyForHer

 #FoodocracyForHer is series in which I speak to women entrepreneurs and achievers from the world of food to get inspired by them and to share their stories with you. It's fair to call freelance content creators as entrepreneurs too as someone had once pointed out to me. In this episode (recorded in January 2021) I speak to Dr Nandita Iyer  @Saffron Trail  who is one of India's pioneering food bloggers turned bestselling author and popular columnist. Watch on while she talks about how she worked in a hospital after passing out of medical college in Mumbai, dabbled in medical insurance and health advertising after that, before she discovered the world of food blogging. All of this while life took her from Mumbai to the US and then to Hyderabad and eventually to Bengaluru, where she now stays with her husband and her son and the new addition to their family, a little doggy who is growing at an alarming phase. She tells us about her journey from being a hobby blogger to becoming a brand endorser and then an author. Her first book 'the Everyday Healthy Vegetarian' was a runaway success and she has now come out with her second book, 'Everyday Super Foods,' which is now open for pre-booking and she tells us about what to expect in it. Nandita is one of my earliest friends from the world of blogging and I really enjoyed our chat. I hope you do too.

Sep 23, 202159:59
The MBA turned home chef who is bringing Kolhapuri food to Mumbai. Reshma Mane on #FoodocracyForHer

The MBA turned home chef who is bringing Kolhapuri food to Mumbai. Reshma Mane on #FoodocracyForHer

I am proud to present Reshma Mane, the Mumbai based home chef behind 'Every Aroma', in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.   Reshma is a Mumbai girl with roots in Kolhapur. She did her MBA after she finished her graduation, the way her parents wanted her to, before following her passion for food. Reshma is a big believer in learning and upskilling herself and did the certification courses on cookery and baking at IHM, Mumbai, to strengthen her culinary skills before she launched Every Aroma Caterers from her home kitchen in 2010. The venture took many shapes, from making cupcakes on order to offering multi-cuisine catering. Then came the Covid Pandemic and that is when Reshma emerged as a home chef focusing on her own Kolhapuri food heritage through deliveries. A completely new model of working and she rebranded herself as just Every Aroma and dropped the 'caterers' tag. She also did some very interesting collabs with fellow home chefs. Listening to her would be gold for those wanting to understand how to build home chef brands and businesses. ​ #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the video so that more people can know about Every Aroma and order for them. Please click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.  #indianfood #foodblogger #foodinfluencer #foodreviews #finelychoppedTV #homechef #kolhapurifood #maharashtrianfood

Sep 20, 202158:54
Meet Kolkata's Mrs Magpie Sohini Basu on #FoodocracyForHer

Meet Kolkata's Mrs Magpie Sohini Basu on #FoodocracyForHer

I am proud to present Sohini Basu @lifeoutsidemrsmagpie who runs Mrs Magpie @mrsmagpiecafe , Kolkata, in this episode of #FoodocracyForHer.

Sohini Basu grew up in Kolkata, went to the UK to study fashion and spent the initial years of her career in Kolkata working for Sabyasachi, the famous designer. She then went to Paris to study the business side of fashion.
She fell in love there...with the quaint patisseries of Gay Paree and then went to LCB London to know more about the world of all things sweet.
She returned to Kolkata and decided to start her own patisserie. She wanted to create her own path and eschewed making pastries for cupcakes and opened patisserie Mrs Magpie which is as famous for its cupcakes today as it is for hot chocolate some would say.
9 years down the line Mrs Magpie has 3 branches, has won many fans and awards and its Southern Avenue branch has seen many a romance bloom. To know more, sit back and listen to our chat.

#FoodocracyForHer is a chat show on #FinelyChoppedTV featuring interviews by Kalyan Karmakar of women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.

Please share the podcast so that more people can know about the Mrs Magpie storu, click on like as it helps it be discovered and do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes.
#cupcake #finelychoppedtv #chef #kolkatafood #covid19diaries #foodpodcast


The episode originally aired on July 26 2021

Sep 17, 202151:07
Macched mudo diye dal comfort. Bengali for dal with fish head.

Macched mudo diye dal comfort. Bengali for dal with fish head.

The latest episode on the #comfortfinelychopped podcast series is on maached mudo diye dal (fish head dal). I spoke about how I cook it and about how Mumbai first felt like home to me the day I first recreated this speciality from my mom’s kitchen in our little kitchen here. 

In this series I speak about everyday dishes which give me joy. And why they do so. Hope you like it.

 #indianfoodpodcast #foodpodcast #bengalifood #fishhead #radiofinelychopped

Sep 16, 202123:35
Nooresha Kably tell you the Izumi, Bandra, story on #foodocracyforher

Nooresha Kably tell you the Izumi, Bandra, story on #foodocracyforher

I am proud to present Nooresha Kably, who is the chef owner of Izumi Bandra, in this episode of #FoodocracyForHer. Izumi Bandra has taken the Indian restaurant scene by storm within its few years of existence and who better than Nooresha Kably to tell its story. The story of how Nooresha, who earlier ran a sushi delivery outfit with a former chef from Zenzi (who is in a senior role with Izumi now), decided to go to Tokyo alone in her mid 40s to learn how to cook Japanese food. Again and again. Including once at Yokohama. Of how she and her husband Anil Kably found a co-business partner in Neale Murray, who believed in their vision once he tried her food; and in Owen Roncon, who gave them their second place which is where the Izumi story really began to soar. Watch the chat to know what drives Nooresha and keeps her going as she creates a successful independently run Japanese restaurant in city where very few existed and of how she remodelled the business in the pandemic world. #FoodocracyForHer is a chat show on #FinelyChoppedTV featuring interviews by Kalyan Karmakar of women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business. Please share the video so that more people can know about the Izumi Bandra story, click on like as it helps it be discovered and do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes. #sushi #finelychoppedtv #chef #mumbaifood #covid19diaries #foodpodcast #supportsmallbusiness #vocalforlocal #ramen #japanesefood
Sep 16, 202153:33
The food portal editor who quit her job to help you make better choices. Tanu Ganguly on the #FoodocracyForHer podcast

The food portal editor who quit her job to help you make better choices. Tanu Ganguly on the #FoodocracyForHer podcast

I am proud to present Tanu Ganguly, Delhi based founder of Mishry Reviews, in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.

In this chat you will get to hear Tanu Ganguly speak of her two decade long career in NDTV across its platforms such as NDTV Lifestyle and NDTV food (where she was my editor during the second half of my stint as a columnist with them) and how it helped her discover her passion for food. Of how being in the start up-like environment of one of post-liberalisation India's most pioneering media companies planted the entrepreneurial bug in her. Of how this made her leave a very successful career at an organisation that she loved to set up her own venture, Mishru Reviews. Mishry Reviews is India's first digital platform for product reviews in the food space according to Tanu. In our chat Tanu draws on her producer and editorial days in NDTV to talk about what makes for great storytelling and this is gold for fellow content creators. ​She also dips into her Mishry Reviews experience to talk about what being a founder entails AND since this is #FoodocracyForHer, what being a woman founder entails! In case you are wondering, she leaves you with solutions and not just problems.

PS: I did get the heebie-jeebies while interviewing someone who has worked so closely with the anchor I've idolised since my school days, Dr Prannoy Roy. I hope he sees this.

#FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.

Please share the video so that more people can know about the story of Mishry Reviews and share it, click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.

Corrigendum: I mistakenly referred to Shital Kakad and not Pinky Chandan Dixit as the owner of Soam in the video Apologies for the confusion.

#indianfood #foodblogger #foodinfluencer #foodreviews #finelychoppedT
Sep 15, 202156:46
Food blogger to diabetes food needs provider. The 13 year long journey of Bangalore's Monika Manchanda.

Food blogger to diabetes food needs provider. The 13 year long journey of Bangalore's Monika Manchanda.

I am proud to present Monika Manchanda, Bangalore based food writer & restaurant consultant and Chief Culinary Officer of LiveAltLife, in the latest episode of #FoodocracyForHer.   In this chat you will get to hear about how Monika, a former IT professional, took up food blogging in 2008 and then became a home baker before the phrase was even coined. Of how she explored different avenues of blogging and social media till she had her eureka moment when she stepped into a commercial kitchen and discovered her calling as a restaurant/ cafe consultant. You will hear of the self-doubts that she faced during the journey, her battles with the 'imposter syndrome,' the emptiness of the lockdown and of how she then rediscovered herself as the co-founder of LiveAltLife, a health tech startup aimed at helping people reverse lifestyle diseases with a focus on diabetes. You will find Monika at her candid best here. I found her life's journey as a food social media denizen and the tips that she shared to be most enlightening. As I am sure will you.   #FoodocracyForHer by Kalyan Karmakar is India's longest running podcast featuring women entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business.  Please share the episode so that more people can know about the story and share it, click on like as it helps the video be discovered and please do subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes of the podcast.  #indianfood #foodblogger #foodinfluencer #bangalorefood #hombaker #finelychoppedTV

Sep 09, 202155:09
Pohe comfort

Pohe comfort

Episode 2 of the #ComfortFinelyChopped series is where I speak about the pohe of Mumbai which locals love and many of my fellow Bengalis do not. My story shows how my falling in love with pohe mirrored my falling love with Mumbai. As I said at the end, comfort food should be dished, not dissed.


#Indianfood #maharashtrianfood #mumbaifood #pohe #vegetarian

Sep 01, 202121:60