Recipe Journal and an art print illustrated by Sean D’Souza | Photo Credit: Shruti Taneja
Recipes, photo essays and anecdotes from chefs and home cooks, and a packet of heirloom produce. If this is your ideal gift idea, then Shruti Taneja is your favorite person. The 34-year-old founder of Delhi-based Niwala (Mouthful in Hindi), is finding creative ways to fuel her passion: recording family recipes and encouraging everyone to do the same. While Niwala started with a recipe journal in 2020, Shruti is now set to launch a personal cookbook publishing service (in partnership with book editor Chinmayi Manjunath) that uses her grandmother’s recipes to create something valuable. Holding on to half-finished recipe pages. ,
It was a conversation with Chinmayi that sparked the idea, says Shruti of the service, which will start early next month. “When we first talked, we connected on the importance of collecting and preserving family recipes as a way to honor and cherish relationships and people. Our favorite stories, deepest feelings and strongest memories are built around food, and it is a tangible way in which we express togetherness and remember. The publishing service was born out of this conversation and our shared passion for helping people collect and pass on heritage recipes,” she says, adding that with this initiative they simplify the process of creating culinary family collections.
(From left) Shruti Taneja and Chinmayi Manjunath | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Such cookbooks keep family stories alive, bring back memories and are a beautiful gifting option on birthdays, anniversaries and even weddings, explains Shruti, who also runs a personalized postcard service at Niwala, and recently Recently collaborated with Alipore Post (a weekly arts newspaper). a special project. “People are sharing their family recipes along with the messages they want to send to their loved ones. Their dishes and messages reflect love and warmth as the sharing of food is a reflection of that,” says Shruti who has facilitated 100+ recipe exchanges across India. All you have to do is share your recipe with the team along with the recipient’s address, and they write it on a postcard and mail it to you.
Shruti’s Top 3 Indian Cookbooks
, five graces of love By Archana Pidhathala: Short essays for each recipe, and a small anecdote add up to the entirety of the book.
, tiffin By Sonal Ved: This is one of the most comprehensive and complete books covering recipes from all over India. It not only talks about the most obvious dishes – butter chicken, dhokla, appam, etc – but it also goes beyond these and really explores Indian food in different regions.
, fairytale kitchen By Ummi Abdullah: I love how this book was written by Ummi, an 83-year-old grandmother, and published by her granddaughter in an effort to preserve and maintain the traditions of her Malabar Muslim community.
Zine on Rice and Mushrooms
Following her pilot zine, The Legume Project (with kidney beans as the hero ingredient), and following one with Jackfruit, Recipe Curator points out that these print magazines include recipes, anecdotes, memories, cultural compilations around a specific ingredient. Huh. “We were excited to see people using kidney beans that we sourced from Tons Valley and try recipes from the contributing chefs: Rajma Sundal Kashmiri Rajma by a local homechef by Chef Kirtida Phadke.”
A snapshot of the jackfruit zine illustrated by Sean D’Souza | Photo Credit: Shruti Taneja
Shruti says that with the upcoming zens of mushrooms and rice, she chose these ingredients because “they are so versatile and the number of varieties that exist for each of them is astonishing”. “Our partner for The Mushroom Project, Showroomry, grows eight varieties of mushrooms on their farm in Manesar and our partner for The Rice Project, Spirit of the Earth, grows 272 varieties of rice!” Look forward to chef Prateek Sadhu’s Kashmir ki kaan gach yakhani recipes, culinary memories, pieces from cultural anthologies, and more.
Heroizing Content
Shruti states that the idea behind the project was to “show how versatile Indian cuisine is, and how the same ingredients can be made in so many different ways in different regions”. “These projects are even more relevant at a time when we are becoming increasingly savvy about where the food we put on our plates is coming from, who is growing it, harvesting it, processing and selling it. This is why we consciously choose ingredients that are versatile and partner with brands that are working with local farmers who follow sustainable practices,” says Shruti, who aims to make her work sustainable. Have a conversation with about home cooked food.
An art print painted by Sean D’Souza
Projects aside, what Shruti loves about the recipe curation process is “people talking about specific flavors that can instantly unlock a whole world of emotions, memories and feelings of family, love, comfort.” Huh”. “We are on a mission to inspire people to record our family recipes, which are a part of our heritage and are as precious as the sarees and jewelry that we have inherited,” he concluded.
Details at https://www.nivaala.co/