Prathiksha

Summer Frog ☀️🐸 Fermented mango, pickled winged bean, basil feta cream, focaccia (by the most amazing @_rritisha_ _) Watermelon & Cheese 🍉 Making little bites for hungry artists at @drty.drwrs . I love working with seasonal fruit because it keeps me experimenting and paying attention to what’s around me. Lately, I’ve also been thinking a lot about dishes that pair well with kombucha from @localfermentco.in : bright, alive flavours that feel good in the heat.

Mango Chiffon Cake for the 39th of @jerry.pg.randall He loves mangoes, so @ratulratul and I made a 4 layered chiffon, with mango cream cheese and loads of fresh mango. We tried adding mango juice into the batter to replace water, and it worked well…for the taste. I believe it made it ever so slightly gummy for the texture. All the beautiful flowers used are grown in house at rat garden. @ratulratul Thanks to @jooberrydoesthings for allowing me to use all their equipment!

Piña Colada Tart: Pineapple Curd, Coconut Cream & Pineberries Rritu loves coconut, pineapple and berries, so it just made logical sense. BUT Rritu also has an aversion to eggs. My self-inflicted challenge was to make a pineapple curd that does not taste eggy at all. I was so anxious presenting my first dessert to my dessert mommy that I had a full panic attack the morning I took it to her. Please enjoy the montage of me being convinced she would spit it out. But alas, she loved it. Everyone did. I now cautiously believe I can make a decent tart. Notes: I used gondhoraj, mosambi and vanilla in the curd to soften the egg notes. Also pineberries are so intriguing- they actually taste like pinneaple and strawberries!!

Strawberry Candy Fraisier 🍓 Vanilla sponge with sour citrus candy, strawberry compote (cheong based), lemon-vanilla diplomat, and both fermented & fresh strawberries for garnish Candied assorted citrus peels to keep it sharp and bright. Made as a single-layer birthday cake for @zammydraws ’ cousin Sid, who just turned 13 and who, like me, prefers tongue numbingly sour things over sweet.

A Valentine’s Day Canapé spread for a heavy drinking crowd, on my work desk. I did it! I executed my first planned food spread for 25 people. And it was a success? I would say it was, because I didn’t have to throw a single thing out. Except some store bought nachos. It’s hard to accept good feedback from people and see it as proof of success when I’m such an anxious little being. But it was almost impossible to ignore how people hung out around the food a lot. My biggest anxiety was managing within my budget and also solving for the little last minute fires. I prepped one day in advance, and that’s what really allowed me a couple more hours to spend time problem solving last minute. I planned to put some of the punchiest things I know in there while allowing the dairy/creamy to restrain it. -Cracker of Roasted Beet w/ Feta Cream and Candied Almond -Mushroom Duxelles & Leek cream Crostini - Cheese & Pickle/Fruit skewers - Herb & Chilli Smashed tater tots - Spiced Almond Candy Chakna - Muhammara Dip - Nam Jim dip - Gondhoraj & Strawberry Tart Special mention to my LOVES @nisha.ann.ashok @zammydraws for taking care of everything else so I could do this. :)

Persimmon, feta and balsamic with a mild persimmon–bell pepper hot sauce (fermented last week). Oven roasted: Persimmon chunks Cherry tomato Feta Garlic Thyme Olive oil Seasoning Poured balsamic vinegar and mashed it Mixed with Fusilli and topped with a sweet spicy sauce! When I come back home from work, I keep craving homemade food. Not the exact flavours or specific dishes. It is the layering that feels like home. Textures, small components, little bursts of flavour that only come together in the final bite. It reminds me of how I ate as a kid: rice, curd, a bit of veg, maybe some pickle, all mixed at the end into one perfect, chaotic, comforting mouthful. This plate feels like that. Sweet, salty, tangy, soft,spicy all meeting in the same spoon.

First month at Maki, a French Pâtisserie Highlight of the month: I now work with a mostly women team, and my best friend’s partner?! WHAAT. One of the most interesting things about this place is how the menu changes with the seasons, and with it, all the ingredients that come and go. The kitchen is constantly buzzing with new ideas, trial runs, glorious failures, and plenty of banter about what’s “missing” in a dish. 1: Soft-Boiled Eggs with Salsa Verde I was asked to make a herby sauce to go with the weekend breakfast. I wanted something punchy, but it also had to fit our rustic bistro-style menu. So I made a mix of Mexican and Italian salsa verde, with capers and roasted cashews for that lovely crunch. (I was totally thinking about the amazing verde from @woodstreetsauceco and how they add this perfect texture that just makes it!) 2. Ferments Since we do so many trials, we’re always in need of some in-house condiments. Cue the Mahua hot sauce, which for days during fermentation, smelled exactly like pizza from pizza hut specifically. Wild. Mahua courtesy of the amazing @wildharvestindia . Also, Mahua brined! And fermenting in the corner is a tangy raw mango hot sauce with fennel and snacky peppers. 3. Savouries This one’s been the trickiest because my palate is so tuned to Asian flavours. It’s been a great exercise to unlearn, read up, and get into more pared-back, subtle notes. Currently in progress: a sweet potato dauphinoise that’s truulyy testing my French restraint.

There was a quiet kind of magic in working in a kitchen that breathed with the neighbourhood around it. Technically, the kitchen was in a basement, cut off from the street above. But step inside, and you’d find the back door opening onto a narrow residential road, hushed by the absence of traffic. At first, it felt like a window into other people’s lives. I watched children scatter laughter across the street, neighbours pause to trade gossip, the air thick with the tunes of the vendors passing by and people going about their days. But soon, we were no longer just watching. We belonged. The children coaxed us for cookies, darting across the kitchen as if it were part of their playground. An aunty, steadfast in her routine, greeted me each evening as I slipped out for a cold drink. At the corner shop, the aunty behind the counter brimmed with boisterous humour as I sipped my Limca. On my last day, a family set up a pandal tent, a modest ceremony to honour Mother Mary right outside the kitchen. And in that glow of music and chatter, they fed us as though we were their own. Asking us several times if we all had eaten enough. The chefs didn’t let me clean during closing that night, and instead made me a sandwich while I sat and chatted with them. I closed my packing counter for the very last time. Had a smoke with them. It is the most ordinary thing to do to connect with the humans around, but how do we still fall so short? Isn’t that what food revolves around in the end?

Miso noodle soup, charred leeks Perfect for this weather, to ease my sick lover. Eassyyy on the mind and the body.

Mango yuzu filling in a coconut tart, ancho chilli reduction, meringue It’s crazy how much there is to improve, but I will come back to the concept in the future. Had so much fun just experimenting with desserts with the team during my time at @parttwo.blr .

Turkish egg breakfast with some Shroom floss. Brought back some gooood goodies from a mushroom matchmaking workshop at @conservatory.blr . Some Mugicha and some floss. The floss is not as crunchy as a pork floss would be, especially if not just made. But the savoury quality of it really packs a punch. I can’t wait to try making my own floss!

Vinegar Project Pomelo Vinegar, Oyster Mushroom and Chilli Vinegar A couple of weeks ago, @zaffan.__ went for this fermentation workshop by @kobofermentary and brought back all this exciting information about hot sauces, kombucha, vinegars and what not! I coaxed him for a week, and here we are- trying our very first vinegars!! Will it work? Time will tell.