Chicken is easy to cook, cheap, widely available and forbidden by no major religious belief system. So its popularity across India is unsurprising. However, the reality is often distasteful, as battery farmed chickens are raised in terrible con

#43: (Indian) Vegetarians vs. The World.

Dec 13th, 2016 14m 48s

The winter holiday season is upon us. More Indians are travelling abroad with great regularity. As a lot of these people are vegetarians and it is difficult for them to find food that is suitable for them. Many travellers come up with ingenious

#42: Pao-er to the People

Nov 23rd, 2016 16m 17s

In some regions of India, bread is an important part of the local cuisine. Mumbai’s most iconic street foods are vada pao and pao bhaji. In both Goa and Kashmir, locally baked fresh bread is a daily staple. When Chef Floyd Cardoz from Mumbai, a

#41: Gur - The Original Candy

Nov 10th, 2016 14m 33s

Seen as old fashioned and rustic, jaggery is fast becoming a forgotten product. It survives mostly as a health food recommended by Ayurveda experts or as a nostalgic throwback to the yesteryears in middle class homes. In this episode, Vikram Do

#40: Cakes - From Birthday Parties to Political Parties

Oct 26th, 2016 15m 24s

From giant customised cakes for politicians’ birthdays to wedding cakes for not just Christian weddings, logo shaped cakes to celebrate a team’s win to heart shaped cupcakes on Valentine’s Day, cakes once seen as ‘western’ have now become a nor

#39: Fighting the War on Waste with Leftovers

Oct 12th, 2016 14m 11s

Creating something new out of what is in your fridge from previous days can be a fine art. With a little creativity in the kitchen, leftovers from last night’s dinner can be magically transformed into something delicious and unrecognisable the

#38: The Billion Packs a Month Biscuit

Sep 28th, 2016 17m 32s

Parle G is not only the largest selling biscuit in the world but is also synonymous with the category it represents. It is an affordable snack for the poorest, a weaning food for small babies and a dessert base for those looking for a nostalgia

#37: No #AccheDin for Gin?

Sep 13th, 2016 15m 38s

Gin is one of the smoothest of all alcoholic drinks and supposedly the easiest to make. In India we have a history with gin since it was a favourite of the British Raj (which also led to the quinine infused tonic water, to help them fight malar

#36: Stainless Steel Kitchens, Iron Clad Memories

Aug 31st, 2016 17m 26s

Many of us would have seen old copper or brass vessels packed away at home and wondered why we don't use them anymore. While they have authenticity, most of these vessels were difficult to use as well as maintain. When an option came along that

#35: Monsoon Foods of Western India

Aug 17th, 2016 17m 11s

The first dark clouds and a drizzle sends us into raptures about chai and pakodas every monsoon. But is fried besan just a substitute for the lack of fresh vegetables? Have we forgotten the other foods that are also a part of the seasonal cuis

#34: Great Coffee Made Easy

Aug 3rd, 2016 16m 45s

Does it seems too hard to get a perfect brew right at home? Is there too much technology and process involved in grinding and brewing? Matt Chitharanjan from Blue Tokai Brewing Company says, “The thing about coffee is that you can make it as si

#33: Chivda — From the Shahs to the Queen

Jul 20th, 2016 13m 8s

The British phone-hacking scandal that rocked the UK a few years back uncovered an unlikely (and highly delicious) detail — that Queen Elizabeth II was furious about the police on duty at her palace polishing off her favourite snack — the Bomba

#32: Pulse of the People

Jul 5th, 2016 16m 33s

No one cares about dal, unless it makes the news for the wrong reasons. As the prices of tur, moong and urad see a shocking price increase, the governments of Maharashtra and Punjab are raiding traders for hoarding dal. But parochialism may be

#31: Feast of the East (Indians)

Jun 21st, 2016 15m 37s

Named after the East India Company, the Catholic community of East Indians are native to Mumbai and have guarded their recipes of bottle-masala for decades. These spice-mixes are a blend of a long list of ingredients, pounded and packed into ol

#30: How Hill Stations gave India its Sweet Tooth

Jun 1st, 2016 14m 48s

Summers in India are synonymous with spontaneous trips to the nearest hill station— a much-needed respite when the temperature of the plains and coastal regions crosses a sweltering 40º celcius. And those trips have etched long walks, energizin

#29: Papad - A circle that completes the square meal

May 10th, 2016 15m 36s

When it comes to a simple home-cooked meal, nothing competes with dal and rice paired with the crunchy contrast of papad. Vikram Doctor traces the role this humble item plays in the meals of various Indian communities. He talks to writer Saaz A

#28: 'Lal, Neelu and Pilu': The story of Swadeshi Sodas

Apr 26th, 2016 14m 31s

Pepsi and Coke have the big billboards, but Thums Up is still one of India’s most popular brands. Vikram Doctor takes us back to 1916, when the Sodawaterwallas actually sold soda, talks to Bachi Karkaria about the soda-staples of the Parsi hous

#27: Who makes the best India Pale Ale? Not India.

Apr 12th, 2016 13m 43s

We’ve got the hot, sunny weather for it, so why do commercial Indian beers leave you cold (and not in a good way)? Vikram Doctor rolls out the barrel and talks to pioneering microbrewers here in India about why ‘regular’ Indian beer is boring

#26: Earthy, Resilient and Nutritious: Ragi Is A Metaphor For The People It Nourishes.

Mar 29th, 2016 12m 29s

Poets (and a Prime Minister) have sung the praises of this ancient whole grain. Tune in as Vikram Doctor traces the path of ragi, the humble finger millet, from its roots as a traditional weaning food, rich in calcium and iron, to its promising

#25 Indians love butter, dahi, ghee and paneer; but are we finally learning to say cheese?

Mar 15th, 2016 13m 47s

Despite our love for dairy products of all kinds, cheese wasn’t widely available or consumed in India. As our economy opened up in the 90s, we were able to get tins of processed cheese, though a majority of Indians continued to find the taste a

#24: The Unforgiving Roti: Is It Either Perfect or Inedible?

Mar 1st, 2016 14m 16s

The roti or chappati, something we are all familiar with, has very basic ingredients -- water, salt, and flour. But despite the utter simplicity of its components, a certain mastery is required to make the perfect roti -- A mastery that many ma

#23 Family Cookbooks: Preserving Memory Through Taste

Feb 16th, 2016 15m 8s

Every family has recipes unique to their homes and often, with the passage of time, these recipes are lost. Some realise that documenting these recipes can create a rich inheritance. Vikram Doctor looks at the charming trend of family cookbooks

#22 Nashik: The Land of Wine & Worship

Feb 2nd, 2016 13m 20s

A little over a decade ago, Nashik was known for one thing – the Kumbh Mela, which arrived at this Maharashtrian city once every 12 years, and for the sheer number of people who gathered during this Hindu pilgrimage festival. Today however, Nas

#21 In the Hunt for India’s National Dish

Jan 19th, 2016 15m 45s

It gets boring to harp on how diverse our country is, but the fact is that India really is a land of many communities and sundry cultures. Even choosing one language to represent all regions is a demanding task. So, you’d think that determining

#20 Open Sesame: The Tiny Seeds That Pack a Huge Punch

Jan 5th, 2016 14m 11s

Sesame (or til, in Hindi) is closely linked with Makar Sankranti (a popular winter festival in West India, during which sweets such as til ladoo, til papad and til chikki are prepared), but it is a far more versatile product – you can use it as