New Delhi, July 10 -- It was an overcast Tuesday afternoon when a much anticipated parcel from Kerala arrived for home chef Marina Balakrishnan in Juhu, Mumbai. It contained the ingredients of karkidaka kanji (pronounced as kanni in Malayalam), a herb-infused red rice gruel from Kerala, and the mainstay of her monsoon offering in a seasonally changing menu.
Balakrishnan runs Oottupura, a vegetarian Malabar delivery kitchen launched during the lockdown in May. After completing her chef's training at New York's Natural Gourmet Institute and working at the Michelin-starred Gaa in Bangkok, Balakrishnan deep-dived into food from her home state, Kerala, and modified her culinary approach based on Ayurvedic principles. Karkidaka kanji embodies he...