Rujuta Diwekar: 'Home-cooking is the OG form of self-love and self-care'

- Your kitchen is set up for efficiency, such that an older person can also use it without difficulty.

- All family members have cause to stream in and out of the kitchen, helping in their own different capacities every day.

Titled Mitahara, it is organized by seasons—with recommendations for things to eat in monsoon, summer, winter, and change of seasons. The book released earlier this week. Over an email interview, Diwekar explained the meaning of Mitahara, how forgotten foods like green garlic can become all the rage again, her top tips for eating well, and why she thinks eating to look younger is a trap. Read on:

Your book of recipes is called Mitahara—what does mitahara mean? Could you give some examples?

Mitahar is the ancient Indian concept of eating in a state of balance, consuming without being consumed by it. Culture and cuisine are inseparable, like Jai-Veeru (in the Hindi film 'Sholay'). Culture dictates what you eat, how often and for which occasion.

Since Ganpati is round the corner, modak is the example that comes to mind first. The rice, jaggery, coconut, and moulding the modak are all a great way to come together as a family, both to prepare it and then to savour it.  (Modak is offered on the first day of Ganpati as prasad; Ganesh Chaturthi 2025 is from August 27 - September 6.)

And almost as a reminder of the simple life, there is the rushinchi bhaji (sage vegetable or the vegetables for the sages) that is prepared the next day. A medley of all the monsoon greens, without oil or spices. Fun and frugality live together in the Indian kitchen. If this is not Mitahar, I don't know what is.

The recipes in the book are organized according to season. Tell us about your process, in conceptualizing and writing this book around seasons and the three appetites: hita, mita and ritu bhuk.

Today, the entire narrative is around protein deficiency, but in reality, our diets are getting diversity deficient. We are losing touch with farms and forests and in effect with seasonal produce and ingredients. And because cooking is perceived as a menial task, it doesn't receive the attention it requires. Our lives are enriched when we inherit our mother's recipes, not our father's properties. Property can be bought but cooking requires patience and practice. Stuff that money cannot buy. Hita, Mita, Ritu bhuk are extensions of the concept of mitahar. Hita is where you eat in a way that leads to wellbeing of all, within your ecological means really. Mita means eating as per your ability to digest and ritu means honouring the seasons by altering your cooking. No one wants kanda bhaji in summers and no one wants to miss out on them in the monsoon.

Ukadiche modak (Image credit: Dorling Kindersley)

The month of Sawan is upon us, and you have an entire section on eating monsoon-appropriate foods. Is there a rule of thumb when it comes to what you should and shouldn't eat at this time of year?

The patrode, the lingdi, the steamed or the coal roasted desi corn. Monsoon is a good time to infuse diversity into our diets. While rule of thumb varies in every region and community, the one that cuts across in the monsoon is to include the wild and uncultivated vegetables on our plate.

You make a case for foraged ingredients like lingdi (fiddlehead fern) for monsoon cooking. Tell us why you think these ingredients work well in the rainy season, and what to look for when picking or buying them?

These are wild and uncultivated, which means that they grow only in rich soils. So in fields that are not sprayed with fertilizers and weeding agents, on ridges and valleys. Picking them is a skill by itself because from fiddle head to colocasia to the ambadi or gongura, there are leaves and stems that are edible and the ones that are "poisonous", the ones that don't lend themselves to cooking and give you an itch in the throat or an upset stomach. The bazaar and sabzi wala system of our country means that if it made it to the market, it's the good variety. The "poisonous" stuff doesn't get foraged. And then there are rules like you have for the monsoon kakdi, that you cut the top and check if its good enough to be included as a salad.

In your previous book, The Commonsense Diet, you wrote about the problem with "sciency" diet advice. What sciency diet advice would you want to caution readers about when it comes to cooking/eating in the rainy season?

- Don't eat bhajiya to celebrate the monsoon because it is deep fried. Eat the air fried version to make it healthier.

- Or don't eat modak during Ganpati because it has sugar and eat some sweetened probiotic yogurt as a healthier version.

The thing is that our special preparations are an emotion, they are not just calories. They are a part of our culture and by virtue of that the regulation of how much, how often, etc., is already integrated into it. We do not require food and health influencers to dish out sciency versions.

In the introduction to Mitahara, you write about cooking as a "celebration" of the human quality of "attentiveness", and how "the best thing you can do is eat it (food) with the same attention that you gave to cooking it." Could you expand on these?

Cooking a meal is the highest sign of intelligence. Humans are the only species that cook. We devised it as an act of improving the nutrient and calorific values of food, along with taste, texture and flavour. It is the OG form of self-love and self-care. We don't cook to simply survive but to also enjoy our lives and share moments together. When food we cook is received with love and attention, it is similar to love reciprocated. Netflix dinners are unreciprocated love. The meal is good, but you are not.

You write about forgotten foods. Could you explain with examples — is green garlic one of these forgotten foods?

Green garlic is one of the forgotten foods, as is tender haldi. While the tender haldi gets made into a quick pickle, the green garlic is a part of chutneys, sabzis like undhiyo and even the bajra laddoo. When there is awareness of forgotten foods, it can flood the markets, I have seen that happening with aliv laddoos. I believe the same can happen with green garlic. As a savoury ladoo, it's a delicious way to eat bajra and makes for a good travel snack. But more specifically for Delhi or North India in general, which enjoys its makai roti and saag, I have always heard about saag would get cooked with over 9 green vegetables — I think green garlic could have been one of them.

Curd rice with lemon pickle (Image credit: Dorling Kindersley)

Some of the masalas and dishes you write about are uncommon outside of Maharashtra. Tell us a bit about your biggest food influences and the choice of cuisine(s) and recipes for this book. Also, do you have an easy recipe for making goda Maharashtrian spice mix at home?

My influence is the women of my family. Ambitious with their kitchens and careers, and having more love for food than the people in their life. Sharing the recipe below.

Goda masala ingredients -

•⁠ ⁠coriander seeds (धने)1/4 kg

•⁠ ⁠dry coconut (सुके खोबरे) 100 gms

•⁠ ⁠sesame seeds(तीळ) 50 gms

•⁠ ⁠shahajire. 1 tsp

•⁠ ⁠cumin seeds (जिरे) 50 gms

•⁠ ⁠cinnamon sticks (दालचिनी) 3-4

•⁠ ⁠cloves (लवंग) 1 tsp

•⁠ ⁠black stone flower (दगडफुल) 1 tsp

•⁠ ⁠star anise (चक्रफुल) (optional)

•⁠ ⁠bay leaves (तमालपत्र) 4

•⁠ ⁠black pepper (मिरे) 1 tsp

•⁠ ⁠salt 2 tsps

Steps –

1.⁠ ⁠Roast dry coconut till it turns light brown. Also roast til, cumin seeds, shahajire separately in the same pan.

2.⁠ ⁠Fry all other spices in small quantity of oil separately.

3.⁠ ⁠Lastly, fry coriander seeds in the remaining oil.

4.⁠ ⁠Mix everything and allow to cool down.

5.⁠ ⁠Now grind this mixture and add two tsps of salt and mix well.

Store in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. It remains good for at least six months.

You can use this for making dal (आमटी), all vegetables especially stuffed ones.

In Mitahara, you write about eating (hyper)local, seasonal, balanced foods. What are your thoughts on portion control - is that part of the Mitahara diet? If yes, could you share some tips on how to set goals and try to achieve them?

Eating slowly and with all your senses is an ancient and relevant and foolproof way of eating before feeling stuffed. When you eat this way, you enjoy the food you have eaten, long after the last bite and that is the whole point of Mitahar. To keep the pleasure of consumption without being consumed by it.

Is there a way to eat your way to looking younger—with good skin, hair, and build? If you could share your top 3 tips.

Local, seasonal, traditional food. Eaten on time and with a heart full of gratitude. Those would be my 3 top tips. Looking younger is a trap because no matter how young you look, it is not young enough. But eating with a sense of joy and freedom is the closest we can come to feeling young.

Finally, your top tips to eat + exercise + live better that can help to ward off problems like diabetes and even cardiac arrest in our 40s and 50s.

- Eat food that has a name in your mother tongue and regional language. Learn to cook, practice it often, its therapeutic and liberating. It is the best way to ensure that you don't fall for ever-changing trends.

- Stay well-nourished so that you have both the fuel and enthusiasm to exercise and to recover from it.

- And eat in a manner so that you keep some space in your stomach to enjoy a good night's sleep.