Cook like a chef with farm-fresh produce

The speciality ingredients available for premium dining are just a click away for home chefs and curious cooks

- Aatish Nath

Otra, the south Mumbai restaurant offering Latin American cuisine, the entire menu hinges on a steady supply of corn kernels that can be nixtamalized (soaked in an alkaline solution to break down cell walls and make them easier to turn into flour).

The corn is used to make tacos, tostadas and chocoyotes. Chef Alex Sanchez sources the kernels from Three One Farms in Ludhiana, Punjab, run by a seventh-generation farmer Anushka Neyol. Together Sanchez and Neyol have done three seasons of trials over two years to finally get the product to market.

Sanchez says, "I just proposed (in July 2021) if she would be interested in joining us (to find the right corn) and seeing where it goes." In the years since that first conversation, Neyol worked with farmers and researchers at Ludhiana's Punjab Agricultural University and Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi to learn about the crop. Otra now uses about 100kg of corn a month.

As the country's dining scene evolves, the need for specific ingredients, ranging from mushrooms to capers, sumac to cheese, is growing. Chefs are sourcing India-harvested produce instead of importing, even as different suppliers showcase the country's diverse bounty of hyper local, sometimes foraged vegetables and greens.

Then there are the entrepreneurs—ranging from cheesemakers to fermentation specialists—who have created their own niche, ensuring that the country's restaurants have access to a range of options from different parts of India. Cooking enthusiasts who wish to replicate the flavours served in a restaurant, seek out these ingredients too.