STIRRING UP CONVERSATIONS

Addressing stereotypes about North-East India is a key element of Abhineet Mishra’s stand-up comedy act on stage. We test his skills in the kitchen, where the reluctant cook gamely whips up a staple dish of the region while filling Zaral Shah in on the less-talked-about culinary connection with his roots

On a not-so-wintery afternoon in December, team Verve makes its way to Magazine Street Kitchen, in Mumbai, where stand-up comedian and HR manager Abhineet Mishra is waiting. He is centre stage for a different reason today: to attempt the preparation of a typical North-East Indian dish, aloo pitikas. As someone who wouldn’t mind eating different variants of potatoes for every meal, every day, I’m excited to see how this turns out. Mishra, however, seems uncharacteristically nervous about putting on a show, since the primary focus is on his culinary skills. I reassure him, citing my own lack of cooking expertise, and we chat instead about his years in Shillong.

With his memories of food and the kitchen being related to his remembrances of childhood, Mishra talks fondly of his time growing up. “It’s typical of the North-East to have very lazy Sundays. You would find Sundays to be the chill day when people go to church in the morning and the family later gets together and cooks. I was prohibited from entering the kitchen after a couple of my escapades, but my parents got together and prepared something. Mom is a vegetarian, despite being in the North-East, and dad is a non-vegetarian — if there’s something called pure non-vegetarian, he’s that,” he shares.