HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY

For many years, Uttarakhand's micro-cuisines, with their slow, sustainable approach and superfood appeal, have attracted curiosity. What will it take for them to finally garner attention?

- PRANNAY PATHAK

Forget dalgona coffee, dishwashing, and homegardening, among the many trends that unfolded during phase one of the pandemic, the shining resurgence of Garhwali cuisine-so far the lacklustre child of that chunky body of eating practices that together constitute Himalayan cuisine-stood out. This mini-revolution materialized alongside endless doom scrolling sessions on social media, as creators, cooks, food stylists and home chefs converged on online forums to talk about Uttarakhand's food beyond kafuli.

It came partly from the urgent need to eat clean and fortify the constitution with ingredients anointed by nature as pure, and partly from the nostalgia for the hills and one's home far away. Chef Thomas Zacharias (The Bombay Canteen) famously took two weeks off to eat through the state and discover under-represented cooking and eating practices in Uttarakhand. Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal, culinary chronicler and prominent champion of Uttarakhand food, moved briefly to her husband's hometown in the state. Bengaluru-based food photographer and stylist Sanskriti Bist, too, returned to her native Dehradun, as did Chef Pawan Bisht of One8Commune.