Culture Chat with Indian Food Blogger Behind Finely Chopped

Years ago, I used to publish interviews with people who lead interesting lives on this blog. Recently, I decided to bring back the segment and curate it to be more culture-specific, hence the new name: Culture Chat.

I first got to know Kalyan, the famous Indian food blogger, as an author of the Travel-Food Memoir (The Travelling Belly: Eating Through India’s By-Lanes) while researching the connection between food and death in different cultures. A few weeks later, I was googling “best must eat food in India” and stumbled upon his blog, Finely Chopped. Though I didn’t find any Kerala (the part of India I will be visiting soon) restaurant reviews, I ended up reading through his years of writing. His voice is friendly, humble and honest. His posts are relatable, informative and entertaining. Reading his blog feels like talking to a friend over a cup of chai. In short, Kalyan writes beautifully and if you are into India, food, Indian food, and or travel stories, check out his blog.

Kalyan Karmakar, The Indian Food Blogger Behind Finely Chopped

Kalyan is a food and travel writer based in Mumbai, India. He has lived here for the last 20 years and grew up in Kolkata on the opposite end of India. Born in the UK, he also lived in Iran for a year with his parents before moving to India. Regarding cultural connection, this Indian food blogger belongs to the Bengali community and is exposed to Maharashtra’s cultures, of which Mumbai is the capital. His wife is a Parsi. They are Zoroastrians whose ancestors migrated to India from Iran generations back.

Kalyan started his career as a market researcher in the late 1990s. He began writing his blog, Finely Chopped, in 2007. He then moved into a career in food writing in 2013. His first book, The Travelling Belly, was published in 2017. He recently curated the Times Kitchen Tales project for the Times of India (India’s most widely read English newspaper).

KK: What is the best way to experience the culture in the city you are currently living in?

Mumbai is a busy city and one that lives on its streets. Its people are always on the move. Travel takes a big part of our time. Sometimes just hanging around a street corner, sipping on tea from a Tapdiwala (roadside tea stall owner) and watching people pass by is a great way to experience the city’s culture.

KK: What is the best food to eat in your hometown?

You should try the Maharashtrian food that is on offer.

Be it the vegetarian dishes such as thali peeth, misal, kothamvid vadia, puran poli, sabudana vada (or vadai in South India) at the vegetarian restaurants or the fish curries, fries and mutton and chicken curries that are on offer in the Malvani restaurants.

Or try out the street food; the vada pav, sev and bhel puri and the chai, of course!

KK: Oh geez, my mouth is watering!

KK: What is the biggest festival in your culture, and what kind of food is usually prepared for it?

In ‘my’ culture, it would be the Durga Puja. The food associated with it is khichuri, a risotto-like dish made with yellow moong, rice, mild spices, and ghee.

For the Maharashtrians, it would be the Ganesh Chaturthi. A sweetmeat called modak and the dumpling-like variety, ukadiche modak, is associated with this.

KK: What tradition in your culture do you love the most?

The fact that food forms such a big part of every festival and provides a wonderful occasion for hope, joy, and bonding. Food is also considered sacred in our culture. We are taught to respect it and never waste it.

KK: Why a food blog, Kalyan?

I was in a corporate career when I started it. Did not get much creative and emotional joy from my work at that time. Seeing this, my wife suggested that I try writing a blog. She said it would allow me to share my thoughts on food there. Blogs were pretty new then. I guess she was bored of listening to me dissecting the food we eat in restaurants and thought this would be a good way to keep me out of her hair. She named the blog too and has been the biggest supporter of my new career.

KK: Please thank the missus on my behalf.

KK: What is the hardest post you have written on the blog?

A couple of years into blogging, I decided to share my memories of my father, who had passed away when I was very young, on the blog on his death anniversary. I had never spoken about this to anyone, and that too in public. It was a tough task but rather cathartic in the end.

KK: What’s the best market you have ever visited?

The Bansdroni Market in Kolkata. It is not the biggest market in the city. Not the famous either. It is the market that I have grown up around, and I love visiting it when I return to Kolkata. Seeing the same vendors from whom I would buy fish, fruits, vegetables, chicken, and groceries bring back the child in me. I feel very good when there and proud of the market too.

I’ve also been to many famous markets such as Warawat in Chiangmai, Chatuchak in Bangkok, Spice Souk in Dubai, Borough Market in London, QVC Market in Melbourne, La Boqueria in Barcelona, Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. I love them all.

KK: Tell us about someone who in your industry whom you admire?

Pritha Sen. She is Bengali and senior to me. A former teacher turned journalist, turned sustainable development sector worker, turned restaurant consultant.

She uses social media extensively to reach out to new audiences, though she doesn’t blog. She is passionate about Bengali food culture and history and often writes about this and tries to give expression to what she has learned through the food pop-ups she conducts and Mustard, the restaurant that she consults for in Mumbai.

It has been my pleasure to have the famous Indian food blogger as a guest of Culture Chat.

Some of my favourites from the blog: Is Ganpati the God of food bloggers? – Beauty is in the eyes of the diner. – …my mom writes about my love for food – Sugar Fix at Candies and many others.

Once again, thank you, Kalyan, for agreeing to be featured here. Pictures are from the Finely Chopped blog.

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