Talking 'Sindh' with Sapna Ajwani
A preview of Friday's first paid subscriber post, plus a rogue (for me!) gift guide
I’m excited to introduce today’s edition of shelf offering, which is a preview of this newsletter’s first paid subscriber post that will be sent on 1 Dec. Sapna Ajwani, who runs the supper club Sindhi Gusto in London and the author of the cookbook Sindh: Recipes and Stories from a Forgotten Land (whose cookbook I have edited), is my guest this week. We sat down for an hour’s conversation on the journey towards creating her cookbook via her supper club, navigating food memories, and the pain of Partition. Below is an excerpt from the transcript of our conversation.
Apoorva: Hi Sapna, thank you so much for being here.
Sapna: Thanks Apoorva for having me. And it's lovely to see you after so long.
Apoorva: Me too. Can you tell me about where you grew up and what you ate growing up, you know, some of your earliest memories of cooking and eating.
Sapna: I grew up in Mumbai, I lived there I think I lived most of my life in Mumbai if I actually have to count the number of years… and my biggest memories of childhood are you know, eating a lot of, [and] I hope all [the] vegetarians and vegans don't feel bad about it. But all my memories from childhood of food are meat and fish related. So I grew up eating a lot of fish and a lot of meat… offal you know, like what we call maghaz, which is goat brains for instance or goat kidneys, goat testicles, you know, that sort of thing. And we used to have… fish was like almost an everyday feature for us even if it was a piece of fried fish, you know, because it was easy to put together on a weekday. Otherwise the food is very, just plain and simple food, just having vegetables and lentils and things like that. And meat stews and all, my mother would usually make them on Fridays or on the weekends. And same with fish stews. So I would actually go with my father to the fish market and the meat market, and you know, we'd go shopping together.
Apoorva: Did you always think you had a cookbook in the back of your mind? Because you loved your food. Did you think that ‘I was going to write a cookbook one day’? Or did that just very organically happen after the supper club?
Sapna: When I did my first supper club, you know, a lot of people, they always said, ‘Oh, how did you make this? How did you make that? And then what went into this? Well, how did you do this? How can you do that?’ So a lot of them also told me, why didn't you do cooking classes and all that I said, I don't think my current setup is… my home is not set up to do cooking classes, I can barely have two people like… my husband and I, you know, can’t even bear to stand next to each other and then having some people and trying to teach them. So in summary, in the back of my head, I said, ‘Yeah, you know, maybe one day I will write down these recipes’ or at least start documenting, talking to my aunts, because they all pushing at 70s, 80s. If nothing else, let me just talk to them. Because the few dishes that I know can't be the only things that we have in our cuisine. So that's where it sort of started and then as I cooked more and more and as I researched more and more, and I learned more and more from my aunts. I kept thinking… we are such an old civilisation, you know?
Apoorva: Yeah.
Sapna: And this certainly warrants more than just writing some recipes down, you know. So I said, if I ever ever do write a cookbook, and it can't just be a recipe book, it has to tie into the history of the region. Because I want to tell people about them.
Apoorva: You also travelled to Sindh in early 2020 to help document the history and the recipes in the book. What was that like? And do you think you would have like envisioned traveling back if you didn't write this book? [Was] that sort of travel in the cards always? Or [did] the book prompt you to go for that?
Sapna: It was… I've always been a big history buff since childhood, right. And obviously knowing, especially ancient history, so the history of Mohenjo-daro and studying history in school... that is what fascinated is Mohenjo-daro is in Sindh, oh wow. So my family comes from [there] so I said, wouldn't it be wonderful to visit it one day? Of course, those days I used to live in India, right. So that aspiration was always there. And that dream was always there. So and I sometimes pinch myself, and I can't believe that it actually happened. You know, that's why I always tell people, you should dream and then things will happen to you. [laughs] Because if you don't dream, you know, you're not even thinking about it. But yeah, when I started doing hosting the supper clubs, and you know, and I wanted to get even closer to my culture, my history and you know, find out more about it. Yeah, so that sort of desire kept getting stronger. And I also, thanks to my supper club, I also connected and also because I live in London, you meet a lot of other people, you know, who are from, from Sindh, and in Pakistan and other parts of Pakistan, so and they became friends. So I used to also tell them, you know, that I wish I could go to Sindh, and you know, just research and find out what people are eating, there now exact, etc. So, yeah, and so luckily for me, it finally came to fruition. Yeah.
Sindh: Recipes and Stories from a Forgotten Land is written by Sapna Ajwani, with design & art by Holly Catford, food photography by Ming Tang Evans, illustration by Reena Makwana, and edited by Apoorva Sripathi. Register your interest for the book.
The full edited transcript will go out on Friday, 1 Dec, for paid subscribers.
This is my first gift guide which I hope will be many to come. It’s also a very subjective, very personal list, which goes without saying but I want to say it. Essentially, it’s a list of things I want people to buy for me but also a list that I think will bring anyone joy. I’m not advocating for people to actively take part in mass consumerism — just that if you’ve been thinking hard about what to get someone you love (as have I), this may help!
COFFEE/TEA/BEVERAGES/FOOD
Kerehaklu produces a bunch of specialty coffees that have been grown in coexistence with the local biodiversity and in natural habitat and their coffees are available at roasters throughout the country. I have enjoyed drinking both Pranoy’s Pride and Halley Huli 10 brewed in an aeropress. Bonus: you can also visit and stay at their coffee plantation.
Black Yeti Oolong tea by Nepali Tea Traders, a small company that sells artisan loose leaf teas. This tea is lush and perfect for winters (not that I would know what it’s like), but it’s caramel-ly, smooth, and amber. They also recommend you steep this twice, and it’s very comforting! If you’re not so much into oolong, they also sell loose leaf tea blends, like this masala chai blend.
Is there a one true brand of good chocolate? By good, I don’t just mean how the chocolate tastes but is it morally good? Does the brand/company produce equitable chocolate? Do the cacao farmers benefit ultimately? I have no definite answer1 to this because the politics of producing chocolate is still tied deeply with deforestation, slavery, child labour and colonialism. I like Soklet’s single estate Indian origin chocolate2, and they have a 55% spiced drinking chocolate, a cacao tisane, and even salted caramelised nibs.
This is a lush one: rum butter, a Cumbrian delicacy, is the perfect way to indulge this Christmas/holiday season. Serve on toast, cakes, ice cream, popcorn.
CERAMICS/CROCKERY
I like having more mugs than I can count (some of us are built that way), and this set of two porcelain mugs with designs of banana leaves on them are so precious! I also like this pookal designs, aka flowers.
I am OBSESSED with this travel paint palette by Trayah! Its miniature size makes me feel like a child attempting to paint again, which is what I’ve been trying to do. It also means that I can limit myself to a few colours and have more control over my colour composition. I mean it’s very cute!
Cooking utensil stores are dime a dozen in Chennai and I will always be fascinated with them; it’s like an endless treasure trove. For those who cannot visit, Zishta has a shop online (if you’re obsessed with vessels as much as I am). Heavy kalchattis are perfect for making curries3. I have this Manipuri black pottery pot which I use for making biryanis and it’s functional as it’s pretty.
Toni Darling Frank’s pieces are unique, colourful, so joyous and I’d like to collect at least one mug before I die. Her shop isn’t open yet but she hints at opening on Wednesday. Mouse tracker at the ready!
I’d also be happy with this hand carved wooden platter in the shape of a jaunty fish.
MISCELLANEOUS
I discovered something called Springbok Appeteaser (quite late to this party), which are (65 piece) mini puzzles made in the 70s featuring photos of food that come little round boxes. Adorable! At the back of each box, there’s a poem/small copy/joke about the food puzzle. Mega adorable! You can usually find them on ebay.
Reena Makwana’s art and embroidery features woodland creatures, restaurants, London tube stations, and food. (She illustrated the mangoes for my Vittles piece and has also illustrated for CHEESE, the magazine of culture). Her shop is open currently and her illustrated print of Iranian food is wonderful.
People who know me know I have this singular infatuation with London. And nothing illustrates London culture perfectly than its pubs. Artist Lydia Wood, who has set herself “a (potentially lifelong) mission to draw every pub in London, all 3,450 (ish) of them” [her words], has pub prints on sale as well as a pub calendar(!!!). Just perfect.
Mapcha, meaning peacock, reinterprets traditional Tibetan motifs in their clothes, jewellery, and art. Their clothes are beautiful and comfortable, with architectural silhouttes. Love these handmade wrap-over pants.
Crayons! What’s not to love? As an “artist” who keeps going back and forth between practicing and abandoning art, crayons always seem to coerce me back into it. Paints are great, gouache is my favourite, but nothing beats the saccharine pleasure of receiving and holding crayons. You don’t even have to be an artist; you just have to hold an immense and expandable joy for colour. Caran D’ Ache’s crayons are wonderful simply because they are water soluble wax oil pastels. Who tf needs paints?
Diaries are still cool gifts to give (I think so). I love this in the style of classic French paperback books in pastel shades and clean lines. I wouldn’t also mind receiving these pocket diaries that resemble passports.
I have a lot of Tamil calendars at home in the style of tearable sheets, vivid colours, and big big numbers. This Karel Martens calendar reminds me of an XL version of them.
PUBLICATIONS/LITERATURE/TO READ
Not at all shamefaced when I say this but how about a gift subscription to this newsletter (lol). If you love it here, or even barely tolerate it, chances are someone you know very well might also love it here? Annual subscriptions are Rs 3500 or £33/yr or $42/yr depending on your local currency.
Or you can gift them a donation/subscription to some other excellent newsletters:
Buenos Aires-based Kevin Vaughn writes and produces Matambre Mag, a thoughtful newsletter about food culture in Buenos Aires and around Argentina.
Darn good by Devan Grimsrud who sends out weekly recipes.
The Goodies by Marzipan who writes essays on eating around London.
Katie Mather’s The Gulp, who’s started a news series of essays on processed food.
Noodle, a recipe newsletter by Nora Singley.
Sourced by Anna Sulan Masing and Chloe-Rose Crabtree, which investigates the way ingredients are sourced to push the food and drinks industry towards change.
Issues 1, 2, and 3 of CHEESE, the magazine of culture4 are still available to purchase before Christmas. If you’re in the UK, order by 17 December and if you’re in the rest of the world, order by 4 December.
dhoop magazine explores food at the intersection of nature, culture, sustainability and design. The cover of their latest issue on commensality (in which I have an essay) smacks of pure 90s nostalgia.
Rare Mags has a number of zines to choose from artichokes to profiles on record labels and poetry featuring queer contemporary poets from Europe, Asia, North and South America.
This list is incomplete as I would like a lot more things but I’ll stop here. Happy gifting xx
Without launching into too much preamble in my gift guide, but I also want to make it clear here: An ideal response to this would be to stop eating chocolate, which is impossible given how chocolate has been entwined with our lives, whether celebration, nostalgia, or just joy. Craft chocolate isn’t there yet and bean to bar comes with its own problems. All this is a disclaimer to say that while specialty food be a force of change, sometimes it tends to pull the wool over our eyes and as consumers it is good to be aware of what we’re consuming and why.
They grow chocolate by intercropping it alongside coconut, nutmeg, pepper and banana in Tamil Nadu
Instructions on how to use and care for: https://zishta.com/blogs/bodha/product-detail-documents-soapstone-kalchatti-cookware
NB: I’m one of the co-founders of the magazine.