Anita’s father kept a bountiful kitchen garden, with a wild mango tree in their backyard. Every summer, on cue, a peahen would arrive and nurture her brood there. Anita’s father began and ended his day in the garden, and she has followed his example, leading a gently paced life on a college campus in Delhi, insulated from the noise of the India’s capital city. She doesn’t recall rushed mornings.
Anita has taught graduate students the principles of environmental planning, and believes in taking small steps to mitigate the environmental effects of modern life. These small steps add up, she believes. When she started composting her kitchen waste, it was a pivotal moment that impacted much of what followed. Composting lead to the start of a garden on the rooftop of her home in Delhi. The garden brought a constant supply of organic produce – more than what her family could consume. She soon began to look for ways to preserve food at home, and found herself surrounded by jars of pickles, sauces, and jams, and vats of bubbling ferments. One thing led to another, and without much of a plan, she announced her first food workshop on Instagram.
One of Anita’s favorite activities in the kitchen is baking with sourdough, which she has been doing since 2010. For her, the scores of ways to bake with sourdough all have one thing in common: they require patience and mindfulness.
