Other People's Podcasts: Q&A with Annada Rathi.
Discover what inspired her to start her podcast.
My Simple Cooking Podcast
Hello, Annada. Can you please tell us about yourself and your podcast?
A - I am a food writer and cooking instructor specializing in Indian flavors. My Substack newsletter ChutneyLovers, as well as the podcast, aim to make Indian food and flavors accessible to weekday cooking and approachable to all the cooking enthusiasts, irrespective of their culinary skillset.
Kanchan Shringi, a technology professional, and I started My Simple Cooking podcast during the pandemic for those who wished to up their cooking game in the midst of a hectic work schedule. In each episode of the podcast, we simplify flavorful recipes (that comprise a meal) and offer tips and tricks to cook them in the time you have.
Q - What inspired you to start your Podcast?
A - We were inspired to start the podcast because we saw a gap in the approach to cooking, especially in the case of those with limited time and experience. Many recipe platforms do not focus on efficiency, parallelization or real-time adaptability, which can make cooking feel overwhelming. We also wanted to explore how technology - voice-based assistants, and smart meal-planning can transform everyday cooking into a hassle-free experience.
Another reason for starting the podcast was to ease the readers into cooking Indian food on a regular basis. Though we have come across many who love Indian food, rarely have we come across people who have it in their weekly cooking rotation. I have friends who will churn out pasta from scratch but are anxious about cooking Indian food. We wanted to address that hesitancy and ease it with our tips, tricks, substitutes, ingredients knowledge and advance planning.
One does not have to cook a full-blown Indian meal to enjoy the Indian flavors, you can adapt and adopt these haunting flavors into your everyday food to add a unique twist and turn that everyday food into a novelty. One example is Indian Peanutty Noodles, a simple noodle dish whose flavor foundation is a versatile powdery dry peanut chutney.
Q - How did you choose your podcast’s niche or theme
A - The niche was chosen based on the need for practical cooking solutions tailored to time-constrained individuals who still want to cook flavorful, home-cooked meals. The podcast delves into how structured meal planning, ingredient optimization, and advanced preparation can make cooking more accessible, particularly for professionals, students, and those new to Indian flavors.
Q - How do you plan and structure your episodes?
A - Each episode of the podcast deals with exactly one meal. The podcast is recorded in a Q&A and discussion format where Kanchan asks me my approach and thinking behind the recipe. We choose the recipes after mutual discussion based on parameters like ease of preparation, time required and convenient availability of ingredients.
Q - How do you choose your guests, if you have any?
A - Most episodes are recorded with Kanchan and me. We have just started inviting friends and family as guests.
Q - What distinguishes your podcast from others?
A - What distinguishes us is how we break down a recipe to make it approachable. One important term we have coined is "advanced ingredients". They are the ingredients that undergo some culinary treatment and are a work-in-progress en route to the final dish. For example the dry peanut chutney is an advanced ingredient for the Indian Peanutty Noodles. It can be prepared ahead of the recipe and is also a few steps further towards the final dish. As it turns out, this chutney is also a fantastic recipe in itself.
We dissect each recipe to whittle advanced ingredients and also mention how far in advance they can be prepared and within how much time. So say you find 20-30 minutes free time over the weekend, whip up the chutney and store it as per the provided instructions and you have slashed the cooking time of Indian Peanutty Noodles on the day of.
Q - What has been your memorable or impactful episode so far?
A - It's yet to come!
Q - Are there any dream guests or topics you would love to feature?
A - Madhur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni
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Thank you, Lynn. I deeply appreciate your efforts to shed light on content creators like me.
So interesting! Love that you are helping people to try new things.