Interview with Roopali Mohanti, Author of Servings: Simple Yet Exotic

Being a homemaker for the last 20 plus years, the one question when waking up would always be, ‘What should we eat today’!

on Jul 18, 2023

Interview with Roopali Mohanti, Author of Servings: Simple Yet Exotic

Roopali Mohanti is a hotel management graduate. She has worked with a leading Indian hotel chain in the early years of her career. While marriage and motherhood took precedence over a full-time job, she continued to work on projects that held her interest and needed her skillset. Intrigued by the intricacies of the culinary arts and driven by her passion for cooking the best possible meals for her family and friends, she set out to combine her experience and kitchen skills into this collection of stories and recipes.

Frontlist: Could you tell us about the inspiration behind "Servings: Simple Yet Exotic and what inspired you to put together this cookbook?

Roopali: Growing up, I would constantly see my mother in the kitchen. Every new town we moved to, owing to my father being in the Indian Navy, led to her learning new cuisines and cooking techniques from the many people who were a part of our lives, from her friends, the local house help, and sometimes from trained cooks. Her now yellowed Remington typed script cookbook with notes and a mention of who gave her the recipe was indeed the inspiration behind the idea of collating recipes. She encouraged me to start cooking and baking in my teens, and ’Servings’ is a culmination of all that I have learned over the years from my experiments in the kitchen and from others.

Frontlist: "Servings" offers a wide spectrum of dishes from different cuisines. How did you go about selecting the recipes to include in the book, and was there a particular cuisine or dish that challenged you the most?

Roopali: The structure of ’Servings’ happened along the way. I have always put menus together based on regions, only mixing those cuisines that have a commonality in ingredients or flavors. Hence, only those dishes that balanced the menu in terms of color, flavor, and texture were added to a section. I think the ‘Pantua’ was the toughest to crack. Considering I based it on my college Food Production journal, it should have been the easiest, but it turned out too hard the first time, cracked in appearance the second time, and finally took shape on my third attempt.

Frontlist: The book is organized based on meal timings. How did you come up with this structure, and what benefits do you think it brings to the readers?

Roopali: Being a homemaker for the last 20 plus years, the one question when waking up would always be, ‘What should we eat today’! This is the one question ’Servings’ answers. Open a section based on your meal timing, and you will find a plethora of food options. Besides that, the menu page after each section of the mains helps easily navigate menus for larger gatherings and family meals.

Frontlist: In the book, you mentioned that creating good food doesn't always need fancy ingredients. How did you approach selecting recipes that showcase simplicity while still delivering delectable flavors?

Roopali: I feel cooking good food isn’t about buying the most expensive and fancy ingredients. It is always more about approaching the ingredients or the dish with the idea of making its flavor the highlight as well as plating it creatively. The best example in ’Servings’ would be the Dalma Bela or Dalma Bowl. Dalma is literally the mother of all dishes from my home state Odisha a simple lentil dish making that into a fancy meal in a bowl by topping with a gondhoraj lemon salsa, shrimp popcorn, stone ground chili paste, crisp fried potatoes sticks, and a crackling saag elevates it to exotic.

Frontlist: "Servings" is full of delicious food stories. Could you tell us about one of your favorite food stories from the book and the significance it holds for you?

Roopali: Tough for me to pick one story. But truly, there are many people who have really aided my cooking journey, and usually, a phone call, whether its friends, their mothers, aunts, or older house help; they have all helped me learn more, sometimes going to the extent of making videos or even sending me ingredients from distant places. Each of these experiences has created memories I genuinely cherish.

Frontlist: As a home cook, what tips would you provide to beginners who are hesitant to try new dishes or experiment with unknown ingredients?

Roopali: The only tip I would give anyone is to organize yourself and ensure you have all ingredients for a recipe available beforehand. Once you are in the flow, the dish will turn out right.