What does a third-grader cutting bhindi have to do with cooking at the Taj?

Everything, it turns out.

This week, we sat down with Chef Ameyyaa Mahajani- hotel management graduate, 18-year industry veteran, and the kind of person who will tell you, completely straight-faced, that good food doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to bring joy.

We talked about all of it- the Sunday chulha sessions in a Girgaon wadi, why your mom’s amti will never taste the same when you make it, what really goes on behind that kitchen door, and why standing in the Bedekar misal queue for 30 minutes in peak summer is, actually, a completely rational decision.

We also got into the parts nobody talks about- the ₹500-a-month Taj training, the invisible labour of the people who feed us every day, and a fact about tandoor chefs that will genuinely stop you mid-scroll.

But even in the hardest parts of this conversation, the thing that kept coming back was joy. The idea that food- whether it’s a five-star tasting menu or your mom’s leftover poli warmed up on the tawa- food should always, above everything else, bring love. That’s the whole philosophy.

Chef Ameyyaa is currently working on something new- a Maharashtrian snacking joint, back to the galli, back to the basics. He’s also growing coriander, chillies and lemons on a two-acre farm outside Pune. All of this, and so much more- and it sounds exactly right.

This one is for everyone who has ever eaten something and felt, even for just a moment, completely at home.

Come with love. Come hungry.

Watch the full episode now !

Special Guest -Chef Ameyyaa Mahajani

The brains behind the episode:

Hosted by Dr. Sarika

Adv. Kirtiraj Agalave

Sia Ranade

Media & Marketing Management: The Collective Mediaworks