We explore the vibrant city alongside Noon’s Vanika Choudhary, who believes the technique is key to preserving India’s cultural heritage
Walk into Noon, located within the busy Bandra Kurla Complex business district of Mumbai, and you are greeted with large and colourful glass vats housing different ferments, each neatly labelled with scrawled writing on masking tape. The restaurant, helmed by chef Vanika Choudhary, has a stash of over 150 different ferments, each made with ingredients foraged from and indigenous to India.
Don’t be fooled—these are not your run of the mill miso, kombucha, or pickles. Choudhary draws from her roots, using what is native to the rich lands she grew up on. “I did not grow up around Japanese or Korean ferments like soybean miso, garum (fermented fish sauce) or amazake (sweet sake), but rather achar (Indian pickles), kanji (a carrot-based spiced drink), and kaa’nz (fermented rice water),” she smiles.
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At Noon, she pushes boundaries beyond common ferments, crafting new varieties with indigenous ingredients from India but taking inspiration from techniques apparent in different cultures.