Delhi Woman Turns Grief Into Recipe-Saving Platform

When Shruti Taneja's mother passed away, she didn't just lose a parent. She lost her mother's aam panna recipe, the secret to those perfect homemade curries, and countless other dishes that had filled her Delhi childhood with comfort and love.

The marketing professional realized she'd never learned to cook those meals herself. Like watches and saris passed down through generations, she thought, recipes deserved to be inherited too.

In 2021, Shruti launched Nivaala, a platform that helps families document their heirloom recipes before they're lost to time. Her latest project, Relish, transforms family recipe collections into professionally edited, beautifully designed cookbooks that can be treasured for generations.

She partnered with journalist Chinmayee Manjunath, who shared her passion for preserving food stories. Together, they've created a process that captures more than just ingredients and instructions.

Families send Nivaala their shortlisted recipes along with the stories behind each dish, photographs, and family memories. Over eight weeks, the team curates, edits, and publishes a personalized cookbook that becomes a piece of family history.

The Mathur family from Uttar Pradesh used Relish to create a birthday gift for their mother, documenting recipes passed down two to three generations. Their book includes bhardwan tinda and shalgam chana, dishes that might otherwise have disappeared when their matriarch could no longer cook.

Why This Inspires

The COVID pandemic reminded everyone that time with loved ones is precious and finite. Shruti's vision ensures that when someone passes away, their entire culinary repertoire doesn't vanish with them.

But Relish preserves more than recipes. These cookbooks become time capsules that future generations can open to understand the culture their grandparents grew up in, the flavors that defined family gatherings, and the love that went into every meal.

Nivaala also offers recipe journals designed specifically for Indian families, with sections for heirloom indicators rather than generic Western categories. Three cookbooks have been published so far, with hundreds more orders already placed.

Each book costs 40,000 rupees for five copies, making family culinary preservation accessible to more than just the wealthy. Shruti emphasizes that documenting recipes shouldn't be a privilege for a few but a right everyone can exercise.

Every family has dishes that taste like home, made by hands that won't be around forever.