Food was an integral part of Delhi-based Shruti Taneja’s childhood. When the marketing professional lost her mother a few years back, she realised that with her, her recipes were now lost too.

This got Shruti thinking about how food often holds a deep sense of connection in Indian homes.

This was the thought behind the inception of Nivaala in 2021.

The platform enables people to record and document recipes to last years. One of their projects ‘Relish’ helps people create a compilation of recipes into a journal, ensuring that these are preserved.

As for how a family can get their personalised recipe book curated, edited and published by Nivaala, Shruti says the process takes eight weeks.

“Anyone wishing to document their family’s recipes can send us the shortlisted list of recipes they want in the final book,” she says.

“We request they include details such as the dish’s name, the story behind it, the ingredients, the method, etc, along with photographs for each recipe, or even family pictures.”

Using this material, the first draft of the book is created, and sent to the client for approval, followed by two more rounds of editing and final publishing. The project retails for Rs 40,000 for five copies.

“In contrast to westernised versions that have the standard sections to fill — of whether your dish is a snack or main, with typical icons — ours have heirloom indicators,” says Shruti. So people aren’t filling the usual sections, but rather the ones that will hold meaning to them.

For example, to which generation the recipe belongs, which family member came up with it, an associated memory, the ingredients, and the method.

Shruti shares that they have sold over 500 of these recipe journals to date.

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