Section 8 Non-Profit · Preserving India's Food Heritage
Dedicated to preserving, documenting, and celebrating the rich tapestry of India's culinary heritage — safeguarding forgotten recipes, heirloom ingredients, and traditional wisdom for generations to come.
Our Purpose
“Preserving the flavors of our past for the sustenance of our future.”
The Indian Culinary Legacy Foundation is a non-profit organization established with the sole purpose of identifying, documenting, and preserving the vast and diverse culinary traditions of India.
To be the global guardian of India's culinary heritage, ensuring that no recipe, technique, or food tradition is lost to time.
To research, record, and revive traditional Indian food practices through community engagement, educational programs, and digital archiving, fostering pride in our cultural identity.
The Lost Table
Across India, countless dishes are slipping from the everyday plate — once cooked in every home, now known only to a few elders. We travel, taste, and record them before they vanish from living memory.
Odisha
Fermented rice soaked in water, tempered with cumin and curry leaves — a cooling summer ritual once daily in every Odia home.
Manipur
A kheer of aromatic black rice from the Manipur valleys, naturally deep purple, once reserved for royalty and feast days.
Himachal Pradesh
A steamed bread of wheat flour stuffed with poppy-seed or hemp paste, slow-cooked over a wood fire in the high hills.
Uttarakhand
A slow-simmered horse-gram dal, hearty and mineral-rich, tied to the winter kitchens of the Garhwal and Kumaon ranges.
Assam
Hand-pressed rice cakes wrapped in banana leaf, steamed or fried, central to the Bihu harvest table for centuries.
Odisha
Toor dal cooked with raw papaya and coconut under a quiet tempering of ghee — the everyday temple food of Jagannath's kitchen.
From the Soil
As markets standardise to a handful of crops, hundreds of indigenous grains, lentils and spices are fading from cultivation. We document and champion the heirloom ingredients that once defined regional Indian cooking.
Black Rice
An aromatic heirloom rice, deep purple when cooked, once grown only in the Imphal valleys.
Horse Gram
A hardy mountain lentil rich in iron, the backbone of winter dal in the Himalayan kitchens.
Finger Millet
An ancient, calcium-dense and drought-hardy millet, central to the southern farm table for millennia.
Garcinia Indica
Sun-dried sour petals of the kokum fruit, a natural cooler and curry souring agent of the coast.
Bans
Fermented young shoots, a smoky, umami base of Naga, Mizo and Manipuri cooking.
Black Cardamom
Smoke-dried large cardamom, resinous and camphor-like — the deep base note of slow-cooked gravies.
An illustrated archive of the dishes India is quietly forgetting — fermentations, broths, and tribal stews that once defined a kitchen. Turn the pages and meet a hundred lost recipes.
FOUNDATION
100Forgotten Dishesof IndiaJoin our newsletter for a forgotten dish, ingredient, and recipe from India's culinary heritage — delivered with care.
What We Do
Preserving India's culinary heritage, feeding communities and building the next generation of cooks.
Recording traditional recipes, forgotten ingredients and oral food histories from elders and communities across India.
Serving nourishing meals to children, families and frontline workers — and redistributing surplus food to people in need.
Culinary experiences and training that help young people discover cooking, hospitality careers and the value of traditional food.
Studying heirloom grains, wild foods and regional techniques — from Spiti buckwheat to Wayanad bamboo rice.
Recent Projects
ICLF's second project. In partnership with Hyatt Regency Trivandrum, we welcomed 15 children from Sree Chitra Home for a hands-on culinary experience — cooking alongside professional chefs and sharing a meal together in a five-star kitchen.
See on Instagram
Our debut volunteering event and Environment Day campaign honoured the BBMP Pourakarmikas of Ward 52 — the sanitation workers who keep our city clean. Our volunteers served a meal to 60 city workers with gratitude.
See on Instagram
A competition celebrating mothers who inspire kindness, sharing and dignity — and spreading the word about the Annadhaan food-sharing app.
See on Instagram
Rediscovering ingredients slipping out of Indian kitchens — Mahua flower, Chui Jhal, Wayanad bamboo rice, Jakhiya seeds, Spiti buckwheat, Ramdana amaranth, Ragi Mudde and more.
Learn moreHyatt Regency Trivandrum
Hospitality partner — A Meal of Hope
Miltography
Official videography partner
Shalin Eliz Eby
Community Outreach Advisor
Volunteer chefs & students
Annadhaan and survey volunteers across India
Leadership
The visionaries behind our mission to preserve India's culinary heritage.
Chief Culinary Advisor
Hospitality Scholar, Educator & Culinary Professional
Co Founder
Compliance
Operating with full transparency and compliance with Indian legal frameworks.
Registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 as a non-profit organization.
CIN: U88900KA2026NPL213782, registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.
Fully compliant with all Indian regulations governing non-profit organizations.
Annual reports and financial statements available for public review upon request.
Indian Culinary Legacy Foundation is a non-profit company registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. Every donation receives an official receipt, and we maintain the highest standards of financial transparency and governance.
Your contribution helps us preserve fading culinary traditions, support local artisans, and document the recipes and ingredients that are part of our rich heritage. Every donation makes a difference.
Donate NowGet In Touch
We'd love to hear from you. Reach out for collaborations, inquiries, or support.
Indian Culinary Legacy Foundation, a Section 8 Company registered under the Companies Act, 2013.
CIN: U88900KA2026NPL213782
₹20 feeds one hungry person a full meal. Choose an amount and donate in a tap — secure payment via UPI, cards or netbanking.
