What's good for the planet is good for you

Simple changes that create real impact, made for real life and your everyday cooking. A guide to eating local, wasting less, and seeing through the noise — inspired by Civic Studios' original microdrama, Spice & Soul.

Trailer Watch Episode 1

Spice & Soul follows an ambitious chef and a passionate farmer, each determined to make their mark in their own world — until their paths cross in a fiery discovery: the best food doesn't come from perfection. It comes from the soil, the season, and the community around us.

Tanishka and Arjun from Spice & Soul — A Civic Studios Original
PART ONE

Eat Local, Eat Seasonal

Don't have a farm of your own? That's okay — no one's expecting you to. Just bring a little farm sense to your grocery cart. Think season-first, soil-friendly, and community-minded, because better choices can start with something as simple as a swipe.

Arjun, Spice & Soul: Nature mein copy-paste nahi hota. Mera farm hai, factory nahin. Jis season mein jo jaisa ugta hai, main waisa dunga.

Farm to Table, Explained

A tomato picked Tuesday morning, on your plate by dinner — no warehouse, no week in a container, no mystery middlemen.

🍅 Skips the middlemen. Straight from nearby farms.

🍅 Tastes like it should. Less transit, more flavour.

🍅 Follows the seasons. No mangoes in winter.

🍅 Names its farms. Real locations, not "locally sourced."

🍅 Pays local hands. Money goes to farmers, not distributors.

🍅 Cuts the carbon miles. Less travel, smaller footprint.

Closer to home, spots like Project Hum and Bombay Canteen are leaning into it too — sourcing local, backing farmers, and cutting waste along the way.

🚩 No "farm to table police" though — anyone can slap the label on. Ask which farms a place works with; the good ones love to tell you.

🌍 But what can you actually do to make better choices for yourself and the planet? Read on to see how eating local and seasonal can be a simple place to start.

On Quick Commerce

Filter by origin

Before reaching for imported Washington apples, check if Himachali or Kashmiri apples are in season. Same nutrition, a much lower carbon footprint.

Know the Rotation

Find what's in season

Monsoon brings leafy greens, gourds and corn. Winter brings guavas, carrots and methi. Summer brings mangoes, jamun and karela — freshest, cheapest, most nutritious.

Once In A While

Make the mandi your upgrade

Swap your grocery app for the sabzi mandi or farmer's market. See the colour of the vegetables, smell the fresh herbs and spices, touch the fruit to check it's ripe, ask the farmer what's best today — your next great ingredient is waiting there.

Give a local ingredient a seat at the table this week

In place of one imported one.

  • Quinoa→Jowar or Ragi
  • Kale→Palak, Bathua or Laal Saag
  • Imported berries→Jamun, Falsa or Amla
  • Couscous→Foxtail millet or cracked jowar
Want to know more?
FoodPrint

Seasonal Food Guide

What's in season, with recipes to match.

Read more → CN Traveller

How to Eat Seasonally in India

A region-by-region guide to what's actually fresh, month to month.

Read more → Mongabay India

A Chef's Guide to Eating Local

Chef Zac on weaving seasonal ingredients into everyday cooking.

Read more →
Arjun, Spice & Soul: Waste aur ingredient mein farq... sirf nazariye ka hota hai.
PART TWO

Root-to-Stem: Waste Less, Cook More

Our kitchen is already full of second meals — we just need a guided vision.

Peels Are Ingredients Too

Turn scraps into stock

Carrot peels, bottle gourd skin, cauliflower leaves, coriander stems — repurpose them into chutneys, stocks and gravies. In Spice & Soul, Arjun turns scraps into a korma Tanishka licks her plate clean for.

Stale Bread's Second Life

Toast it, don't toss it

Crumble it for crunch on salads and kormas. Soak it for French toast. Blitz it into breadcrumbs for cutlets. Throwing it away is throwing away crunch you needed.

Keep a Scrap Bag

Freeze your way to stock

Save onion skins, celery ends and herb stems in the freezer. When full, simmer with water, salt and peppercorns for 45 minutes for a flavourful, no-cost stock.

Try recipes from Spice & Soul

Every dish in the show tells a story. Here's what the kitchen cooked up across our microdrama.

A spread of five dishes from Spice & Soul: Jackfruit Dum Biryani, Veggie Korma, Dodka Peel Chutney, Bhutte ki Khees, Jowar Bhakri and Theccha

🍈 Kathal Dum Biryani

A yummy dish that swaps meat for a tree. +

Serves 4

Raw jackfruit brings the meaty texture, while all the biryani goodness stays intact. 🌱

You'll need
  • 🍚 500g rice
  • 🍈 500g raw jackfruit
  • 🧅 5-6 onions
  • 🧄 Ginger-garlic paste
  • 🌶️ 3-4 green chillies
  • 🍅 2 tomatoes + 🥣 ½ cup curd
  • ✨ Turmeric, chilli, coriander + biryani masala
  • 🌿 Mint + coriander
  • 🌼 Saffron or kewra water
  • 🧈 Ghee + whole spices
Make it

1️⃣ Oil hands, peel jackfruit, cube (discard core). Marinate with spices & salt, sear till golden.

2️⃣ Brown onions + spices + tomato-curd till oil separates.

3️⃣ Add jackfruit, simmer till tender.

4️⃣ Cook rice with whole spices.

5️⃣ Layer, top with herbs + ghee.

6️⃣ Dum cook 20 mins & rest.

🌍 Why it's a win: Jackfruit is cheaper than meat, replicates the same texture, is kinder to your gut, and needs far less land & water to grow.

🍛 No-Waste Veggie Korma

The curry made from your kitchen scraps. +

Serves 4

Veggie peels, coriander stems and leftover veg come together in a rich, creamy base — no cashews needed. Toast, blitz, cook, and you genuinely won't miss them.

You'll need
  • 🥕 2 cups mixed veggie peels
  • 🌿 ½ cup coriander stems
  • 🍞 2-3 slices stale bread
  • 🧅 2 onions + 🍅 3 tomatoes
  • 🧄 6 garlic cloves + 1" ginger
  • 🌶️ 2 green chillies
  • 🥦 1 cup leftover veg
  • 🥣 ½ cup yogurt
  • ✨ Basic whole + powdered spices, oil/ghee, salt
Make it

1️⃣ Roast peels + bread, blend with stems, tomato, garlic, ginger, chilli.

2️⃣ Cook onions golden.

3️⃣ Add paste + spices till oil separates.

4️⃣ Add veg + water, simmer.

5️⃣ Stir in yogurt + garam masala, finish with coriander.

🥣 Pair with leftover bread, roti, rice — or as is!

🌍 Why it's a win: Zero extra shopping, zero waste — using what you'd normally bin means more nutrients on your plate!

🥒 Dodka Peel Chutney

The chutney made from the peel you almost binned. +

Serves 4, as a side condiment

Nutty, tangy, spicy, and packed with flavour — from the part everyone throws away.

You'll need
  • 🥒 250g ridge gourd peel
  • 🥜 3 tbsp peanuts + 1 tsp chana dal
  • 🌶️ 4 green chillies
  • 🌿 Curry leaves + coriander
  • 🍋 Tamarind
  • ✨ Turmeric, salt + a little jaggery
  • 🌾 Mustard + urad dal + dried red chillies + oil for tempering
Make it

1️⃣ Roast peanuts + dal, add chilli, tamarind, curry leaves.

2️⃣ Add peel + turmeric, cook soft.

3️⃣ Blend with coriander, salt, jaggery.

4️⃣ Temper & pour over the chutney.

🥣 Best with: dosa, idli, rice.

🌍 Why it's a win: Peels are packed with fibre most people throw away — cooking with them cuts your bill, your waste, and your footprint in one shot.

🌽 Bhutte ki Khees

Indore's monsoon comfort food. +

Serves 4

Fresh corn, grated and simmered in milk, finished with tangy, spicy jeeravan masala.

For the khees
  • 🌽 5 corn cobs
  • 🥛 1½ cups milk
  • 🫒 2 tbsp oil/ghee
  • ⚫ Mustard + cumin seeds
  • 🫚 Ginger + 🌶️ green chillies
  • ✨ Hing + turmeric + salt
  • 🍋 Lemon + 🌱 coriander

Jeeravan Masala: cumin, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, bay leaf, amchur, black salt, chilli, turmeric, hing, ginger powder — all ground together.

Make it

1️⃣ Grate corn or chop finely, temper mustard-cumin-ginger-chilli-hing.

2️⃣ Add corn + turmeric, cook 2-3 mins.

3️⃣ Add milk, simmer 15-18 mins.

4️⃣ Finish with lemon + coriander, sprinkle some jeeravan masala!

🌍 Why it's a win: Corn in season with digestion-friendly spices in jeeravan means better taste, better price, and a smaller footprint — eating with the season is an easy win for your health, your pocket and the planet.

🌾 Jowar Bhakri + Theccha

A humble Maharashtrian duo with a lighter footprint and serious flavour. +

Serves 2

Jowar Bhakri
  • 🌾 2 cups jowar flour
  • 🧂 Salt to taste
  • 💧 ~1 cup hot water
🌶️ Theccha
  • 🥜 A handful of peanuts
  • 🧄 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 🌶️ 2-3 green chillies (to taste)
  • 🌰 1 tsp cumin
  • 🌱 A bunch of coriander (leaves & stem) + salt
Make it

1️⃣ Mix flour, salt & hot water into a soft dough (add water a little at a time).

2️⃣ Divide, roll between plastic sheets, roast on a hot tawa till golden on both sides.

3️⃣ Roast garlic-chilli in a little oil, pound with peanuts, cumin, coriander till chunky.

4️⃣ Serve together, or with anything that needs a kick! 🔥

🌍 Why it's a win: Jowar needs far less water to grow than rice or wheat, and theccha comes together with whatever's already in your kitchen — no fancy shopping list, no strain on your budget or the planet.
Cook & Read
The Locavore

Explore the recipe collection

Regional dishes built around seasonal produce.

Read more → YouTube

Zero food waste, Indian-style

The future of sustainability lies in the past.

Watch → FoodPrint

17 ways to reduce food waste

Practical, everyday techniques for the kitchen.

Read more →
PART THREE

Buy Smart

Here's how you can be a more conscious, planet-friendly consumer — starting with the label in your hand.

Chef Tanishka, Spice & Soul: Going local koi marketing sticker nahin hai — it means reducing the gap between farmers and customers.

✓ Check for

✓

Look for the Jaivik Bharat logo — FSSAI's official mark for organic food in India. No logo, unverified claim. Full stop.

✓

Check for India Organic (NPOP) or PGS-India certification marks alongside Jaivik Bharat — they show which pathway the product went through.

✓

Verify the FSSAI licence number on the packaging and cross-check it on the Jaivik Bharat portal.

✓

Read the ingredients list, not the front label. "Made with organic ingredients" can mean just 5% organic.

✓

Higher price ≠ genuinely organic. Certification is the only real proof, not the packaging.

✓

When in doubt, buy local over organic. Seasonal, farmer's-market produce often beats certified organic shipped across the country.

⚑ Red flags

⚑

Vague language, no proof. "Eco-friendly," "natural," "clean" are unregulated words in India. Anyone can use them.

⚑

Green packaging, empty promise. Earth tones and leaf motifs are a feeling, not a fact. Flip it over and read the label.

⚑

One green claim, hiding the rest. "Recyclable packaging" can mask unsustainable practices elsewhere in the chain.

⚑

Look-alike certification logos. If you don't recognise it, search for it on a government portal before you trust it.

⚑

"Community-first" branding, no community. Ask if the brand names specific farms. If you can't trace it, be sceptical.

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