Some chefs discover their voice in culinary school; Chef Raji Gupta discovered hers in the aroma of kaali mirch (black pepper) hitting a pan of simmering ghee in her grandmother’s kitchen. She is the founder of one of Mumbai’s most exciting culinary spaces, Oota Supperclub— one that is not flashy or experimental but insists on highlighting Karnataka’s everyday flavours that deserve a seat on our dining tables.
“A simple bowl of majjige huli (a tangy, yoghurt-based dish featuring vegetables like ash gourd and cucumber in a gravy made with sour curd and coconut) taught me that comfort doesn’t need theatrics and complex ingredients, but just balance,” Chef Gupta said, when asked her about the flavours that have shaped her palate and her view about cooking.
Through slow tempering, stone-ground masalas, and menus that read like postcards from home, Chef Raji has become one of the few chefs working to preserve a cuisine and culture that deserve love and attention in equal amounts.
Her food today—thoughtful, intuitive, rooted in memory—comes from quiet lessons she learned in her grandmother’s kitchen, where coconut, spice, and balance were king.
Now based in Mumbai and running a supperclub that aims to bring Karnataka’s cuisine to the forefront, she is giving the state’s everyday flavours a home outside its borders, telling stories through dishes that most people have never heard of or encountered in restaurants.
On most evenings in Chef Gupta’s Mumbai home, the air smells like roasted coconut, pepper blooming in hot ghee and memories. “I want people to taste stories, not just dishes,” she said.
In a conversation with Outlook Traveller Eats, she reflects on the flavours of her childhood, the regional diversity in Karnataka’s cuisine, and the memories that continue to guide her in the kitchen.
Cooking As An Act Of Memory
Karnataka is not one cuisine—it’s a landscape of regions, forests, coastlines, temple towns, and spice-grown hills. Chef Gupta’s own palate was shaped by moving through the many identities that this state hones in its shadow.
The state’s cuisine pairs earthiness and fire, which encouraged Chef Gupta to become a forerunner of the cuisine. “The first flavours that truly shaped my palate from Karnataka were the quiet, earthy ones,” said Chef Gupta. The crunch of kosambari (a healthy salad from Karnataka made with soaked yellow lentils, fresh vegetables, grated coconut, and a signature tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves, and chilies), the gentle heat of bisi bele bath (a flavorful, spicy, and tangy one-pot meal from Karnataka), and that unmistakable coastal perfume of hatti ghee and fresh coconut were some dishes that had her falling in love with her state’s rich cuisine.
And as for bolder influences, there was Udupi sambar, Mangalorean ghee roast, and the smoky magic of Nati-style chicken that left her obsessed. “These dishes didn’t just feed me; they trained my palate to respect subtlety, celebrate spice, and chase authenticity in every recipe,” the chef added.
The dual nature of the cuisine is also reflected in the chef’s own identity that sits between the coast and Malenadu—a lush, hilly region in Karnataka, part of the Western Ghats (also known as the land of hills or land of rain).
“Coastal food gives me that punch—ghee roast, Kundapura masala, kori rotti. But Malenadu gives me balance—neeru dosa, majjige huli (a tangy, comforting curry made from buttermilk or sour yoghurt), akki rotti ( a popular, gluten-free flatbread, made with rice flour),” the chef explained.
Even today, working in Mumbai kitchens far from home, she misses seasonal ingredients like jackfruit, bamboo shoot, green Malenadu pepper, and the tart brightness of punarpuli (kokum).
She compensates this absence in her dishes by using techniques like stone grinding, slow tempering, and intricate spice balance that are quite prevalent in her region. For Chef Gupta, preparing authentic dishes from Karnataka is not just about preparing food but an act of memory that also demands her to remain true and just to her roots.
Imagining Karnataka’s Cuisine Beyond Idli And Dosa
If there’s one thing that fuels Raji’s work, it’s the lack of representation of Karnataka’s cuisine in mainstream dining. Talking about the multitude this cuisine holds in itself, she said, “If someone has only tasted Karnataka through idli and dosa, then they haven’t even scratched the surface.”
As someone who has spent a lifetime trying to show the world the cuisine she grew up with, Chef Gupta, enthusiastically talks about her favourites. She insists that icons like neer dosa, kori rotti, Kundapura koli saaru, akki rotti, Udupi sambar, Mangalore buns, and Maddur vada must dominate a conversation about Karnataka’s rich cuisine. When I asked her about her favourite dessert, she emphatically mentioned dharwad peda—a brownish, milk-based sweet (a type of peda) from Dharwad.
The rich regional diversity of Karnataka’s cuisine goes unnoticed by many. “Rasam isn’t universal—on the coast it’s kokum-sharp, in Malenadu it’s peppery and herbal, and in North Karnataka it’s rustic,” she said. Even pickles speak different dialects: coastal brined versions, sun-dried Malenadu pickles with forest spices, and oil-heavy North Karnataka fiery ones.
“Outsiders overlook how every home has its own saaru pudi (a regional rasam powde, and how sun-dried sandige (crispy rice snacks) and happala (papad made with finger millet) define everyday cuisine in the region.”
Talking further about the regional culinary diversity of Karnatake, Gupta mentioned how North Karnataka is the region that catches most diners off guard. Its food is rustic and unapologetically robust—think jowar rotis, garlic-forward chutney podis, oily pickles, and a heat that lands with its own force.
In contrast, Udupi is gentler and shaped by temple traditions, Mangalore is boldly coastal, and Coorg stands apart with its pepper, kachampuli, and rich meat dishes.
For Chef Gupta, the beauty of her state’s cuisine lies in these differences. “If you ask me, I cannot define my cuisine through a single flavour profile, it is a collection of distinct, coexisting identities,” she added.
The Birth Of Oota Supperclub
The Supperclub began not with a business plan but with a dinner at home. Chef Gupta cooked a simple, traditional meal for friends—akki rotti, saaru, kosambari, and a small ghee roast—and watched the attendees’ savour every bite. “They were stunned that Karnataka’s cuisine had so much to offer beyond idli and dosa,” she said. In that moment, she realised she wanted to give her home state a louder voice.
Gupta chooses a special theme for each month’s meal. “It is an emotionally-driven and intuitive process,” she mentioned. Some months are about taking the guests through the regional culinary richness of Karnataka while focusing on a particular region. Others take a nostalgic turn and are focused on flavours and dishes that she grew up eating. Jackfruit season might inspire a menu, so might a memory from Malenadu or a monsoon mood.
For her, the supperclub preserves culinary memory—saarus, palyas, kootus, sandiges, and seasonal pickles that would otherwise remain inside family kitchens are presented to guests. “I present recipes that live in my amma’s hands and not in cookbooks,” she added.
Balancing authenticity with adaptation is a feat she has perfected. In Mumbai, she keeps the soul of Karnataka intact—chock full of stone-ground masalas, coconut-driven gravies, and peppery saaru—but adapts textures and heat levels to make the food approachable for Mumbai’s diners. “I don’t dilute the identity; I just translate it,” she said. Chef Gupta’s goal with this is to surprise the diner while making them feel comforted and connected with the dish served to them.
A Meal Dominated By The Memory Of Home
One thing that stands at the heart of her cooking and serving is the memory of home. She fondly remembers the early morning market runs, picking up fresh produce, and starting the day with akki roti. Chef Gupta also recalled how afternoons were spent in relatives’ houses. “I often found delight in trying koli saaru (a flavorful, often thin and spicy chicken curry) in every home I visited. Not only because of how much I love it but because each house has a unique masala blend that renders a different a flavour to the preparation,” Chef Gupta confessed.
Through her passion project, The Oota Supperclub, she is doing more than cooking food; she is building a bridge between memory and modernity, between home and city, between Karnataka’s kitchens and the diners discovering them for the first time. And in every dish, whether spiked with black pepper from Malenadu or brightened with coastal kokum, she is carrying her state’s geography, identity, and history into the future.
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