Dewar’s Discoveries Finds A Different Side Of Bengaluru Through Its Native Plants

Dewar’s Discoveries is a series that takes 50 Indian mixologists across Jaipur, Kolkata, Goa, Bengaluru and Delhi to meet the people, practices and places that give each city its character, and then bring those discoveries back to the bar. In their Bengaluru edition, the focus shifts away from the city’s tech-world identity and towards its older, greener side, where food, farming and local knowledge are inseparable. The episode brings together mixologists including Hrushikesh Malwakar of Indian Accent, Guruprasad Tripathy of Slink N Bardot, Gracey Chourey of Soka and Jabez Daniels of Sundays, among others, for a closer look at what grows around the city and what it can teach them about their own craft. 

Their stop is Sarjapura Curries, a community garden and food project started by Bengaluru artist Suresh Kumar G to revive forgotten local greens and the knowledge around growing, cooking and foraging them. The project began with Kumar documenting edible weeds and seasonal vegetables that were disappearing as Sarjapur’s farmland gave way to construction, and has since grown into a space where people share seeds, harvests and recipes. The garden also works as a meeting point between urban and rural communities, with workshops and meals built around local food. Kumar’s larger practice sits between art, ecology and community work, and his approach is about finding ways to keep this knowledge alive by actually growing and eating these plants.

For the mixologists, the visit becomes a lesson in exploring ingredients they might otherwise overlook. They come across black turmeric, mango ginger and young winged beans, which can be eaten raw and have a surprising numbing, tingling effect on the tongue. Kumar also gets them thinking about the waste created behind a bar: orange peels and other trimmings, for example, that can be turned into infusions, salts and garnishes instead of being thrown away. That idea of a self-sustaining cycle becomes an important part of the discovery.

The Bengaluru episode shines a light on the idea that some of the most interesting things about a city can be found in the smaller, easily overlooked parts of it. For the mixologists, discovering these indigenous plants changes the way they think about Bengaluru’s ingredients and what is possible behind a bar. Kumar’s work also raises questions about what gets lost as the city expands, and how food can help preserve local knowledge and biodiversity. As the episode puts it, Bengaluru is home to far more native ingredients than many of its own residents realise, and sometimes the best discoveries are the smaller things growing right in front of us. 

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