About

Welcome to SindhiGusto! I am Sapna, and I love food. You could say I lead a double life. Originally from a finance and banking background, what interests me most however, is the world of ‘food’, especially – cooking, hosting, writing and promoting the cuisine of my beloved ‘Sindh’ or ‘Sindri’, as we lovingly call it. I grew-up in Mumbai, a melting-pot of many Indian cultures, and now call London home.

My grandparents left Sindh around the time of the Partition in 1947, and took refuge in the state of Rajasthan, India, the closest place to their home in Hyderabad, Sindh.

All they took with them were memories of their beautiful ‘Sindri’, but food is what they turned to, for recreating a feeling of the land they had left behind. Strangely though, none of the Sindhis, save a few, set-up any proper eating places. The only way to get your teeth into this delicious food was, if you had a Sindhi friend. I also found, let alone abroad, even back home people were not really aware about the richness of this ancient cuisine. Someone had to tell the story of this wonderful food, and SindhiGusto took birth.

A typical event at SindhiGusto starts with the quintessentially ‘Sindhi’ welcome, ‘Sindhi Papad’ or poppadums as these crunchy bites are commonly known in the UK, and a drink. But unlike the standard fare one gets at most restaurants here, the ‘Sindhi Papad’ is delightfully peppery and fluffy, and as some of my friends like to joke, ” it’s not a ‘Sindhi Papad’ if it doesn’t get stuck in the teeth.” As a child I often saw my parents welcoming guests with ‘Papad’ and water. While the drink changed with the time of day and the visitor, the ‘Papad’ welcome stayed the same. At SindhiGusto the tradition continues.

It’s funny, but in many ways the ‘Papad’ is part of our identity . I recollect how my mates at school, university and even at work in Mumbai would refer to me as ‘Papad’ and still do.