At 35, Aarti Sinha has lived in 4 different places, pursuing
various career goals and
consciously adjusting her environment to what suitsher ethics and beliefs. A
Psychologist by profession, she spent a good decade in Mumbai before making the
move to Goa in 2013.
“It was this adjustment that brought me to
Goa. Ten years in Mumbai, studying, working, struggling to get from one place
to another, not just geographically but also figuratively! To leave Mumbai was
a very determined choice; one that i don’t regret at all”.
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In 2019, six years after having lived in
Goa and loving and accepting the place thoroughly, Sinha decided to step out of
Psychology and actively follow another venture very close to her heart, that of
opening a Vegan Kitchen. She named it Okapi, after a beautiful and unusual
animal also known as the zebra giraffe.
“I’ve essentially been a psychologist for
most of my working years and it was only in August last year that I decided to
start Okapi Vegan Kitchen. I often feel that being in Goa has been a huge
catalyst for this change, but I’m also aware that this calling would have come
to me one way or another, it was just a matter of time!”
One can spot Aarti and her delicious vegan
delights at many food pop-ups and fairs around Goa. She caters for private
gigs, dessert orders and undertakes workshops for people slowly showing more
and more interest in vegan food. Her Khow Suey, Lasagnas, Kung Pao Chickpeas,
Dark Chocolate Cake and Apple Cheesecake Tart have their fair share of fans and
then there are those who follow her to the food markets especially for her desserts.
Okapi Vegan Kitchen has its foundation in animal welfare,
entirely. Volunteering with local animal rescue centres in Goa, feeding and
treating stray animals including cows and pigs and just witnessing their
suffering first hand was enough forSinhato reassess her life and choices. Food
was one of the beginnings.
“I’ve had dogs most of my life and i regret not making this
connection sooner. I gave up eating meat in 2014 and a couple of years later,
dairy also slowly left my plate. Of course, I did fall off the vegan wagon a
few times initially. I blame Goa and its seafood for that but I’m thrilled to
say that I don’t miss it anymore! Switching to a plant based diet opened up so
many doors for me and contrary to popular belief, I actually have a wider palette
than I did before”, says Sinha.
The
vegan experiment initially began and ended in her own kitchen. Sinha laments that a meal out for herlargely became all about french fries,
gobi manchurian and mushroom chilly.
“Well there were also pizzaswhich were bread and tomato ketchup,
burgers which were slightly fancier vada pao and breakfast got limited to dry
toast with sugar laden jam and the only dessert I could enjoy were oil-fried
jalebis!”
This
frustrationperhaps pushed her into doing something about it. She started with
vegan dinner pop-ups, featuring fun yet simple recipes.The initial enthusiastic
response not just from vegetarians and vegans, but from hard core meat-eaters inspired her to push on. Sinha’s goal was to bring into focus,
the plethora of plant based food that can belocally and easily sourcedand to
combine ingredients to turn them into tasty and wholesome meals that are
extremely healthy. Her dash of creativity ensured that the food on the plate
needed no fancy additions and could be plated in very little time. Today,plant
based food is a global topic of discussion and with culinary minds such as
Sinha, vegan fare is slowly shedding the bland and boring tag that is somewhat
associated with it.
She is excited when spoken to about the opportunities that one
has with what is locally produced, “There are so many ingredients that
perfectly substitute meat and dairy, and not only are they free from animal
cruelty, but they are also much kinder to the human body and the environment.”
Sinha’s underlying motive is to get more and more people to
ditch meat and dairy for the sake of the animals, but she is careful not to
push her agenda on anyone. Shewants to lure theminstead into the idea of
following a vegan diet with great food!!
“Evil as it sounds, this approach makes a lot of sense to me. If
I had more options when making the switch myself, the transition would’ve been
a helluva lot easier!”, she signs off.
Follow what Aarti is
up to on her Instagram handle: okapi_ vegan_kitchen or on facebook. com/okapivegankitchen
