Chef Smriti Iyer has carved a distinctive space in India’s culinary landscape by blending regional traditions with contemporary creativity. From architecture and online baking education to leading Ananth India, her ingredient-first philosophy celebrates India’s diverse vegetarian heritage through immersive tasting menus that challenge conventions while remaining deeply rooted in culture and memory.
- You trained as an architect, then built one of India’s first online baking schools, and now lead Ananth India for regional, ingredient-led vegetarian dining. How did each of these phases inform the next—and what throughline connects them?
Throughout my childhood, I was always interested in food. I would often spend time in the kitchen watching my grandmothers and my mom cook. During my college years, while studying architecture, I was away from home and struggled to manage my meals. When I saw my senior roommates cooking, it reminded me of my own abilities. Cooking brought me happiness and energy, which eventually led me to decide to switch my career path.
I have had the privilege of being brought up by amazing teachers in my family, including my Mother, Father, Grandmother, and aunts. So when it was my turn, teaching came very naturally to me. That is how SS School came to be.
Growing up in a generationally vegetarian household with plenty of delicious varieties, I never felt left out of any experience. The fact that Plants carry so much flavour is where the ideology of “Ingredients First” was born.
- The term “Modern Indian” is often interpreted differently by different chefs. What does Modern Indian cuisine mean to you?
For me, it simply means “my way of making Indian food”. Inspired by the ingredients, culture, art, music, etc. Learning from history and traditions but not getting bound by the rules of it. I always think food should be Fun and not necessarily “right”. If you enjoy it, then it is Right!
- Your Indian Chocolate Tasting Menu uses chocolate in savoury applications with Indian flavours. What was the most unexpected success or failure from that menu, and what did it teach you about how ingredients behave?
I think the biggest surprise for most people is that chocolate wasn’t the difficult part. During my chocolate education, we spent a lot of time understanding cacao in its pure form, and it’s actually a deeply savoury ingredient. The sweetness people associate with chocolate comes later, from the added sugar.
The real challenge was my Chocolate Dal Chawal. It took several trials to get the balance of Chocolate right with the flavour of tadka in the dal. That dish is unapologetically Chocolate forward yet feeling like a Punchy flavourful Dal. So wrong but so right!
- From Palakkad to Braj to a chai‑nashta tasting menu—how do you decide which regional cuisine to interpret next, and what’s your process for turning a memory or travel observation into an actual course?
I embrace each travel opportunity as a chance to learn. To me, regional cuisine is more than just food; it reflects the evolution of geography, history, culture (including Art, music, local crafts, clothing, dance etc.), and the personal stories of local communities. I fully immerse myself in these experiences and that is where the true inspiration comes from.
- You’ve long championed vegetarian food as layered and complete, not limited. What is one misconception about Indian vegetarian dining that you actively try to break with your menus?
I believe Indian food is inherently complex and flavorful, transcending the typical boundaries between vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Many people perceive non-veg dishes as tastier and more luxurious, while vegetarian options are often seen as lacking in excitement. However, if we serve the food without strictly categorizing it as vegetarian, diners might appreciate it more without bias. There are countless unique ingredients to explore in vegetarian cuisine, allowing for creativity that often goes unnoticed. That’s why I don’t aggressively market my menus as vegetarian-only, even though it’s noted. By doing this, I hope to encourage everyone to enjoy the full depth of our menus.
- As a chef who works almost exclusively with Indian ingredients, how do you transform regional produce, native flavours, and traditional food memories into dining experiences that feel both deeply Indian and unmistakably contemporary?
India is an incredibly diverse country, rich in different cultures. Even Indians from various regions may not fully appreciate the culinary offerings of other parts of the country. My goal is to highlight just how food-rich our nation truly is. One principle I adhere to is avoiding the use of more popular cuisines to showcase Indian food. While dishes like Sambar Pasta or Bhindi Sushi may be enjoyable, I believe that to genuinely honor our own food, we don’t need to reinterpret it through the lens of Italian or Japanese cuisine. Instead, I want Indian ingredients, techniques, and culinary traditions to stand confidently on their own.
My cooking always begins with an ingredient or a regional memory. During my travels, I’ve discovered ingredients like Seabuckthorn from Ladakh, kachampuli from Kerala, perilla seeds from Kalimpong, churpi from Darjeeling, and edible cactus from the Thar Desert. Each of them tells a story about the place they come from, and my role is to bring that story to the table without taking it out of context. Growing up in a Tamil Household Coconut finds its way into almost every menu I create; it’s my personal culinary signature, inspired by my roots. In my dessert, Prasadam, coconut sponge is layered with Banana poornam, payasam mousseline, edible camphor, cashews and raisins, creating a dish that evokes the experience of walking into a South Indian temple.
Likewise, my Dilli Ka Sandwich is inspired by Delhi’s humble shakarkandi chaat. Instead of recreating the street snack exactly as it is, I reinterpret its essence through shakarkandi bread, fermented cashew spread, ripe star fruit and ber salt. Every ingredient remains deeply Indian, but together they create an experience that feels unexpected and contemporary.
Even my more experimental dishes follow the same philosophy. My Chocolate Dal explores chocolate in its original savoury form, balancing its earthy bitterness with creamy dal rather than treating chocolate as merely a dessert ingredient. Similarly, Dhokla Ice Cream preserves the unmistakable flavour of Gujarati dhokla while presenting it in a completely different medium. The objective isn’t novelty for its own sake; it’s about encouraging diners to experience familiar Indian flavours from a fresh perspective.
Ultimately, I don’t believe modern Indian cuisine has to borrow the identity of another cuisine to feel relevant. India’s own pantry is incredibly vast, and when we allow indigenous ingredients, regional techniques and local food memories to lead the conversation, contemporary Indian cuisine emerges naturally. I hope that every dish inspires diners to rediscover just how diverse, sophisticated and exciting our own culinary heritage already is.
- You were an early pioneer in online baking education in India, teaching science and creativity at scale. How does that ‘teacher’s mindset’ influence the way you design an exclusive, in‑person tasting menu today??
Building one of India’s first online baking schools completely changed the way I think about food. When I started teaching online over a decade ago, the ecosystem looked very different. We didn’t have the technology or production tools we have today. Students were baking from their own kitchens using different ovens, different equipment, different brands of ingredients, and often in completely different climates. If something didn’t work, I couldn’t step in and fix it. I had to anticipate every question, every mistake and every variable before they happened.
That experience changed my relationship with ingredients. I stopped looking at them as components of a recipe and started understanding how they behave in different environments, how sourcing affects the final result, and how every ingredient contributes to flavour, texture and balance. It also made me much more conscious of seasonality and regional produce because the same ingredient can behave very differently depending on where it comes from.
That way of thinking carries into every tasting menu I create. Before I think about presentation, I think about the ingredient itself, its flavour, its characteristics and why it belongs in that dish. The technique comes later. My role is to bring out the best in the ingredient rather than letting the technique become the focus.
Teaching also taught me that a great dish isn’t just one that’s creative; it has to be repeatable. My pop-ups happen in different kitchens across the country, each with its own team and set-up, so every course has to deliver the same standard regardless of the venue. That preparation gives us the confidence to focus on the dining experience itself: interacting with guests, sharing the stories behind the ingredients and ensuring that every course is served exactly as it was intended.