As a child, she walked through bustling spice markets holding her mother’s hand—watching, listening, taking in the scent of different masalas that lingered in the air. She noticed the way elders spoke about food not as recipes, but as living memories passed down through generations.

It stuck with her.

She wondered, how can food ever be so important?

Her family never chose the usual paths. Holidays were spent in newer towns where her mother believed the real richness of India lived in the kitchens of strangers, in meals cooked over firewood, in food served on banana leaves under open skies.

As Anisha grew older, her journeys deepened. She wasn’t chasing luxury in the traditional sense—she was searching for the forgotten, the hidden, the truly rare. From the exquisite hills of Manipur where she discovered a royal black rice once reserved for kings, to the Himalayan villages where spices were dried on rooftops under mountain sun, to the coffee trails of Chikmagalur where wild beans held the aroma of forest rain—every place offered her something more than ingredients.

She witnessed communities coming together over food—cooking slowly, serving generously and celebrating the Earth’s best offerings with passion & joy. She sat with families who had preserved age-old techniques not for fame, but out of love and pride. She realised that the most luxurious foods are not mass-produced or invented in laboratories—they are grown patiently, harvested seasonally and served with deep intention.

Over time, she began to collect not just ingredients, but the quiet wisdom behind them. She filled her journals with rituals, conversations and the little details that turn food into memory—stories of heirloom grains, native spices, fermented wonders and oils cold-pressed the way they were centuries ago.

And from all this, Dharanija was born.

A brand rooted in the belief that true indulgence lies in nature’s finest gifts—when they are grown with respect, made with integrity & shared with love.

Dharanija is a gastronomy heaven—bringing together rare, wild, artisanal foods from across India and offering them as they were always meant to be enjoyed: slowly, meaningfully and beautifully, in the company of those we love.