In this episode of Roots | Hands | Hearts, I sit down with Sohini, the creative force behind Smoke & Lime, a beloved Bangali-inspired supper club that began in her tiny one-bedroom flat in North London back in 2018. What started as an intimate gathering around a shared table has grown into a community built on warmth, stories, zero-waste cooking, and the rich culinary traditions of Bengal.

Sohini’s dishes are more than just plates of food — every recipe carries a story. From colonial histories to adaptations born out of struggle, from after-school meals in her childhood home in the North West of the UK to the handwritten recipes passed down by matriarchs in Kolkata, Sohini brings memory, heritage, and meaning to the table. Her cooking blends global influences with seasonal produce, rooted in Bengal but shaped by her travels around the world.

Sohini has been featured in British Vogue, The Telegraph, The Times of India, and has spent the last decade working alongside some of London’s top chefs. But at her heart, she is a storyteller — someone who wants to bring people together, spark conversation, and create a space where everyone feels seen, welcome, and nourished.

In this episode, we talk about:
✨ Her childhood memories and the foundations of her food philosophy
✨ Her cooking motto and the values that guide her work
✨ What it means to grow up as an Indian in the UK
✨ The inspirations that shaped her life and craft
✨ Her journey as a freelancer in an expensive city like London
✨ The joys and challenges of creative independence
✨ Her future plans — both personally and for Smoke & Lime
✨ How she continues to build a community centred around food, joy, and zero-waste cooking

Pull up a chair, pour yourself a cup of chai, and join us as we explore the roots that shaped Sohini, the hands that craft her beautiful food, and the heart behind the community she’s building — one shared plate at a time.

In this episode, I speak with Shinasa, a counselling psychologist, research scholar, and founder of MindBee — a space where conversations about emotions, healing, and survival are refreshingly honest and human.

While MindBee offers a creative and compassionate take on emotional wellbeing, much of our conversation dives into Shinasa’s research on how South Asian and Afro-Caribbean women in the UK initiate their recovery from drug and alcohol addiction — a subject often overlooked in mainstream discussions on addiction and mental health.

We explore how recovery looks different when you carry cultural expectations, community stigma, or the burden of “log kya kahenge?” 

Shinasa shares the realities of working in a field where most support systems are built around Western frameworks, often leaving women of colour feeling unseen. She highlights organisations like BAC-IN, SAFIR, Nilaari, KIKIT, and Free In Recovery — groups that go above and beyond to offer culturally rooted, community-led support that acknowledges faith, language, and lived experience.

It’s an eye-opening conversation about what healing really means, why cultural understanding is essential in mental-health spaces, and how compassion — both for others and for ourselves — can be a radical act.

Follow Shinasa’s work on @MindBee, where she continues to make space for honest emotions and human connection.

Organisations Mentioned

BAC-IN – https://www.bac-in.org

A Nottingham-based grassroots recovery service specialising in supporting individuals, families and young adults from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities with substance use issues. They use peer-led, culturally sensitive programmes, including women-only recovery groups.

Nilaari – https://nilaari.co.uk

A Black-led charity in Bristol offering mental-health and substance-use peer support for racialised adults (18+). Their talking therapies and workshops take cultural context into account, offering safe spaces for people often excluded from mainstream services.

KIKIT Project – https://kikitproject.org

A Birmingham-based social enterprise focusing on addictions, health & wellbeing, and community safety for BAME communities. They offer “Women’s Support Group” and “Diversity in Recovery” programmes tailored for people from Black and Asian minority backgrounds.

SAFIR* – https://safirspace.org/home

A culturally sensitive and safe space for South Asian women on their self-defined recovery journey. They support and uplift women who are active or in recovery from drug/alcohol addiction, acknowledging faith, culture, and the unique barriers facing South Asian women.

In our very first episode, I sit down with Punam Vaja, the founder of Khao Suppers – a London-based dining experience that brings Gujarati home cooking to the table with a fresh outlook.

Punam grew up in East London surrounded by the warmth of her family kitchen, where her mum’s traditional recipes met her dad’s instinctive, East African-influenced cooking. From chai and sweetmeats to shaak rotli with mogo and matoke, these flavours shaped her world and now inspire the menus at Khao Supperclubs, brunches, and private dining events.

We chat about her childhood memories, the powerful role of hospitality in her family, and how she pivoted from a career in urban design and sustainability into building a food venture rooted in culture, creativity, and community.

It’s an open, honest, and fun conversation about food, identity, and finding joy in sharing what you love most.

Follow Punam on Instagram @khao.suppers
and explore her dining experiences at khaosuppers.com
.