Kalpana, The Original Spice Girl and Mixed Roots

For us, one of the really important things in cooking and enjoying the food we create is flavour. You can create flavour in any dish by using ingredients like onions, garlic, celery and maybe fresh herbs, or techniques – like just properly browning meat before you use it in a dish, then salt and pepper to season. An old friend used to say ‘fat plus salt equals flavour’ and while that is true there are many ways to enhance any dish, and you don’t need a pantry full of herbs and spices to do it.

Kalpana Laitflang calls herself the “Original Spice Girl” and batch crafts an award-winning range of spice blends & seasonings, along with spiced honeys, chai blends and “Hot Stuff” curry oil under her brand, Mixed Roots. These will help you pack flavour and texture easily into any meal.

While the flavours of her seasonings and blends reflect her Indian roots, they are a very versatile and convenient way to create a wide variety of flavours and textures. She says it’s really important to understand “curry” just means sauce – and there are many different kinds of curry. “They aren’t all hot but are packed with delicious rich flavour. You can add chilli for heat, if you like your curries hot.”

We love using the Mixed Roots range of seasonings at home. So – what makes them so special?

Kalpana says she was born into a family who’s love language can best be described as ‘food’. “Mixed Roots is an honorarium to my grandmothers and the wonderful wahine in my family. It’s keeping their legacy alive.”

Kalpana is originally from Punjab, the north-west of India and moved to Nelson 11 years ago after spending 13 years in Auckland. “We came here for a change of pace. My husband, Andriano, and I had three young children at the time and no family in New Zealand, food is a link to our heritage. Andriano is from the Himalayas in the north-east of India. The regions we come from have varied culinary focus on different spices and techniques, hence the name Mixed Roots.”

Kalpana recounts, “when I was about 11 my grandmother visited and was horrified I didn’t know how to cook at all! So she took it upon herself to teach me how to cook the basic curry sauce – the ‘masala’. Since then, my own palate, personal preferences and experience has taught me the technique to layer in different spices for depth of flavour.

“When we first arrived in New Zealand I really didn’t know how to cook beyond the basic curry masala – and perfectly round rotis! I’m completely self-taught when it comes to creating meals. Upon our arrival, finding convenience food that was ready to cook and eat was such a novelty and exciting to start with – until we got sick of it.”

Now Kalpana has gone back to old fashioned ways of building flavour in a dish. She says she cooks like her grandmothers – basic, easy, wholesome meals relying on seasonal produce and differing techniques to add depth of flavour. She also makes sure her products cater to different health and dietary needs. The Mixed Roots range is gluten free, dairy free, preservative free and as pure as possible.

She buys raw whole seeds and spices, blends and grinds them together, “you get a lot more flavour this way because when you cook them together it changes the flavour profile. Even when you add spices at different times when you’re cooking changes how food tastes.”

Kalpana explains that when some people see an Indian trader they often comment they don’t like spice or curry, but she explains spices are about flavour not heat.

Why a spice business? “It’s our roots. A few days ago, I co-hosted an event with Cultural Conversations. I stood at the stove, cooking a basic everyday vegetarian curry using our blends and everyone commented ‘this smells and tastes like home.’ This has been the sort of encouragement  I had to share the flavours of our home available to everyone by creating and selling ready-to-use fresh spice mixes.”

Mixed Roots started with Kalpana sharing her love for food, community and conversation with cooking classes – “teaching all that I had learnt myself. With the restrictions of the pandemic and gatherings that were imposed, we translated that same experience, flavour and love into jars – meals to still cook and share together.”

Starting out at small local markets and then being a regular at the Nelson Saturday & Motueka Sunday markets for the last few years, Mixed Roots has expanded to stores through the country and with a steady online presence.”

The Mixed Roots flagship product ‘Hot Stuff’ Curry Oil won the Cuisine Magazine Artisan NZ Food Awards Best Artisan Producer award. “Hot Stuff Curry Oil is a love child of Indian pickles with Chinese chili oil – the same set of spices that my Nani used to pickle green mangoes every summer with the technique of tempering” says Kalpana

One of our personal favourite curry blends is the Mixed Roots Hurry Curry. Kalpana says this is like her Mum’s pot of curry. We use it in all sorts of dishes, but it really shines when we use it with chicken or fish. It’s easy to use, the flavours are rich without being hot, we just add fresh chili or some of Kalpana’s hot curry oil to give it a little heat kick.

While Kalpana goes to the Nelson Market on Saturdays, she is once again starting to host more cooking classes and events. “I think people, especially after the scattering of community during covid, want to get together as a community again. So I’ve started hosting events and cooking classes again – small groups where we can share a meal and create meaningful connections.”

On Kalpana’s Mixed Roots website you can not only buy her products but also check out a wide range of inspirational recipes she has for you to use and help you learn about the real flavours of India.

The Mixed Roots range is widely and easily available. In Nelson you can buy them from The Junction Shop, Cooks Corner, The Little Beehive and other specialty stores through the country, including numerous Fresh Choice stores.

www.mixedroots.co.nz

Published n the Nelson Mail 01-0-7-2026