As a mountain lover, it has always irked 39-year-old culinary explorer Sibendu Das that hosts of tourists in hill stations go looking for instant noodles. "Of course, it's not everyone, but whether it's in Ladakh or Shimla, most tourists holiday for days and yet, fail to try the local cuisine," says Das, a journalist-turned-branding and content professional working in Kolkata. Born out of his love for the mountains and food, and the fact that cuisines from the hills remain largely underrepresented, is his Instagram live chat series, Pahadi Ahaar.

The weekend talk show, which took off earlier this month, has so far featured four chefs from the hills, and hours of adda about the kind of food they grew up eating. Das, who's been anchoring the talks from his home in Chandannagar, West Bengal, tells us, "I've often had a hard time sourcing local food in hill stations as the locals, whose livelihood depends on the tourists, dish out other cuisines that the latter prefer." Giving us the example of Darjeeling, he adds, "It is one of most popular hill stations in West Bengal, but you can barely find authentic Tibetan or Bhutanese food in the main part of the town. That's why I thought of starting Pahadi Ahaar, where I get together with culinary experts hailing from the hills or representing them."