On a summer afternoon, we enter the Foodhall cookery studio, a large, contemporary kitchen, at the Santacruz outpost. We are here to attend a vegan cheese-making workshop launched by nutritionist Neha Ranglani along with home baker Namrata Shastri. After turning vegan a few years ago, Ranglani says they struggled to find a substitute for cheese. After experimenting with non-dairy ingredients, they were successful in developing new recipes.

"We were able to replace milk with almond milk and paneer with tofu, but it was hard to find delicious vegan cheese in the Indian market. This prompted us to experiment and share our learnings," says Ranglani. The duo began teaching vegan cheese-making last year and have held eight workshops so far. Interestingly, out of a group of 16 participants, only three have dietary restrictions and are vegan, or are cooking for a vegan family member. Rest have chosen to attend the workshop out of a desire to learn something different or to be healthier. Health reasons aside, does vegan cheese have the same kick as its dairy counterpart? We dive in to find out.