The idea of Mother Tongue is simple: each season, hosts Isha Aran and Shruti Parekh would focus on a specific dish or ingredient, tracing its historical, geographic, and cultural journey through personal anecdotes and interviews with scholars, chefs, and cultural figures. It’s a food show that digs deep—proving there’s a lot to dish about your favorite dishes and take away from your take out.  

Our first season was dedicated to curry. In the history of cuisine, few dishes have remained so resilient or had such an expansive history as curry. From Indian korma to Japan’s favorite comfort food kare raisu to South Africa’s bunny chow, curry has found its way into cultures around the world. But how did it spread so far? And what defines curry anyway? Is it a flavor? A method of cooking? Could you even call it a dish?

Each episode, we will map out a genealogy of curry, examining the wide variety of flavors involved and how the dish manifests and evolves across cultures. Mother Tongue is where food meets history, immigration, war, diaspora, and identity.