A Still from a video on making pumpkin petha soup from The Unglamorous Series 

A couple of months ago when co-owner Sameer Seth and Thomas Zacharias, executive chef at The Bombay Canteen sat down with their team to draw up a list of "unsexy" vegetables, the results were surprisingly exhaustive. From parwal (pointed gourd/snake gourd), to tindli (ivy gourd) to turai (ridge gourd) and lauki (bottle gourd), they were spoilt for choice. "We ultimately zeroed in on the petha (ash gourd) and kamal kakdi (lotus stem) for the first season, because there were hardly any recipes available on them, on the Internet. It also helped that they were easily available in the local markets," says the chef.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Bombay Canteen has collaborated with digital agency OML (Only Much Louder) to create a series of recipes that bring to life humble ingredients commonly found in Indian kitchens. Titled, The Unglamorous Series, the videos are a peek into the possibilities of working magic with these vegetables. The first episode that goes live today on the restaurant blog, canteennetwork.wordpress.com, is a tutorial on whipping up a bowl of petha pumpkin soup. With a groovy background score and no voice-overs, the videos are easy-to-follow and have given the vegetables a glamorous facelift. "We were inspired by what we eat at home. But, it was necessary to make the vegetables look appetising, and that's where OML came in," says Seth, adding that the first season will comprise four videos of 90-seconds each. All videos can be accessed on the social media pages of The Bombay Canteen.

Speaking further on the idea behind the series, Seth says, "We strongly felt that more than grabbing an opportunity to work with these ingredients, we also need to spread awareness in a manner that it appeals to today's eaters. We wanted to create food content that is different from what's available."