Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

I’m Chandrima Sarkar. A professionally trained visual designer turned into a self-taught home baker, digital content creator, food photographer and stylist.

I’ve studied Bengali literature and did a course on Fine Arts and Graphics. Apart from my interest in painting, making crafts, sketching, stitching, and graphics, I’ve got a great love for cooking. Born and brought up in Kolkata, I moved to North India later. After living 13 years in Delhi, we shifted to Navi Mumbai at the end of 2018. We’re enjoying our days here in this part of Navi Mumbai, India by eating the fresh seafood, street food, and traditional baked goodies that the place offers. I love cooking with the fresh Prawns and Bombay duck (Bombil) I get here, among many other local fresh produce.

Along with Bengali food, I’ve explored several other cuisines over the years also, and I take a deep interest in Baking. I keep doing constant food experiments around random ingredients, which results in many workable, original recipes that you get to see on my Blog/YouTube. Many times, I love to shape up food with new concepts that can come alive in any kitchen by following the easy instructions I share in my recipes. It’s necessary to create new ideas around food just the way we make new ideas for design. And this is how the present transformed into a glorious past, leaving something to cherish for generations.

I feel fortunate enough to always get love and support from my wonderful readers, and I get overjoyed when they share their cooking/baking experiences with me. 🙂

I need your constant suggestions, support, feedback, and comments to do these things in a better way. So please be there for me, always.

Not Out of the Box was started in 2012 out of a compulsion to do something creative around my hobbies. It began its journey as a Facebook Page.

After spending over a year on Facebook, I decided to start a blog to share all of my recipes. This is the place where I share the things I enjoy doing the most, Food Photography, Cooking, and Baking. Life is precious, do what you Love!

How to Work with me:

For all kinds of food and beverage product reviews, recipe videos, professional food styling inquiries, collaborations, and other enquirers email me at notoutofthebox@gmail.com

Else, drop a message on my facebook page or Instagram handle.

Featured & Mentions:

• One of my Photographs was among the final entries in the Conceptual category for Asian Photography and Artistique 2015  (Art Exhibit and Contest).
• My Mango Cheesecake in Jars recipe got published on Buzzfeed.
• My Strawberry Cheesecake recipe got published on Adventures with four.
• My Strawberry Hand Pies recipe got published on Edible Crafts.
• I joined Insta Dilli Food Walk in Chandni Chowk, which happened in the last week of March 2016. It was a part of the global Insta Meet and was supported by Instagram. The top 10 images were selected by Ms. Deeba Rajpal for capturing the theme of the walk, including one image clicked by me.
• My oil-free Pears and Dates Pickle was published in Better Homes and Gardens India magazine’s September ’16 issue.
• My Cake Crumble Cream Cheese Jars with Red Wine Strawberries was published in Better Homes and Gardens India magazine’s March ’17 Anniversary issue.
• My Photographs got featured in Virginia, USA-based magazine Chiiz (Vol: 5) August 2017 issue.
• My Article about Durga Puja Bhog and the Bhoger Khichuri recipe was published in The Hindu.
• My Masoor Pulao and Pineapple Sondesh recipes were published in Better Homes and Gardens India magazine’s October ’17 festive issue.
• My Pie recipes got published in Anandabazar Patrika.
• My photographs got published in a Coffee Table Book named The Temporary Calcuttan by ISAR.
• My photographs got published in an Anandabazar Patrika article.

Awards & Achievements

• FeedFeed community member.
• My Vintage Food Props photograph has been chosen as the winning entry for The FBAI’s Photo Challenge Theme: 5 in July 2016.
• Winner in the Best Photography category in India’s Top Blogger Contest organized by BetterButter.
• IFBA Award Winner in the Best Recipe Blog Category 2017.
• One of the top 3 winners of the Food Photography Competition 2018 organized by Chiiz Magazine.
• Featured in Times Now The Foodie‘s Authentic Bengali Feast episode.
• Orange Flower Award 2020 Winner in the Best FoodGram category, conducted by Women’s Web.
• Featured as one of the contributors in Tweak India‘s What’s in Your Dabba (a celebrity cookbook)
• Featured by Swiggy India in the Swiggy Hearts 2020 article.
• IFBA Award Winner in the Best Baking Blog Category 2021.
• IFBA Award Winner in the Best General Food Blog Category 2022.
• IFBA Award Winner in the Best Recipe Blog Category 2023.

Interviews:

• Interview published on Travelling Camera.
• Interview published on Slurrp.

Workshop & Events:

• Worked as a Food Stylist for Go Air Inflight Food Menu 2020-21.
• Worked as a Food Stylist in Grofers Mothers Day TVC.
• A Workshop has been conducted with German students on Indian Spices at Carmel Convent School, New Delhi.
• A Workshop has been conducted on Smartphone Food Photography for Cookpad India’s Delhi Community members.
• I was invited to judge Iridescent 2018 (Capture the Market) event organized by Carmel Convent School, New Delhi.
• I was invited to judge the 6th NLFP Ace Chef Inter-School Competition organized by Nalanda Foundation and curated by The FBAI.
• An online Cook along Session was hosted by me in October 2020 for Acuity Knowledge Partners, Bangalore.
• A Workshop has been conducted on the Basics of Video Creation for Kool Kanya community.
• An online Cook along Session has been conducted for SlurrpHT.

Some of the Brands I’ve worked with: