16/04/2025
Meet the soul of our kitchen — Chef Tolpai.
He hails from Kamalpur, a small village tucked away in Tripura’s Dhalai district, but what he brings to our Goan table feels like it’s travelled galaxies.
Guests often ask us, “What’s the secret behind the flavours at Bate-Papo?”
And honestly, we never know what to say.
How do you explain that the secret might just be a man who’s always smiling?
Who bobs his head in a way that says yes, no, maybe, I hear you, I see you, all at once?
Who barely speaks, but listens like a monk.
Who walks softly, but carries the energy of a festival.
In the kitchen, he’s a quiet storm, focused, precise, always five steps ahead. Sometimes we joke that he’s got divine timing, because everything he touches somehow turns golden. Like he’s rewriting the stars... one dish at a time.
Ask him about his spice levels and he’ll laugh — that full-bellied, eyes-crinkled kind of laugh — and tell you, “20 chillies is nothing.” Then he’ll grin at your horror. That’s Tolpai.
He’s painfully shy, impossibly kind, and takes care of all of us in ways we don’t have words for. He doesn’t need the spotlight, he just needs a stove, a smile, and his rhythm. And in return, he’s given us the heartbeat of Bate-Papo.
Some people cook to feed.
He cooks to heal.
In gratitude,
Baneen Karachiwala
(Founder, Bate-Papo)
Chef Tolpai & photographed by
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