She wore her mother Nilufer’s burgundy gara with floral motifs and a full pallu to the Travel and Leisure (T&L) India’s award function. And of course the by-now-trademark flowers in her hair. Chef Anahita Dhondy was recognized as the Cookbook Author of the Year at the magazine’s award ceremony at Pullman Aerocity Hotel in New Delhi on July 19, 2022. The Awards felicitated change makers and tastemakers in the food and beverage industry, she informed Parsiana on July 24. "Still processing the feeling from last night — first award for The Parsi Kitchen, Dhondy wrote on her Instagram handle. The book of Parsi staples and a mélange of personal memories around food was published last year (see "Discovering my roots,” Books, Parsiana, March 21-April 6, 2022).
Thanking T&L, Dhondy wrote on her Instagram account, "It truly means so much because the book is a labor of love and it’s been a full family effort… It is not just a recipe book, it’s a book of stories and recipes…Grateful for the lessons and learnings along the way… May more homes make dhan dar patio, dhansak and curry chawal part of their weekly meals,” was the chef’s wish.
Dhondy has joined the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development to promote Recipes for Change. The platform aims to bring a taste of rural people’s lives to consumers through the food they eat, notes India Currents (IC), "an ethnic media organization focused on the Indian American community.” She joins chef Thomas Zacharias and "several other chefs from around the world” to "highlight the fact that around 500 million smallholder farmers are responsible for four-fifths of food supplies in developing countries.” The media organization’s intention is to spotlight how climate change affects rural communities. The chefs will "link farmers and consumers… create meals from crops by examining essential ingredients to cook with,” while calling attention to the adaptation of sustainable buying patterns, smarter cooking habits with a commitment to eradicating rural poverty, noted an article on IC.