From Doctor’s Coat To Spice Jar
For Dr Dheeraj Achutuni, “from chill to chilli” is not a career switch but a continuum—a journey of preserving health, heritage, and humanity through the everyday act of eating
Dr Dheeraj Achutuni began his career in the familiar rhythm of hospitals—white coat on, stethoscope around his neck, listening to heartbeats and writing prescriptions. Like many young doctors, he believed the clinic was where lives were changed. But the more he observed, the clearer a pattern became. The roots of most illnesses were not in hospitals at all, but at the dining table. “I realised the root of so many problems lies in the food we eat every day,” says Dheeraj, once a medical officer at Omega Hospitals, is now an entrepreneur. “And food is shaped by culture, tradition, and memory. When those weaken, our health weakens too.”
A Childhood Steeped in Tradition
Food, for Dheeraj, was never mere fuel—it was memory, medicine, and heritage. At home, meals carried a rhythm of comfort and care. His mother, Sruti Bala, never measured or followed recipes, yet her rasam soothed colds and her sambar warmed the soul. Equally unusual was his father’s place in the kitchen. While most men of his generation stayed away, his father explained why a pinch of dry ginger with ghee should begin a meal, or why ajwain on hot rice helped digestion. “That was my first school of thought,” Dheeraj says and adds, “Not theories, but thalis. Not lectures, but rice, podis, and pickles.”
Choosing an Unusual Path
Years of medical training made his decision to step away from conventional practice unexpected. But to Dheeraj, it wasn’t a departure—it was continuity. Medicine had taught him how to diagnose. His new path, he says, taught him how to preserve. “The wisdom of homes, the simplicity of clean food, the emotional intelligence of tradition—this was medicine too, just in another form.” When he named his venture Parnasala, it wasn’t marketing—it was memory. “In the Ramayana, Parnasala is Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana’s forest dwelling. For me, it symbolised purity, devotion, and roots. That’s what I wanted to carry forward.”
Storytelling as Healing
More than a businessman, Dheeraj has become a storyteller. Through his digital persona @doctorspices, he revives forgotten food traditions, spice wisdom, and cultural practices.