Indian artist Shilpa Mitha's incredible tiny clay food
Can you believe what you're seeing?
This looks like an ordinary toasted sandwich. But if you look really close, all is not what it seems…
An Indian meal that's not what it seems
The toasted sandwich and this spread of Indian food are actually part of a series of adorable miniature works of art crafted by artist Shilpa Mitha from Chennai, India.
Pineapple cake
The pieces, made from dry clay, are incredibly intricate and can take, depending on the complexity of the dishes, anything from 15 minutes to five days to create.
Dahi puri
A burger was the first food Mitha created back in 2011, after she originally wanted to make herself a pair of burger earrings. She then spent the next five years honing her craft.
Burger and fries
This burger is one of her most recent creations and was modeled after the Theo Burger from Australian eatery Huxtaburger. It has a double patty, bacon, double cheese and BBQ sauce. Yum!
Calamari
For each dish that she decides to make, Mitha will research the origin and ingredients before getting started. And although she says she’s a massive foodie, she can’t actually cook real food!
Bengali thali
Living in India, much of her collection features traditional dishes like this Bengali thali consisting of chloas dal, shukto, aloo bhaja, tomato chutney, polot bhaja, hilsa fry, rice and luchi.
Punjabi spread
Rice is one of the most time consuming parts of her creations, as she has to make one grain at a time. She uses toothpicks for extra precision.
Chocolate peanut bar
Mitha has begun replicating food from renowned chefs and even TV cooking shows. This decadent dessert was created by chef Shannon Bennett as a challenge for contestants on MasterChef Australia. The chocolate peanut bar features a brown sugar crumble, tempered chocolate, peanut caramel and chocolate parfait.
Sri Lankan spread
“Whole meals are definitely more challenging because there are so many elements,” explains Mitha. “Each element has to be different just like the real food and they need to represent the actual dish as closely as possible.”
Fried chicken
Mitha says she’s constantly inspired by different food from around the world. “There are so many colors and textures and it feels like art on a plate,” she says.
Chocolate cake
While she doesn’t have a set number of meals or food that she creates each week, Mitha estimates she makes around 30-40 pieces a month.
Elai sapadu
Mitha said her "sweat and blood" went into creating this intricate dish which has a whopping 14 components, including an elaborate banana leaf, curry, rice, sambar and paddadum.
Tiffin
While her sweet treats look mouthwatering, Mitha says she prefers creating savory dishes and they’re the most complicated. Frankly, we’ll take any of them!
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