We can easily eliminate Options A and B since the given sentence "This was years in the making but fast-tracked during the pandemic, when "people started being more mindful about their food", he explained" uses the pronoun "he," which must refer to "Karmakar." The sentence should take the spot of blank 3 since it fits in well with the idea that ghee is part of a "return-to-basics movement in India", as it mentions that the renewed interest in ghee has been developing for a while but was accelerated during the pandemic when people became more conscious about their food choices. Additionally, the idea that this movement is part of an overall trend towards "slow food" is also mentioned in the sentence, as it talks about people being mindful of their food. By contrast, placing the sentence in any of the other blanks would be less logical because it would be introducing information that is not directly related to the main topic being discussed in those parts of the paragraph. Hence, Option C is the correct choice.