Cooking by Heart by friends Alana and Paul is a series of short videos documenting recipes as they are shared across generations. Three of the videos in their series, including the video they filmed of my father teaching me how to make chapati, were screened at a Moviehouse event at 3rd Ward along with Everyday is a Holiday, Theresa Loong’s documentary about her father’s journey from being a Chinese POW in a Japanese camp to a US citizen.
A Cooking by Heart video premiered that night which featured my friend Ediomi learning how to make Nigerian jollof rice from her mother, Affiong. This is me with Ediomi and Affiong!
In the spirit of Cooking by Heart, I wanted to collaborate with Ediomi on a dish that represented recipes that we learned from our families and we decided to make a Nigerian Rice and Indian Curry Bowl.
Sounds a little far-fetched, but the flavors really came together! The bowl was made of my Great Aunt Kumud’s chana masala recipe and my mom’s spinach yogurt raita recipe and was served over Affiong’s recipe for Nigerian jollof rice.
And to top it off, my cousin Sumanth made his amazing masala chai!
I was so proud of Alana & Paul and excited to see all of their hard work on the big screen.
The place was so packed, people had to sit on the floor! Success! These were the three Cooking by Hearts videos shown that night:
My Dad teaching me how to make chapati
Georgia’s mom teaching her how to forage for and cook mushrooms in VT
Ediomi’s mom teaching her how to make Nigerian jollof rice
To watch all of them, you can go to their site, and there are more videos to come – next one features the acclaimed chef, Peter Berley and his daughter.
xo Paulana!Thanks to Alana and Ediomi for the photos!
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