A couple weeks back, I was invited by Kitchensurfing to host a lunch. Kitchensurfing is a startup that aims to connect chefs like me with people that have space and want to try out new types of foods that they may not be able to find at a restaurant.
I prepared a traditional South Indian meal using all local ingredients from the farmer’s market. I had a really great time cooking and meeting some new people. You can read more about the event on the Kitchensurfing blog here.
Photo credit: Nhi Ma
I’m very excited to introduce Veena Prasad, Founder of Veena’s Market on this segment of the Spice Route, not only because I love the concept behind her store of Indian spice kits and reading her recipe blog, but also because she wanted to cover one of my favorite ingredients, curry leaves. I know curry leaves are not technically a spice, but they play a huge roll in flavoring dishes from South India, where Veena grew up. In teaching cooking classes, I find that many people automatically think “curry” comes from curry leaves so I was happy to have Veena write about them and dispel this myth! She has also shared a beautiful recipe using curry leaves below that I can’t wait to try out.
I was very excited to be asked to prepare appetizers a couple weeks back for the NY Indian Film Festival party to celebrate the world premiere of Rituparno Ghosh’s film, Chitrangada. The event was hosted by SAY WE (South Asian Young Women Entrepreneurs).
Kofta is kind of like the Indian meatball – minus the meat and traditionally made from paneer, potato, spices and herbs and stuffed with cashews and/or raisins. I make the comparison because growing up vegetarian in a predominantly Italian neighborhood, I remember being surrounded by meatball subs in the cafeteria on numerous occasions. If I could serve vegetarian kids a variation today, it would have to be the kofta sub:)
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I originally came up with the curried tofu recipe to go inside a taco with mint chutney, but now I find myself making it quite a bit and just serving it as a side because it’s so quick. It also has a lot of flavor, which is sometimes difficult to do with tofu.
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