Page 15 of The Love Thief
CHAPTER TEN Cooking School
A few days after my arrival in India, my one-on-one cooking class with Auntie’s cousin Divya was scheduled to begin. She lived a short walk from my hotel in a gated compound of modern-looking three-story apartment buildings.
While the directions for the walk were simple, the walk was not what I expected.
Once I crossed the busy street in front of my hotel, I found myself on a quiet, tree-lined, uphill dirt road.
All along the path up to the complex were warning signs that read: “Beware of the Monkeys.” I was familiar with “Beware of the dog” signs from home, but monkeys?
After the minor encounter with them on my hotel balcony, I worried if they might attack me now that there was no hotel window to protect me against them.
What would I do if I got attacked by a monkey? What would the monkeys want with me? A bit fearful (I could hear but not see them), I headed quickly up the uneven dirt path, keeping my head down and praying to have a monkey-free journey. Fortunately, I did.
As I approached Divya’s front door, I could smell incense and hear faint chanting. I knocked and a beautiful fifty-something woman wearing a sky-blue-and-lime-printed cotton kurta and sporting a big red bindi on her third eye opened the door and welcomed me in.
“Namaste, you must be Holly,” she said as she placed her hands in prayer position over her chest. “Welcome, I’m so happy to meet you. Please come in, you can leave your shoes there,” she said, pointing to the outdoor shoe rack.
Divya explained that she was just finishing her morning puja, a form of worship, and to please come and join her.
We walked into a small alcove with an altar featuring a large mango and a coconut, several small Hindu Gods and Goddesses carved in sandalwood standing next to a large bronze statue draped with a garland of flowers.
Divya handed me a smoking stick of incense and motioned to me to begin a clockwise movement of passing the smoke around the Goddess as she chanted:
“Om Annapurnayai Namaha Om Sadapurnayai Namaha
Om Hrim Namo Bhagavati Maheswari Annapurna Swaha Om Hreem Shreem Kleem Namo Bhagwatye Maheshwari Annapurna Swaha”
When the ritual was complete, Divya explained to me that the Goddess Annapurna oversees food and cooks, and she was also known as Parvati, wife of Shiva. The term anna means “food” and purna means “filled completely.”
“It is believed that when food is cooked with the spirit of holiness, it becomes alchemy. When you honor Annapurna, she blesses the food and turns it into Amrita —the Sanskrit word for healthy and nutritious food, which gives immortality. Now, isn’t that something we all want and need? ” asked Divya.
I wondered if praying to her and eating the food she blessed would also heal a broken heart.
Divya walked me into her kitchen and told me that today I would be her only student. She wanted to hear about my journey with cooking and food while she showed me the proper way to make classic masala chai.
The kitchen was surprisingly large with light wood floor-to-ceiling cabinets on one side and more cabinets above and below the black granite countertops. In the middle of the room was a large black island with a white countertop.
When she opened a drawer filled with small round stainless steel spice containers like the ones Auntie had gifted me, I noticed Divya had dozens more than I had.
She slowly pulled eight of the spices from the drawer and named them all, then carefully measured them in different amounts into a small bowl for mixing.
She then brewed loose black tea and added a pinch of the just-mixed masala, plus another pinch of shredded fresh ginger.
She strained it, poured it into a cup, and then added honey and a little milk.
It smelled amazing and tasted just like Deepak’s masala chai.
We sat down on padded stools around her kitchen island and I began to tell her about my love of all things food.
I began by describing my custom-made dollhouse, complete with its Easy Bake Oven and about the first time I successfully made slice-and-bake chocolate chip cookies.
“Mom was so proud of me and we had a beautiful tea party with sparkling cider in delicate cups alongside the cookies. As a teen, I began watching the Food Network every day after school, as well as reading recipe books for fun. My mom was never much of a cook, but my grandma was and she taught me the classic American dishes . . . everything from meatloaf with mashed potatoes and peas to fried chicken, spaghetti and meatballs with homemade marinara sauce, and macaroni and cheese.”
I rambled on, telling her that I considered the stars on the Food Network to be my personal chef tutors, and I kept a notebook filled with recipes and ideas that I cooked up for dinner several times a week.
I fantasized that I would grow up to be as beautiful, sexy, and talented as Nigella Lawson with her cooking skills along with the enviable marriage of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.
“I dreamed of having a Jeffrey, a husband just like hers, who gushes over every dish I serve and plans wonderful surprises for me from time to time,” I confided to Divya.
“Eventually I went to college for a liberal arts degree but after two years dropped out and attended CIA—not the spy office in James Bond movies but the Culinary Institute of America, which is one of the best culinary schools in the States. It was the only time in my life that I ever got straight A’s.
I worked in hotel catering for a while and then for a private catering firm.
I almost had my own catering firm, but it’s now on hold,” I said, finally taking a big breath after delivering the short version of my life with food.
Divya refilled my teacup and shared some of her fond memories of learning to cook.
“Our stories are a bit similar, Holly. I also learned to cook from my grandmother. One day, Dadi, my mother’s father, was sick in bed.
Nani told me we had to cook a special dish for him that would make him all better.
It’s called khichri and it’s classic Indian comfort food.
Today, I will teach you Geeta’s parents’ favorite version of it.
So, Nani taught me that the secret healing ingredient was something every cook had to master and she asked me if I was big enough to learn how to do it.
Of course, I said yes. I think I was maybe six or seven years old.
I was thrilled to be learning a secret that would help heal my grampa. ”
“Of course, who wouldn’t want to know the secret sauce to cooking and healing. Please tell me!” I implored.
Being with Divya in her kitchen and watching the reverence of her morning ritual and blessings created a new sense of purpose to cooking and food I had never experienced before. Preparing food was a vehicle toward a spiritual life. In fact, it was a sacred act of love.
“As you are cooking, stand in front of the bubbling pot of rice and veggies and spices or whatever you are cooking, and place your hands in namaste over your heart. Close your eyes and send strong intentions of infusing the food with all of your love. Focus your attention on your heart and see a giant wave of love emanate out and then land into the pot to combine with your food,” Divya said.
She passed me a plate of a crisp and tasty snack that looked a bit like party mix made with dry Rice Chex and Wheat Chex cereals, pretzels, and peanuts that Carly’s parents used to serve. It was delicious and I made a mental note to get the recipe later.
Reliving my food history for Divya filled me with warm, tender memories and I noticed that my misery level had plunged to about a 5 from my usual 9 or 10.
Divya decided that my first real cooking lesson would be how to make khichri.
She first gave me a tour of her kitchen cabinets and refrigerator, showing me the variety of basic ingredients she used most. Everything was homemade and organic, including her yogurt, ghee, even her special spice blends.
As she walked me through each of the items, she explained the healing benefits of the various spices, foods, and condiments, frequently pointing out their digestive qualities.
For instance, cardamom is good for indigestion, gas, and constipation.
Ghee is also good for digestion and contains brain-boosting nutrients that stave off dementia.
Yogurt is filled with B2 and B12 vitamins, and one cup a day provides 50 percent of your protein requirements.
She was definitely a devotee of the “food as medicine” school of cooking. I was her eager apprentice.
BASIC KHICHRI
⒈／⒉ cup moong dal (split mung beans)
⒈／⒉ cup basmati rice
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
⒈／⒉ teaspoon fresh ginger
(or a pinch of ground ginger powder)
⒈／⒋ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon sea salt
⒈／⒋ teaspoon black pepper
4 cups water
For garnish:
⒈／⒉ cup chopped fresh cilantro
a few slices of lime or lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the rice and moong dal in a medium bowl. Soak the mixture in water for about 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse well until the water runs clear and drain.
Add oil to a medium pot on medium to low heat. Once the oil starts to warm up, add the cumin seeds and stir for a minute until the seeds start to brown and become fragrant.
Add the ginger and ground turmeric. Stir and add the rice and moong dal mixture. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Stir and add the 4 cups of water.
Increase the heat to medium-high to bring the water to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Let the khichri simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you get a porridge-like consistency. It should be soft and creamy.
Carefully (as it will be hot) taste the khichri to make sure the rice and dal are fully cooked. If not, you may need to let it cook a little longer.
Turn off the heat. Adjust the garnish, if needed, and stir again.
Serve and enjoy.
MASALA SPICE MIX
10 tablespoons cinnamon
7 tablespoons cardamom powder
7 tablespoons ganthoda powder
7 tablespoons ginger powder
7 tablespoons ground black peppercorn
7 tablespoons ground cloves
3 tablespoons ground nutmeg
MASALA CHAI
? cup boiling water
⒈／⒉ cup milk
2 tablespoons loose black tea
⒈／⒉ teaspoon masala spice mix
a pinch of fresh shredded ginger
Brew for two minutes then strain.
Add sweetener of choice and drink.