25 year-old Kunal is not your average guy, he cooks, massages people’s feet and makes flower mandalas. He is a co-volunteer here at Sapna Ranch, where he showed me how to cook khichidi , a simple ‘temple food’ invented by Saint Sai Baba. Khichidi is almost always served alongside curd curry (khadi). The mix of…
Tag: food blog
Recipe for Kada: a healthy and herbal Indian tea
I’m writing this with my brother Jack in mind as I know he’s feeling a little under the weather right now. Kada is a traditional Indian herbal tea that is very popular all over India due to it’s healthy and revitalising properties. It’s good for coughs, colds, sore throats, aches and pains. It even helps…
Alleppey special duck curry
This rich duck curry comes from Shaila, who was Bhagath’s mother. We could only communicate with smiles and head shakes, but over the four days we stayed with Bhagath, Shaila cooked us all sorts of delicious Keralan meals. This curry is an ‘Alleppey special’ and traditionally eaten on Sundays, much like the Sunday roast. The…
An African welcome
If I went up to someone in England and asked if I could go to their home and they showed me how to cook shepherd’s pie, what would their reaction be? Would they laugh in my face and tell me to piss off? or would they welcome me into their kitchen? My friends and I were having…
Husna’s Biryani
Husna Azzan is a great cook. I know this because I was lucky enough to stumble past her house one night and try her urojo, or Zanzibar mix, which her son Ahmed was selling to passers-by from a stall outside their house. After trying the urojo and talking to Ahmed about his mother’s cooking, I…
Octopus Soup
A sure sign we must be nearing the coast is when I step off the bus in Mbeya and see a group of men standing over a table eating and talking animatedly. It’s dark by now and just one bright bulb suspended from a broom stick lights up a rickety wooden table, which on closer…
People I Meet and Food They Eat 