Stories

“Steamed roti, as I didn't like sukha roti-still don't like sukha roti. A simple dish with core memory attached. Lunch our mum used to prepare for us to have after school. Hungry, we both used to devour it after coming home. I remember you had 8 steamed roti with just aachar once.😛 It has been veryy veryy long haven't had this and I think i forgot how it tastes like.”

“This isn't just one dish but a whole slew of dishes. In Kerala, one of the biggest festivals is called Onam and for Onam, people make rice and a ton of side dishes. This was a very special occasion so we only eat this meal like once a year (and the cooking is quite labor intensive). I would suggest making some combination of rice, sambar, aviyal, inji puli, cabbage thoran, pappadaum, payasam. It's primarily a vegetarian meal and it reminds me of those holiday times, where there would be new movies on TV and every house would be making the best sadya they can!”

“Being a transplant here is not that easy. I think this is the dish Memphis is most famous for, and I never really got into it during my time here. But I also think I’ll always look back on it fondly. I’ll think about the barbecue, the events where I got to spend time with friends, and the people here who are so proud of what they make and the effort they put into it.”

“One time it was stormy and I wanted smth sweet. My mom Said we should make Horchata. Best drink ever.”

“This is one of the first dishes a made when I was on my own as an adult. I bought a whole chicken, learned to dissemble it, and made my own chicken stock from the trimmings. I used it as the base for the chicken pot pie. Instead of a crust, I made mashed potatoes. I lined little ramekins with the mashed potatoes, filled it with the pot pie “stew”, and topped it with some basic biscuit mix. It was some of the best food I’ve made.”