kooking in kerala

I love to cook. I have so much to learn about it yet, but there is something so satisfying by risking it little, adding a new spice, or a new ingredient for texture. I have already failed a lot, but cooking feels like that same joy when you’re a little kid and you mix baking soda to vinegar and watch it volcano over.

I was looking for things to do in Kochi on lonely Planet and saw cooking lessons. I joked with a friend, do people actually do these things? They said, yes, you want to learn to cook indian food so why don’t you? And so I researched where I should take them. A quick Google search brought be to Pimenta Spice Garden about an hour away from Kochi. I chose a 3 day program with cooking and activities.

The little bungalows were in their own jungle, and mine had a little possum residing on the roof. I’ve had so many weird encounters with animals this trip. Up until now I hadn’t experienced the mosquitoes of India, but these little monsters came in droves like the people of hyderabad asking for pictures with me. I was less obliging of the mosquitoes.

 

Cooking indian food was amazing.

Here’s what I learned to make:

Dosa Masala

Aloo Paratha  (potato filled bread)

Brinjal (eggplant) in roasted coconut gravy

Cauliflower Kofta in Tomato Gravy

Tuvar Dhal

Cultures are so intertwined with their food that it is just as important to eat the food as to experience the aura of the place you are visiting.

Xoxo With shanti,

mel