There are those who find it difficult to understand other cultures. Satya Santhi hopes to overcome this barrier by using the flavours and cooking methods of her home in Southern India.
A wife and mother, Santhi has refined and perfected her cooking skills by providing meals to her family over the years. This has served her well recently, with her home-based boutique business, which offers hand-made Indian home décor and apparel.
When Santhi’s clients stopped by to peruse her stock, she, in traditional East Indian fashion, would prepare Indian Tea from scratch as a sign of hospitality. By steeping regular tea leaves with Cummin Seeds, slices of Ginger Root and a splash of Milk, Santhi’s hospitality was met with interested questions about her culture from her Canadian friends. In time, she began cooking for her friends as a learning aid to show the relationship of diversity and vibrancy of Indian people that is reflected in their food. Now, she has started teaching to the public. Her first cooking lesson took place on Saturday, September 26, 2015 as part of “Culture Days” at the Family Resource Centre.
The recipes of the day were Tadka Dal, a cooked lentil dish tempered with ghee (clarified butter) fried spices and herbs, Potato Gravy and Indian Tea. Santhi and her close friend from Northern India created all the dishes from scratch.
“We [India] have several states,” Santhi explained. “We all have different languages. She speaks Punjabi and I speak Telugu. We are brought up learning English as well as Hindi though. We have similar traditions and practices.” As a result of being able to communicate effectively, “we are very tolerant of each other; we value each other’s culture and values. I know her recipes, and she knows mine although we are from different states and speak different languages.”
Santhi incorporated a few Northern Indian practices of preparing the above dishes along with her traditional Southern-style to further illustrate her point. She hopes that by teaching the tolerance and hospitality of her culture through food, Westerners may take on these values when they incorporate Indian food into their recipes.
