On October 21st, a festive mood was in the air. Diwali was coming up on the following Monday, and everyone in Kusum Ji’s Hindi 203 class was excited to get the weekend started. Our cooking class was the perfect way to kick off the Festival of Lights and brought together the whole class with something beyond academics.
As we arrived one by one into the kitchen of the John Hope Franklin Center, Kusum Ji gave everyone a different task. Some people were responsible for arranging paper decorations and banners outside for the holiday, some people were tasked with cutting vegetables and picking grapes for side snacks, and most crucially, some were in charge of preparing the paneer makhani and rolling the roti dough.
Completing our tasks never felt like a chore or a burden to me. I was surrounded by friends and wonderful conversation, and the increasingly rich smells wafting in from the kitchen reminded me that at the end of our labor, there was a delicious reward awaiting us. The teamwork was accompanied by a plentiful spread of snacks and appetizers, including steaming chai, spicy mixture, and buttery sweets.
Several of us attempted to cut the paneer blocks into uniform sizes, and others tried to roll perfectly circular rotis. We didn’t quite succeed in either of these goals, so perhaps we’ll have trouble impressing our in-laws in the future, but for the time-being, we had a lot of fun trying our best.
Though the kitchen was small enough that we were forced to squeeze past each other, it was a testament to how close our class is that most people still chose to hang out in the kitchen rather than spread out in the adjacent room.
Once the food was ready, we all gathered around in a rough semi-circle to fill our paper plates and our stomachs. Conversation flowed readily, about everything from school and careers to weekend plans to assertions about our favorite foods.
The paneer could have done with a little more cooking and the rotis weren’t as thin or circular as they could have been, but the small imperfections made the meal better, because they stood as a testament that the meal was ours, made by us and for us. We could have easily ordered takeout from NaanStop or Lime and Lemon instead of putting an hour of work into cooking, but then we would have lost the camaraderie we built as we chopped, stirred, and seasoned.
Here are a few comments from Hindi students about the experience:
Sahil: "The cooking class was so much fun! It felt like a social event and I got to know my classmates in a different context. The food was quite similar to what I eat at home, actually, which was wonderful. I think that the dishes were fairly healthy (except for maybe the paneer makhani). Overall, we did a good job executing the recipes."
Sabina: "I really enjoyed the cooking class this year. Paneer makhani is my favorite Indian dish, so I was really happy with the food selection. I was able to contribute a lot more this year than I was able to last year. I cut the paneer, which was a little bit challenging considering that it was previously frozen, so it was still hard. Although the food did not taste exactly like paneer makhani typically does, I still thought it tasted good. In terms of the meal being healthy, I think it was, especially the mixed vegetables and a salad before the main course. We also tried to use less oil and butter than usual, which made the curry for the paneer healthier. I also really enjoyed the chai that Kusum Ji made!"
Divya: "I enjoyed the cooking class a lot. I haven’t cooked a lot of Indian food by myself before, but it was nice to use what I did know and what I’ve seen my parents do to make the dishes in class. I helped with the paneer makhani and with rolling out the rotis. I can never get the rotis to be proper circles so it took a while but I think I started to get the hang of it after a while. I thought the food was pretty good considering most of us didn’t have much experience making it before. My favorite was the mixed vegetable dish because it was the most flavorful, and I liked the chai as well. I thought the food was fairly healthy, especially with the salad and mixed vegetable dish."
Pranay: "I really enjoyed the cooking class. I’ve never actually cooked any Indian dish and to get to cook the mixed veg dish and honestly see how simple it was was pretty cool. I always thought Indian cooking was extremely complicated but aside from a lot of spices, the main methodology isn’t that hard. I thought the raita and mixed veg was really good, I thought the paneer was a little too sweet for my taste and could have used some more masala or salt, but that’s probably just my thing. It was a good experience and I’m very grateful for it, will definitely try to cook Indian food in the future."
Anushka: "I found the cooking class very enjoyable. I loved having garma-garam chai in the beginning, which gave me a warm and friendly feeling inside. It was fun to see all the activity in the kitchen, as everyone was busy doing something or the other. I got to cut several vegetables, which was nice, and I watched as Kusum ji prepared rotis. I liked the mixed veg sabji quite a bit, and the paneer was also not bad. Overall, the food was healthy and tasty. The fresh fruits and vegetables made me feel fresh. Thank you for such a lovable experience!"
Kyndall: "I’m always a little surprised about the things we do in Kusumji’s class. As usual, the cooking class was very fun. It was nice to be able to see a bit more Indian culture outside of the classroom. Everyone was able to participate and try various different foods. I thought the food was pretty well made and nutritious. I had a nice time learning to roll rotis. I also enjoyed decorating for the Diwali celebration. I got to see some holiday decorations I’d never seen before."
This event was supported and funded by Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies