Hindi 101 and 203 Cooking: Reconnecting with Indian Culture

Last Tuesday, our Hindi class embarked on a trek to the John Hope Franklin Center to meet our Professor, Kusum Ji, for a morning of cooking. As we walked down the hallways of the building, we could already smell the chai brewing. This instantly made my classmate Yash enthusiastic: “I loved how the second I stepped in the hallway, I could smell all the spices and flavors permeating through.” Upon entering the kitchen, we saw the beautiful set up of various ingredients that would be used during our cooking session.

 

We began our morning by writing our names in Hindi on plastic cups and filling them up with freshly made chai ‘चाय’. The chai rejuvenated us; the blend of spices and unique flavors it contained was a nice change of pace from the typical lattes and coffees we purchase on food points on campus. Then, we received recipes written in Hindi. Using a divide and conquer approach, half of us made raita ‘रायता’, or a yogurt based food flavored with cilantro, onions, and peppers, and half of us made rajma ‘राजमा’, a bean based curry, which we decorated with green peppers. Deciphering the Hindi recipes to understand the instructions was fun because we were able to work together as a team; each one of us translated certain parts as we pieced together what the final cooking strategy would be. While cooking, we also played Bollywood and Bhangra songs, which enhanced our cultural immersion and made our experience more delightful and energizing.

 

My favorite part was how this activity provided us an opportunity to bond with our classmates and Professor in a relaxed environment. Over my year and half at Duke, I have noticed that the environment a group is in affects the conversations the group holds. This is because certain environments remind people of certain thoughts, which stimulates certain conversations. For example, while in Perkins Library, the conversations are centered around upcoming midterms and papers. While we were cooking, however, the conversations were centered around our Indian upbringings, our experiences with Indian food, and our aspirations to travel to various parts of India. These conversations were a refreshing way to start our day, as we were momentarily able to let go of our Duke-related stresses.

 

Other classmates enjoyed this event, as well. My classmates learned cooking techniques that they hope to impress their families with during Thanksgiving. Furthermore, Sahil and Shruti appreciated how the cooking class coincided with Diwali, as everyone was in a festive mood.

 

Because our Hindi 101 class cooked the food first, Kusum Ji’s Hindi 203 class was able to focus more on social and political discussions related to food, rather than merely preparing the food. During the cooking class, Kusum Ji prompted students in Hindi 203 to be mindful about food waste, which led to a thought-provoking discussion on how to reduce food waste. Saloni enjoyed how her classmates brainstormed how technology could be used to solve the issue of food waste. For example, her classmates suggested to create an app that monitors food waste in grocery stores and to push for start-ups on campus to manage food waste.

 

We all want to thank Kusum Ji for organizing the cooking class. In the future, we are hoping to learn how to make pani puri, biryani, and other curries, as well. We are looking forward to future cooking classes and opportunities to immerse ourselves in Indian culture!