A Flavourful Tradition by Ashima Syal

My nostrils still hold the smell of spices. It seems, memories make you wander but end up bringing you back to the same place. I was very fond of my grandmother. I remember how, during my childhood, I used to accompany her to the kitchen, only to watch how she cooks. There were so many layers of perfection in her hands, there was something unique about her kadi patta tadka, she spilled perfectly on the curd blended in Beetroot.

The precision in her cooking was admirable. She made me taste all the dishes she made. She somehow felt that I had a knack for flavours.

The tradition I loved the most with her was learning to dry the mango pickle on the terrace. Now when I look back I feel happy to carry her legacy of cooking forward, and now as a Chef I understand the worth of traditional flavours even more. And cooking is a generational wealth, which can be written down as an experiential reality only with love.

“When you cook, not only should your stomach be full but your heart too. Food should reach your heart," a lesson for a chef to remember, passed on to her by her beloved grandmother Medha Aamma.

Ashima Syal, is an Author by Profession. She published her first book of Poems titled " Canopy" in the year 2019. She has been a co-author for several anthologies such as Seashore, Snowdust, Voices of Immortal Souls. She was a correspondent writer in the anthology Ashima' s poem on "Himalayan Abode" was featured in the Kumaon Literary Festival in 2020. Ashima' s interview on "The journey and the path of Poetry as a prospective career" was featured in the Global Times. Ashima received the prestigious Rabindranath Tagore Literary Award by DRDC for her literary merit. Currently Ashima conducts Creative Writing and Public Speaking Workshops for college students in Mumbai.