Reflecting on Soul Supper Club: India
When we think of Indian food, the classic Chicken Tikka Masala or Chicken Korma springs to mind. Although much loved, these british takes are most often than not a pureed sauce with chunks of chicken suspiciously floating about.
But Indian food is so much more than a 'curry'. It encompasses an entire diaspora of unique, wildly varied food. With more than 25 states, one cannot expect any less!
For our very first supper club, we wanted to dip our toes into the vastly exciting pot of all that Indian food has to offer. Our chefs for the night - Pritesh and Sruthi are of Indian descent. Sruthi is a second-generation immigrant who has lived all over the world and now recently moved to London. The dessert of the evening, semiya payasam, is an ode to her Tamilian heritage and one of her favorite desserts growing up. Pritesh is a chef at Moto and is extremely passionate about food. The rich dal makhani and potato bhajia were inspired by his Kenyan-Gujarati heritage.
"Cooking to me is very reminiscent of my ammama and amma spending hours in the kitchen preparing food with immense love. I moved away from home for University when I was 17 and since then have been so much more passionate about cooking because it reminds me of home when I'm so far away. At University, I loved cooking for friends. We created big batch meals that we shared together, there were many kitchen disasters but lots of laughter and love.”
~ Sruthi
This was Sruthi and Pritesh’s first foray into Supper Club service. After hours of preparation, poring over the menu and experimenting with dishes, it feels odd that it is now over. There is a certain unforgettable magic when it comes to hand serving guests food that you have painstakingly prepared, especially when it is on banana leaves.
“Banana leaves in South India and many cultures worldwide are used during special festive occasions. They are used as large plates and we use our hands to eat from them. I have fond memories of more than fifteen different dishes served on these immense leaves during weddings - we call it ‘kalayanam sappadu’. The leaves themselves are eco-friendly, disposable and saves everyone the hassle of washing up, win! The first time I tried to show one of my northern irish friends how to eat with his hands he compared the process to a digger - fingers poised together, lower, scoop, and shovel! Not the most elegant description of what is an enriching and beautiful process, but it worked, and soon enough he was asking for a second helping of rice and paneer.”
~ Sruthi
Eating with your hands is a very tactile experience. It is not just your mouth that is able to experience the variation in texture but your hands as well. Your fingertips come together, the thumb slightly behind the other four and used to gently nudge your next bite into your mouth. It takes some getting used to, but once you go hands, you don’t go back.
The willingness and curiosity to experience life differently to what we know helps us come together and appreciate our myriad experiences. Never did I imagine that I would be embarking on my very first job in London, cooking at a Supper Club, and serving wonderful strangers food that I had helped prepare. Despite being in a completely new city, and away from a warm tight knit huddle of friends at University, the past few months have taught me that if anything- Food is the language of the masses and a shared meal lets you laugh generously, talk abundantly (with your mouth full), and eat heartily!
~ Sruthi
The images below capture some of the beautiful moments of the India Supper Club. Thank you to Efosa for being the person behind the lens. Click here to see our post-event video and scroll down to see the full menu of the night. We’ll be back in 2022 for more supper clubs, starting with Jamaica. Hope to see you there!
