An ode to avocado

DOWN FOODPATH

I have been cooking for the past 13 years. My love for the culinary arts all began when I was a child - my father is also a cook, he owns a catering service and I grew up around food. As a child, I would help him out when he was cooking. Every evening, after finishing school, I would go to my father and help him out. Food is in my blood so that’s why I decided to become a chef.

It’s probably because of my childhood that cooking comes naturally to me. Although we are three siblings, I’m the only one who joined the culinary arts. One of my brothers is a business man and the other is in the airforce.
The reason I became a chef is because I want to bring in the idea of good and healthy food to my customers. In Kerala, where I grew up, I too owned a catering service and I cooked a variety of dishes, from everything non-vegetarian to vegetarian.

I came to Bengaluru a year and four months back, on the recommendation of a friend. It’s my first time here and it has been a completely different experience from Kerala. There, it is a more traditional form of cooking and I mostly grew up cooking purely non-vegetarian dishes. Here, it’s a more modern style of cooking and so are the people. Even the weather is very nice and I really enjoy myself! I get one day off every week and I use it to explore the City.

On how I got the job at ‘Rasa’, the friend I mentioned earlier said there was an international restaurant called by the same name and I should apply, and I did. Although I had never cooked organic food, it was easy to adapt and master it. At ‘Rasa’, I have learned a different style of cooking...it’s not that I have stopped cooking non-vegetarian food, it’s just that I balance and understand the ingredients. I just look at a dish and make it, however exotic it is, even without the recipe. It’s my love for cooking that helps me.

I have begun to enjoy this style of cooking, it comes naturally to me. I might have done my BA in hotel management but it is my childhood and my father who have taught me everything I know.  

The reason I picked this dish, ‘Sag Avocado’, is because it is a powerhouse of nutrients. It is an exotic dish that can be prepared in 10 minutes. And it has avocado and spinach, which helps people who have diabetes and sugar problems. Also, it isn’t available in many restaurants.

Sag (spinach) Avocado
(butterfruit)

Ingredients
*  Sag (spinach) - 1 bunch
*  Cumin - 1 table spoon
*  Garlic -   2
*  Avocado -  small (ripe)
*  Turmeric powder -  1 teaspoon
*  Onion -  2 (big)
*  Capsicum  -  1 (medium)
*  Salt as required
*  Water whenever needed

Method

Heat oil in a pan add the cumin seeds, as they splutter add chopped garlic. When the garlic turns golden brown, add diced  onions and capsicum; saute well and add some turmeric powder. As the turmeric blends, add the spinach, saute again and add boiling water and keep it on a low flame for ten minutes. Add salt and the ripe avocado (ripe and diced). Make sure you do not  overcook the avocado. Cook for two minutes and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish the ‘sag avocado’ with fried palak and serve hot.



Rakesh
Head Chef, Rasa
(As told to Ananya Revanna)

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