india

in a place where hundreds of yogis make their home each year, one would imagine fresh healthful hippie food would be in abundance. in mysore, india where my husband and i spent the last month transforming our bodies and calming our minds through the rigorous practice of ashtanga yoga, i found myself hungry (starving!) for the foods that would feed my aching body as satisfyingly as the experience was feeding my spirit.

with a community so focused on finding strength and balance, it was surprising that the options for feeding that strong, balanced body were limited. indian food, delicious though it is, is just too heavy for a post-yoga meal and too spicy and acidic for dinner when your wakeup call is before sunrise. the yogi-run brunch cafes understand the kind of simple fare that our bodies crave after such an intense workout; replenishing us after every ounce of energy was depleted while still keeping us feeling light and healthy. but it just felt wrong to be eating tofu scrambles and millet pancakes when in INDIA, a country with one of the most deliciously fascinating cuisines in the world!

karmically, we found sandhya, a local woman who cooks a typical mysore-style lunch fit for yogis, served fresh and in demand daily. i found out about sandhya before my trip from the lovely sarah b., a friend and fellow blogger over at mynewroots.blogspot.com. ironically, sarah has been cooking up some healing sattvic (pure) food from sandhya’s cookbook, Mysore Style Cooking, and has been dreaming (from her kitchen in copenhagen) of visiting mysore for a first-hand taste. when I arrived in mysore, i quickly found out how to get to sandhya’s and reserved our seats for lunch the next day. the food was perfect, just as I expected. the spread changes daily but always includes a variety of freshly prepared and perfectly spiced vegetables, salads laced with shredded coconut, fragrant rice, tangy yogurt, and chapatti (whole wheat flat breads) - served family style around a long table in sandhya’s humble dining room. after two months of traveling and being lost without a kitchen, i was thrilled to find out that sandhya was short on help and was in need of an extra set of hands.

after cooking for her family and for others for so many years, sandhya is very particular about how her food is prepared and about who prepares it. her current helper is a beautiful young woman and mother of two who has been working in sandhya’s kitchen since she was 8 years old. i was truly grateful to be given the opportunity to cook with these two women and was inspired by them in innumerable ways. after winning the hearts and bellies of many yogis passing through mysore year after year, sandhya was able to publish her gorgeous cookbook and is currently working on her second, a collection of festival foods. Mysore Style Cooking has long been sold out in mysore and I am excitedly awaiting my copy to arrive in the mail so I can share some of the recipes with you! in the meantime, if you are interested in indian or ayurvedic cooking, pick up a copy for yourself and bring the smells of mysore to your own  kitchen.