Prakash

For Indians, food is not a joke. It’s a very serious thing.

I’m from the Scotland of India—a mountainous place in the south called Coorg. Where I’m from, the main gathering place for the kids is with the mom in the kitchen. I had to do my homework with her in the kitchen and the aromas came up. I got curious about what she was doing. That’s the way I learned to cook. But when I left India, I stopped cooking.

When you left what were you doing?

I was studying different languages. We have 15 official languages in India. I speak six fluently. That’s very important to me. Language is a way to connect with people and to connect to knowledge.

After traveling, in 1979, I moved to New Delhi and was working at a drama academy/acting school doing costume design and set design for plays. I was enjoying drawing, costume design, using different patterns. I made some of the costume design for the Ghandi movie and got to meet Richard Attenborough and Ben Kingsley!

Have you always considered yourself an artist?

Well, I would say that I’m an art student because I can’t be a true artist without the proper signature. A lot of people say I’m an artist, but I have a lot more to learn. In my mind, I’m not quite an artist yet. But I do paint, I do exhibit, and I have gotten awards and ribbons and things like that.

Do you think cooking is a form of art?

Yeah, I consider cooking a form of art and I enjoy it myself doing it—especially if I am using fresh ingredients that are colorful. I like to put them together in a harmonious ways to make the food more attractive. For Indians, food is not a joke. It’s a very serious thing.

If you produce bad food, your mind will say this is disgusting. Your mind tells you what to think immediately. At the same time, your mind will tell you not to come back again.

Do you consider yourself a culinary student?

We’ll I’m learning. I’m always learning—each day you learn something. There is no end. Everybody can cook and everyone can paint. So if you draw and if you paint, you can’t necessarily call your self a chef or an artist.

In visual art, you enjoy yourself in a different way. You already have the ingredients and you just put them together. When I paint, I have a palate and the colors are the ingredients. In culinary art, the ingredients are just fat, starch, fiber, and sugar. But presentation of my food is very important to me. I like to feel like I accomplished something. After someone eats my food, first I’m nervous. Too many spices? Too much salt? I like to hear feedback before I can feel better.

Do you have a favorite color?

I like orange surrounded with black. I don’t know why. It’s the depth of life I think, but I don’t know.

What about a favorite food?

You can’t get it here. There’s this rice noodle that my mom used to make with a coconut chicken curry. The noodle would soak up the curry and the spices and the sweetness of the ground fresh coconut. It’s very traditional and no one makes it anymore because it’s a lot of work.

The food I make now will never turn out exactly how my mom makes it, but 70% is up there!

To see what’s cooking in your neighborhood, visit josephine.com.