Radhika Naidu is on a mission not just to cook delicious food, but also to dispel misconceptions about Indian cuisine. She loves to share recipes, flavours and ingredients not always found on restaurant menus but are just as delicious, comforting, and easy to prepare in the average Kiwi kitchen.
Radhika’s passion for cooking comes from her South Indian roots, her early years in her birth city Kolkata, and growing up in Delhi. Like most Indian families, food was always a big part of life, to celebrate, to mark occasions.
Her father was an advertising agency executive and their family entertained a lot, she recalls.
“Both my parents were creative cooks, albeit each with different styles. While my mum, an instinctual cook, could put up a wholesome, tasty meal in no time, dad was all about prep and slow-cooking. He usually would do the Sunday Meat Curry, as we called it. I would be his “sous-chef” accompanying him to the markets to get all the ingredients, then coming home to help him prep and cook all day.”
Growing up in North India with a South-Indian heritage was not easy but it gave her a different perspective.
“The culture shock was rough, and I never felt like I fit in really, but now I feel it was a blessing in disguise because I also got exposed to a whole new world of cuisine. I also had a lot of influences from my extended family, cousins in Pune where I would spend summers in, and eat my way through the city.
It is this very mix of being ‘from all over’ that she feels, ironically, is her strength now.
Despite her passion for food, Radhika never envisioned making a career in the industry. She pursued a degree in psychology and followed it with a Diploma in TV media production, ending up with an offer to work at NDTV where she played different roles over the years- from a production assistant, to cameraperson to reporter and anchor.
After moving to New Zealand about ten years ago, life took a different turn.
“Moving to a quieter New Zealand was again another paradigm shift for me, and I felt alienated and isolated from everything I knew familiar.
Signing up as a volunteer for the charity Bellyful and organising a fund-raiser with them in Auckland helped her integrate into the social fabric of her new home.
“This was when I first experienced community cooking. Coming from a culture that boasts the incredible work and service done by the Langar kitchens, I greatly appreciated a similar concept here too. At that time, I was home-sick and being surrounded by the lovely foodie community was wonderful.”
Over time, she became more involved with cooking and baking and even demos for playgroups, other mum friends and their families, to give back to the Kiwis community that helped her settle in.
“Once, I did a market stall for another community fund-raiser. At the end of it, I had some orders still left. That’s when I reluctantly looked to social media for help in moving those orders, creating my page Dishful Thinking on Instagram and Facebook. With the help of a couple of friends who had actually sampled my food, spreading the word, I was all sold out within a few hours!”
The feedback from people triggered some thoughts around the misconceptions about Indian food. “As I spoke to more of the local people around me, I felt there was a big gap between what Kiwis think our food is, and what it actually is.
“I realised that I don’t just want people to taste Indian food but I want them to know how much of it is actually easily doable in their kitchens.”
“Maybe if I spread what little I know, it will live longer. With this thought, I approached Papanui High School in Christchurch(PHS) to offer Indian cooking classes and they were more than happy to give me a chance.”
Radhika started classes in 2020 just after the Covid lockdown, not knowing what to expect but her classes got a tremendous response. Her classes have turned out to be more than just cooking lessons. They become an interactive mix of foodie stories, history, and cooking, which makes them unique and fascinating.
“Many of my students don’t just want the recipes, they are so interested to know how these ingredients or dishes came to be. I’d like to think of it as the onward journey of the Spice/Silk Route! “
On being asked which are some of the most-requested recipes, she says “Butter Chicken and Biryani are really popular, no surprises there.”
“We do a combination of home-style, some restaurant classics and some street food interpretations. We make Kathi Rolls, Chicken 65, Daal, Rogan Josh, cabbage poriyal etc. The emphasis is on teaching the basics. It’s also important to learn about techniques and textures besides the flavours.
“The food I teach them isn’t fancy, but still very much Indian cooking, full of clean, distinguishable flavours. It’s all about the little techniques of tempering, spice proportions and texture. I also teach them how to do dairy-free and gluten-free versions where possible.”
The amount of positive responses her classes have received has been beyond her expectations.
“My students are a total mix, kiwis to residents from different nationalities - Japanese, Americas, Irish, English etc. And they come from all walks of life, from nurses to teachers to builders. Some will sign up for repeat courses, some make an effort to commute from other parts of Canterbury for this weekly class, and I so deeply appreciate all their efforts and interest. It’s what keeps us going!”
While Radhika has no inclinations to start a restaurant anytime soon, she says she is open to private cooking for in-home events.
“I am also open to designing restaurant menus or offering consulting services.”
Recently Radhika did cooking demonstrations at the Christchurch Indo-Mediterranean Food Festival, where she got great feedback and response.
Radhika concludes, “I feel immigrants like myself do have a potential role, a responsibility even, in blending the best of the cultures we are exposed to for future generations’ sake. Hopefully, immigrants like me will continue to contribute into the wider community so that we keep the traditions and flavours of Indian food alive and going forth in a meaningful way.”
Radhika’a classes at PHS for Term 2 kick off May 10. More info on the PHS website’s Adult Education section.
Follow Radhika's food journey at - Instagram: dishfulthinkingnz, Facebook:Dishful Thinking.
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