Small Kitchens, Big Flavours
We sipped slowly on steaming filter coffee—deep, aromatic, almost meditative—and let the afternoon slip past us in the comfort of familiar company. As is often the case when hearts are open and the table warm, our talk meandered toward food, that most evocative of subjects.
In a moment steeped in nostalgia and gentle longing, I found myself speaking of Marina Balakrishnan—friend, chef, and quiet custodian of Kerala's vegetarian culinary heritage. From her home in Mumbai, Marina runs Ootupura, a deeply personal kitchen that pays homage to the everyday elegance of Thalassery's domestic cuisine. Her food, modest in ingredient yet rich in soul, offers no flamboyant declarations—only subtle, fragrant notes that sing of coconut milk and curry leaves, of ancestral rhythms and the lilt of Malayalam drifting from kitchens shaded by banana trees.
I spoke of how such flavours— rooted, nuanced, and disarmingly simple—feel increasingly rare in Delhi. The closest I had come to that quiet grace was in a lovingly prepared meal by Prabhakaran of South Indian World in INA Market, tasted at a friend's gathering—earthy, honest, and redolent of home.
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