Message from Alamelu
Greetings! My philosophy is: “Cooking is Love”
Alemalu on MPTV
I was born and raised in India. I grew up in a large household with a professional cook and regularly shared in an abundance of delicious foods. Although I knew nothing about cooking itself, I did greatly enjoy good food. After my marriage, I accompanied my husband to the US as a young bride. Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. I learned cooking in New York from a professional cook at my aunt’s house. To my surprise, I found immediate joy in cooking.
I am a person who loves the company of people and who loves to entertain. Over the years, whenever friends dined with us, they indicated how much they enjoyed the food. The repeated requests for my recipes from my guests and my growing interest in cooking motivated me to write an Indian cookbook. After tasting foods I had prepared, my dear friend and neighbor, Dr. Patricia Marquardt would often say, “This food is divine. How did you make it?” Pat learned to cook a few Indian dishes and started exploring more. I invited Pat to work with me on a good South Indian cook book. Pat enthusiastically agreed. Our exciting culinary journey resulted in three well-received cookbooks on South Indian cooking.
As a culinary instructor, I offered classes teaching the public easy ways to prepare and enjoy healthful foods using spices, legumes and herbs. The classes were soon followed by TV appearances and later my television series. I have been greatly encouraged by the response to my classes and to the TV cooking series shown around the country.
In my culinary mission, I emphasize cooking healthful foods that are also delicious. I believe we are worth nourishing and cooking is a skill worth learning. We do not have to sacrifice taste when we chose to cook and eat healthful foods. Do you wish to cook and enjoy delicious foods, but, you don’t have the time or you don’t know how? Then, you have come to the right place!
Cooking can be a relaxing experience. My way of cooking a meal is get into the kitchen, light a candle, play nice music, have a glass of wine and start cooking. When lentils are cooking, chop your vegetables and prepare the spices for cooking and have a blast cooking in 30 minutes. It is that simple and easy.
Cooking can also be a nurturing experience. See the magic of family or friends bonding through cooking and sharing great home cooked meals. Even if you do not have time to cook every day, you can cook the food on weekends, refrigerate or freeze and use it later. Spices have preservative quality and the food prepared with spices tastes better over time.
It has been a rewarding experience when I hear my students telling me how much even their children love eating vegetables using our recipes. The ingredients are easily available, and dishes are so easy to prepare. Spices and herbs also have intrinsic health benefits and they aid in digestion. It is my hope that you too will enjoy cooking with spices and legumes and sharing the foods with friends and family. When you take a culinary journey to India, you will also be uplifted in body and spirit!
