The spices of life: here's a healthful and spiritual approach to vegetarian Indian cooking that's tantalizingly easy, with flavors that dance on the tongue and a spirit that fills the heart

Natural Health, April, 2004 by Daryn Eller

It's a balmy night in Topanga Canyon, a rustic enclave of Los Angeles, and a small group of men and women listens intently to the words of a lovely dark-haired woman. She has traveled a long way to teach us how to cook Indian food--though she is not Indian, but South African. What an interesting convergence, I think, of three cultures and three continents. Yet California has always been a Mecca for people seeking to get more in touch with their spiritual side. And Alexis Kriel's Bombay-by-way-of-Johannesburg style of Indian cooking is as much about spirituality as it is about creating complex and intense flavors.

The class is one of a series that Lexi, as she prefers to be called, gives every summer in Los Angeles and San Diego. Those of us in attendance are drawn by a desire to learn more about the mysteries of this remarkable cuisine. At a typical Indian meal, with its array of curries and tandooris, dals (bean and lentil sides), breads and basmati rice dishes, spicy heat is played against cooler flavors, creating food with both physical and psychological effects. But we are also here to discover more about Lexi's particular kind of healthful Indian cooking.

in balance

Indian meals are generally well-balanced. They're based on a variety of antioxidant-rich vegetables; meat, fish and poultry, when included, typically come in lean cuts and small portions. Lexi takes this a step further, creating vegetarian dishes that are lighter than those typically served at Indian restaurants in the United States. She also has a meditative approach to her craft: We learn about the Indian tradition of preparing food with an eye toward God, and as an offering of service to one's friends and family.

Much of the pungency of Indian food comes from braising spices in fat early in the cooking process, and fats such as ghee (clarified butter) and cream are an integral part of traditional cooking. Yet the foods Lexi will have us prepare contain neither. Nor are any of the dishes deep-fried, as are many Indian classics. Instead, we will use healthier fats in measured amounts to keep calorie counts from soaring into the stratosphere.

The meal will not suffer, she says. In fact, a palate used to richer Indian food will find the taste of these leaner dishes fresh and bright. Each bite still contains a rich assortment of flavors, but more of the natural taste of the vegetables comes through. Best of all, no fancy techniques are required. "If you add a little water when the vegetables start to stick, it steams the food, lessening the amount of oil you need to add to keep it moist," notes Lexi.

conscious cooking

A mindful approach to cooking can be a path to spiritual enlightenment, Lexi believes, and she suggests that her students think of meal preparation as a form of meditation. "Cooking is like yoga in some ways," she says. "Done with focus and consciousness, it can be transcendent."

Over the course of the evening, I began to understand what she means. Eight of us shared the counters and stove in the spacious and sparely designed home of Lexi's sister, Helena. As we concentrated on the six-dish menu, I could feel the world drop away. If the definition of meditation is being in the moment, with one's thoughts centered and mind emptied of extraneous ideas, then chopping vegetables, blending spices and measuring liquids is definitely a meditative undertaking. Certainly by night's end--when we sat down to the beautiful, aromatic fruits of our labor--something had happened. Despite having not eaten for several hours, no one leapt at the dishes before us. Once I'm finished cooking a meal, I'm usually ravenous, but not this night. Instead, I felt relaxed and thankful for the food and the company.

It's not surprising that Lexi's work has a spiritual element. She started cooking while living in South African-based Indian temples for 10 years, learning the craft from elderly women who taught her the basics and told her stories about India. She has also been inspired by Yamuna devi and Kurma das, who Lexi says are great cooks in the tradition of spiritually based food preparation.

"In classical Indian teaching, preparing food is a devotional activity, an offering to God, which means that you are creating meals for more than simple sustenance," explains Lexi. Yet you don't have to be a believer to make cooking for others--or even yourself--an act of love. "Just making someone a cup of tea is nurturing," she notes.

real-world meals

Our meal took several hours to make. We relished the process at the time, but wondered how it could carry over to our daily lives when we had fewer hours to spare. "One thing that makes Indian food time-consuming is that you generally serve four or five dishes at one meal," says Lexi. Like Chinese food, Indian meals are often served family style, with several main dishes. They are also served with condiments such as chutney (a sweet and spicy fruit mixture similar to a chunky jam) and a cooling yogurt sauce called raita.