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Hema Kundargi puts her "Indian Vegetarian Gourmet" show on the air each week on cable Channel 26.

Lights! Camera! Tofu! Indian gourmet on air

By Katherine Petersen

Cupertino resident Hema Kundargi loves to cook, and she specializes in vegetarian Indian food. She has taught Indian cooking classes at the Cupertino Community Center, and this month aired her first television show.

"I want to introduce Indian cooking to American society," she said. "There are the traditional ways of Indian cookery, but I've westernized the recipes by using supplies from regular grocery stores and short-cut techniques."

In her show, Indian Vegetarian Gourmet, Kundargi explores the basics of Indian food preparation, including the concept of working with spices and herbs, along with recipe demonstrations.

In the first show, Kundargi cooks garam masala, an Indian spice mixture; samosas, pastries with a spicy potato filling; chutney; a rice and lentil dish; rice pudding; and masala chai, an Indian spiced tea.

Many spices that are common in Indian cooking can also be used in other dishes, she said. She features a recipe using tofu, which is distinctly non-Indian.

"I'm a vegetarian, so most of the food I prepare is vegetarian," she said.

Instead of working with only one curry recipe, Kundargi said her show explores similar dishes from different regions.

"Dishes are cooked a bit differently in each Indian home as well," she said. "I won't just use a standard recipe for tandoori chicken, for example."

Kundargi's first show airs every Monday during May on Channel 26 at 6:30 p.m. Subsequent shows will focus on topics such as Indian breads and rice dishes, Kundargi said.

A television crew from De Anza College taped the show in her home in November, and she did the editing.

"It took almost three months because it was my first time. It was a challenge to get exactly what I wanted," she said. The crew had never filmed a cooking show, so it was a first time for both.

"Now we know where to have the camera to get the best shot," she said. "It's a pretty good show for the first time."

Some people are intimidated by the prospect of cooking Indian food because recipes usually come with a mile-long ingredient list.

"But if you can work with one spice or herb, you can work with six," Kundargi said.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 21, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.