On a recent Wednesday at My Korofuru Kitchen, owner Aparna “Appy” Thukrel Kado announced to me that she was the restaurant's chef, server, server, and host. Ta. I had never met Kado, but she was a little flustered, perhaps because she was busy in the kitchen, or perhaps because of the series of storms and tornado warnings that had left many of us hunkered down in the basement the night before. It looked like there was.
Kado had posted his thoughts about the storm on his restaurant's Facebook page that morning. A 12-year-old girl from Siliguri, a city in northeastern India, recalled witnessing a storm when the roofs of her houses were blown off. Trees and telephone poles were down. Her family was without power for five days.
Siliguri is located in a subtropical region, which experiences frequent storms and severe monsoons. Kado, who had just moved to the city with his family from Bombay, was used to such things, but was surprised that the residents treated him the next day as usual and went about their business as if nothing had happened. I was amazed. “That is the life force,” she wrote.
Because of the storm and the overcast weather that followed, Kado decided to offer a menu that was like a “cozy blanket” for cold, rainy days like this one, as she described it in a Facebook post. Ta. Food that soothes the soul during difficult times. Food that warms your heart and makes you feel good. Dishes included potato mint curry, mild chicken korma, warm tomato-filled chicken tikka masala, and bread pakoda. After reading her post, I decided I needed that blanket too.
My Kolorful Kitchen's small, six-table dining room bears no resemblance to the restaurant's name. The whitewashed brick walls and whitewashed wainscoting create a solemn, if not a bit cold, impression. I later learned that in My Kolorful Kitchen, it's the food that provides the color and the caddies that provide the warmth.
The menu, which changes daily, was written in red ink on a whiteboard above the table. We started with bread pakodas, a popular street food snack in India. Spiced potatoes, onions, and other vegetables are sandwiched between slices of bread coated with chickpea batter and lightly fried. “Here it is,'' Kado said, placing it on my table. “India's comfort food.” I've had many pakoda (often spelled pakora) fritters, but I can't remember if I've ever had a pan pakoda before. I loved it regardless. The turmeric and chili spices were warm but didn't overpower the filling. The crunch of the bread created a pillow-soft interior.
My second course arrived quickly (looks like Kado is helping out a bit in that kitchen). A combo platter of chicken tikka masala and Gujarati dal is divided between rice and each dish is served with a zigzag of chutney. The chicken tikka gravy was loaded with crispy crushed onions and minced chicken. It was surprisingly light, with a hint of smoky tomato flavor taking center stage. The Gujarati dal was equally delicious, with a sunny turmeric color and a bright, spicy, and sweet flavor in equal measure. Gujarat is a state in western India known for its cuisine containing these flavors, its bright colors, and its use of modest spices. It's the kind of food you'd find right down the street in Kado.
Kado admits that he wasn't a very good cook before opening the restaurant. She kept her things simple when cooking at her home for her husband and her two sons. Her specialty was butter chicken and not much else. But when the pandemic hit, she decided she wanted to dig a little deeper. Like most of us, after that terrifying period, she longed not only for her comforting food, but also for the soothing scents and soothing colors of her childhood in India. Ta.
She started by watching YouTube videos of Indian chefs making dishes, then recreating them at home. She watched cooking shows like “MasterChef India'' with her obsession, and she took note of how each contestant imitated their techniques and traditional recipes. Over time, she started reaching out to her favorite Instagrammers and eventually her favorite Indian chefs.
“I shamelessly reached out to every chef in town,” she told me. One of her biggest influences is Navjot Arora, who runs a Michelin-starred restaurant in Irvington, New York. The two met when Kado's son met Arora's daughter, and both became students at Indiana University. Arora invited Cudd to Irvington to cook together and learn more about running a restaurant. She now considers him a good friend.
dream of colors
Eventually, Kado started a blog where he posted photos and informative long descriptions of what he was cooking. Her friends noticed and started asking her to cook for them. These friends encouraged her to contact the owners of Adesso Her Coffee in Mason to see if they could host something like pop-ups on a regular basis. It was a great experience, but when Adesso opened a store across the street, Kado decided to try it on his own.
Of course, Indian cuisine has many meanings. Each state in India has its own unique cuisine, and just like in the United States, flavors and cooking techniques vary from region to region. Kado grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai), but his travels across the continent exposed him to food from nearly every state in India. She considers the cooking at her My Kolorful Kitchen to be a hybrid of Indian cuisine with a particular emphasis on southern cuisine.
Sometimes the food that Kado cooked appears in my dreams. That's what happened recently with bhutte ka keeth, which she describes as Indian grits with ginger, cumin and other spices.
“Bhutte Ka Kees has always intrigued me,” Kado wrote on Instagram. “How can such a basic and simple recipe be so popular?”
The taste is great, like grits, but the appearance is not very appealing.
Kad wanted to create a version that was more colorful and perhaps a little more appetizing in appearance. Corn pairs beautifully with green peas and mint, so she decided to use Butte Ka Kees as a bed for fritters stuffed with peas and mint, creating not only the ideal color but also the ideal flavour. I did.
For Kado, Indian cooking is more than just cream and ghee and plenty of spices. Her dishes are all about flavor, texture and, of course, color. She wants everything that comes out of her kitchen to be unique. “I'm self-taught, so I try to make every dish taste different,” she said. “Both my father and mother said that spices should never take away the flavor of the food. I've always tried to stick to that.”
My Kolorful Kitchen, 124½ E. Main St., Mason, 513-375-2936.
