8FFLFOE MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE
■ FOOD FEATURE ■ MOVIE TIMES ■ BEST BETS FOR ENTERTAINMENT
MICHELLE LE
Fharzana Elankumaran cuts up an onion for tomato chutney in her Mountain View kitchen.
N F O O D F E AT U R E
Love yourself, love what you eat I HEART CURRY COOKING CLASSES ENCOURAGE NATURAL INGREDIENTS AND AUTHENTIC RECIPES By Ashley Finden
O
ver the past year, a cooking teacher in Mountain View has slowly been taking the fear out of making traditional Indian recipes while offering a healthier way of eating. Fharzana Elankumaran, who moved to the United States from Bangladesh in 2000, is the instructor and founder of I Heart Curry, Indian cooking classes she offers in her home. Elankumaran said she studied chemistry at University of Maryland, College Park and used to do full-time marketing for a large
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company until she decided to follow her passion — cooking and what she calls “food investigating,” her study of the ingredients to make sure there are no unnatural additives. “I felt so strongly about doing something on my own, doing something I look forward to every day,” she said. She quit her marketing job and taught her first I Heart Curry class on Nov. 30 last year. To celebrate the first anniversary of I Heart Curry, Elankumaran is offering a special four-hour class on Dec. 4, longer than her typical three-hour classes.
■ Mountain View Voice ■ MountainViewOnline.com ■ November 30, 2012
MICHELLE LE
Tomato chutney is topped with red chilis, curry leaves and dal with brown mustard seeds.