Athis Vadivale talks about her upcoming Ayurvedic Indian charity feast

I love cooking – there is barely a day that goes by when I don’t stand at a sizzling wok or a steaming pan, combining and balancing the flavours, tastes and textures of my heritage. I suppose I would describe myself as an instinctive cook – at least I never refer to a cook book.

I learnt at my mother’s apron strings as a child in in Malaysia and India before I moved to Oxford with my husband in the 1970s. I have cooked ever since. I have a repertoire of Thai, Indian, Chinese and Malaysian recipes gathered over many years and refined and adapted by generations before me.

I have supplied cricket teas, public functions, office parties, the crew and cast of Come Dine with Me and devotees of all faiths at our family temple in Middleton Stoney, once 1000 people but regularly several hundred.

Strangely, catering for large numbers does not worry me. I enjoy the whole process of planning meals, selecting and buying fresh produce, scaling up recipes for hundreds of people and creating feasts which delight the eye as well as the palate.

At the South Indian Feast at Brookes Restaurant on Wednesday, in aid of the Divi Seema Foundation which supports educational initiatives in outlying rural villages of Andhra Pradesh,I will be demonstrating the breadth of flavour and taste in southern Indian cooking. The Feast will be based on the on the principles of ‘Arusuvai’ or the six tastes ‘Aru’ – derivative of six and ‘suvai’ taste: Inippu – Sweet; Pulippu – Sour; Kasappu – Bitter; Uvarppu – Salty; Thuvarppu – Astringent; Karrppu – Hot.

These Ayurvedic principles of nutrition encourage healthy eating as well as challenging our tastebuds, unlocking the nutritional value of foods and aiding digestive processes.

Different textures in food are characterized by the use of legumes, pulses and vegetables; the distinct aroma and flavour is achieved by the use of spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin, nutmeg and tamarind, asafoetida, garlic, ginger, chilli; complementary tastes of lemon and lime and herbs like coriander, mint and curry leaves are also added. Turmeric acts as an antiseptic as well as an anti-oxidant.

The use of vegetables like bitter gourd, fresh methi or fenugreek aids not only in digestion but also with conditions like diabetes.

A typical South Indian feast such as the one I will be preparing consists of rice with sambar (a lentil dish); kulambu a spicy curry made with aubergines or okra; several vegetable kootus or stir fried with lentils or coconut; a yoghurt based curry; lassi or buttermilk; rasam which became Muligatawny (pepper water) in restaurants in the West; vadai a lentil based doughnut; payasam dessert made with sago or different lentils and yoghurt The meal is rounded off with Pappadoms (Appalam) and fried butter chillies with mango or lime pickle and of course, it will all be served on banana leaves!

The Divi Seema Foundation www.diviseemfoundation.org. www.restaurant.business.brookes.ac.uk/school/