For 28 year old Muraladi C., hard work and brains got him an in-demand, high-tech graduate degree and a lucrative position with a computer engineering firm in Los Angeles. You would think he has everything; his life, a dream for many of his fellow Indians. But for Murali, life in the U.S was a nightmare. Murali couldn’t cook.
Like many from his homeland, Murali, a gifted student, spent all of his time on his studies. His mother did the cooking, even through his graduate years. But when Murali came to the U.S., he had to come alone. "It was very hard for me at first," says Murali. "There are Indian restaurants in Los Angeles. But there is something special about a home cooked meal." But Murali’s life brightned when a co-worker told him about a local woman who cooked and delivered Indian meals from her home. But Murali was skeptical, especially when he heard the woman was Japanese. "My friends said the food was excellent," he says, "but when I heard she was Japanese I thought that she couldn’t make authentic Indian food. But I was wrong."
Kazuyo Michita, who moved to the U.S. from a small town in Japan began cooking Indian food after dining in an Indian restaurant. Her Indian friends soon began to crave her dishes, and they even offered to pay her for the meals. Word soon spread throughout the Indian community in Los Angeles and now Michita has a full-time job.
What many Indian expatriates enjoy is the fact that the food comes on regular plates and bowls. "It is something we really miss when we’re eating at the restaurant," one of her customers says. "And the taste is wonderful. She has really captured the soul of India."
Kazuyo is sometimes asked to make Japanese food. But Indian food is the norm. "It’s something I enjoy doing," she says.
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