Curried Eggplant and Fish / Karuna Keshoor & Shiv Narandas

Shiv is not just an ex-colleague, he is a great friend of mine. He is also the graphic designer behind the online store, aesthetic and logo for Petley. Shiv is the most genuine, kind and creative person. You always get the exact same Shiv in any situation, this is what makes him an easy going friend, and very fun and energetic person to be around. After meeting his gorgeous Mum, Karuna it all made sense. Karuna is so warm, welcoming, very easy and so interesting to chat to. This cute mother son duo are so funny to be around, and it was nice to see the same Shiv around his Mum, whom he affectionately called “bro” like he would anyone else.

Shiv was born and bred in Auckland, it wasn’t until he was 7 or 8 that he visited India and the village where his Mother grew up. Karuna was born and raised on a produce farm in the small costal village Dandi in West India. Karuna lived in the village of about 200 until she was 13, which is when, prompted by her Uncle, her family moved to New Zealand. The village Karuna grew up in is the same village Gandhi ended his Salt March in 1930. Her Mother can still remember as a child delivering food to her Father who was in jail, as he was one of the 60,000 or so people arrested for marching to abolish the tax on salt.

While Shiv was growing up, Karuna would cook mainly Indian food for him and his two brothers. His favourite food growing up, as confirmed by his Mum, was lamb. As for Karuna, she preferred vegetarian meals, which her Mother and her Aunty both taught her how to cook from a young age. After hearing about her rich and fresh produce heavy culinary upbringing, it’s no surprise she prefers vegetarian food. Shiv is not quite as gifted in the kitchen as his Mum, but she did tell us that he recently made nachos for the Family which were “beautiful”.  He does know that he’s got the best teacher on hand, and he promises to learn one day.

Karuna was raised on a working produce farm that was started by her Father at only 11 years old. Sadly her Father lost both his parents at this young age, so as the eldest of three siblings it was up to him to provide for the Family. The village of Dundi is costal, so more sand than soil. The elders of the village thought Karuna’s Father was mad when he bought a large piece of land with the purpose of building a produce farm. Even though they told him that nothing was going to grow, he began his farm anyway. As nothing nourishing grows in sand, he had to start from scratch and replace the large salt mountains, with rich, fertile soil. With the guidance of his Aunty, Karuna’s Father began by growing peanuts. Although her Father never went to school, she says that he was a smart man. He learnt a lot through other people, by observing how they would do things, or as Shiv put it, he was “mad streetsmart”.

The farm surprisingly flourished, and not only was Karuna’s Father successfully growing peanuts, he had cows, about 48 buffalo, four giant ponds filled with fish, as well as eggplants, beans, chili’s and coriander. He supplied the local market in the village, as well as markets in the nearby cities with the fresh produce he grew. He also provided the large Muslim community in Mumbai with his Fish. This farm is still going today, and is being run by some very good friends of the family.

Food and growing food ran pretty strong on both sides of Karuna’s Family. Karuna’s maternal Grandfather had a mango farm which her Mother would use to make mango pickle. She would pick the stoneless mangoes while they were in their infant state, when they are about the size of grapes, and make pickle to sell at the local markets. Karuna’s Mother still makes the same pickle from the same trees and always brings jars over when she comes to visit New Zealand. The tiny mangoes were also used as thirst quenchers in the hot summers when Karuna was a kid. Karuna told us these same infant mangoes would be soaked in salt water over the winter months to be eaten in the summer time. The amount of salt in the mangoes was designed to make you thirsty so you were encouraged to drink more water during the hot summers, as well as being a nice treat to eat.

Karunas background is so full of food memories it’s impossible to include everything she told us about. Although the food gene may have not quite have reached Shiv yet, the growing gene is certainly very strong. Over the past few years Shiv has become a self taught, home horticulturist. He has built an incredible green house, which in only 3 months is already full. He spends a lot of time searching for rare indoor and outdoor plants, he teaches himself how to propagate them, and then sells them. His collection and passion for plants is admirable and very similar to that of this Grandfather and how he learnt to grow.

It was a huge honour to be welcomed into Shiv’s family home to have his beautiful Mother Karuna cook for us, and talk about her fascinating childhood. Thank you so much Shiv and Karuna for such an amazing meal, and for teaching me how to roll roti, and to eat with my hands.