WE WELCOME INDIA TO OUR FESTIVAL, LED BY NIRMAALA FRANCIS
…read about our new food team and their delicious menu!
I am Nirmaala Francis, married to Francis Albert, for 28 years. We have two sons Aasheesh and Ady -both graduated from NC State and now working as Software Engineers. I will be the head chef… my husband and my friends from Cary and Chapel Hill will be the Sous Chefs (Deepa, Golda, Juliet, Rani and Vidya)
We are originally from Delhi, India and came to North Carolina, USA in 2003, as my husband, a software Analyst got a good job offer here. My children did their schooling in Apex and I work for Grifols, Clayton. When both our kids went to college we moved to Clayton to make my commute easier for work. We have been part of St Ann’s church since Easter of 2017.
Our parents are originally from Tamil Nadu, which is in Southern tip of India. We speak multiple languages– Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and English. India is a very vibrant country comprised of 29 States and 7 Union Territories. Each State has a distinct culture, tradition, cuisine , language and religion. My parents moved from the South and to North and so I had the luxury and delicacies of both cuisines, North and South of India.
Growing up my mother always cooked fresh meals three times a day (we are 5 siblings) and hence I was raised with a lot of cooking around me. I have also been cooking for 28 years as my husband and kids prefer homemade food, flavored spicy food.
Menu for the festival: Chicken Biriyani served with Cucumber Raita.
Biriyani is a renowned spicy Indian dish made of long grained rice (Basmati) layered with meat (chicken) flavored with exotic spices, yogurt, cilantro, mint, ginger, garlic, green chilies, peppers, onions and tomatoes. The dish is then covered and cooked over a low flame.
Raita is made of yogurt mixed with finely cut fresh cucumber and seasoned with roasted cumin powder. It is typically served as a side dish to help cool the heat of spicy Indian food.
