No Food / Water / Sleep = Death
No Love / Family / Friends / Sex =  Deep Seated Psychological Problems

(Wait this post is heading into the pits of despair!!)

There’s a different category of needs which, if not met, lead one to getting Really F’ing Annoyed!

For me, eating GOOD food well flavoured with herbs, spices and green chilly falls into this category.  I literally need the SPICE of life, or else I’m just pissed.   But I’m not a fan of over-spicing or abusing the use of the green chilly.  I cherish my ability to enjoy simple pure tastes.  I have the utmost respect for this beautiful, slender, powerful little pepper.

But there’s a rather large contingent of Kasa fans who have some seriously Hot Needs.  You can spot them by the devilish look in their eyes as they ask, ‘Do you have any HOT SAUCE???’  For the past two years, I’ve been sending them straight to the source of the heat by throwing in cut up green chillies in their rolls and letting them knock themselves out.  I watch them sweating, smiling and looking at me with real gratitude, as though I just put crack into their rolls.

Recently I decided to show honor my fiery-hot chilly fiends and work on that much requested HOT SAUCE.   To my surprise, I’ve created a truly impressive gem.   It’s a green chilly emulsion, simply named ‘The Hot Sauce’ for now.  It really is amazing and hot, hot, hot. And it has super powers that I wasn’t expecting!

Whilst creating the sauce, I had to keep tasting it along the way and I’ve finally seen the light.  I see where all the chilly freaks are coming from now.  Me and all the Kasa crew are on a serious ‘Hot Sauce’ addiction.  Just a little of this fiery, zingy, garlicky sauce on my lamb curry and rice, and I’m awake, buzzing, happy and ready to move.  I definitely feel the rush!!

Surprised by this intense euphoric reaction of my body and mood (and being the dork I can be), I researched the biological science behind my reaction to the Birds Eye Chilly.  It turns out the capsicum in the chilly reacts with the body’s pain receptors.  My body then tells me that I’m being burned, and the result is that I feel pain.

A little sadistic?  Yes.  But why are billions of people addicted to this taste bud torture?

It’s the pleasure that follows soon after, the rush you receive as the body releases endorphines in response to the pain.  Endorphines are natural morphine like compounds that are just about the strongest drugs you can do without doing drugs.  AND they are not addictive (although I wonder), don’t incapacitate you or dull your senses.

To add to my increased admiration of the green chilly, I also learned that it is a micro miracle worker.  It’s loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, calcium and heck, it even boosts your metabolic rate.

To all of you who have ‘Hot’ needs, next time you are in, just ask for the Hot Sauce in your Kati Roll or Thali.  But be careful, it’s hot! And for those who are not yet ready to go there, we still have all our dishes appropriately spiced

Anamika

After 16 months of being open, curiosity finally got the better of me today and I googled ‘Prison Food Trays‘.  The reason for this strange search is that one too many yelp reviewer (5 total) has commented that they feel like they are eating on prison trays at Kasa.  These comments perplexed me for a while, as I haven’t understood the rationale (thankfully having never eaten in prison).  Post Google search, I can see where the connection is coming from.  Prison food is indeed served in compartmentalized trays, as is our food at Kasa.

Kasa Thali

Prison Tray

I feel I must explain why we serve our meals on metal trays (called a ‘Thali’) here at Kasa.  We do it as an homage to the vast majority of people in India (many of humble socioeconomic status) who eat out of these trays each and every day and have done so for centuries. Nowadays, the wealthier classes in India tend to use porcelain plates in an attempt to mimic the West and distinguish themselves from the poor.  But we love the metal thalis because they are extremely durable, never break and fit our vibe of being ultra-practical.  We think they look pretty cool too…

Our thalis, plates and bowls are all imported from India with the help of my very interesting cousin Kiwi, to whom we owe many thanks as we had him searching for days on end for just the right sizes, weight, shininess, etc.

We aim to be true to the way Indians serve and eat food in their daily lives.  I would never have guessed that the plates would make people feel like they were eating like prisoners, or even eating in an ultra modern place (a separate confusion that we hear occasionally).

My hope is that some of the Yelpers commenting about prison plates are able to read this blog and realize (just as I have done today) that it appears that the majority of India and prisoners in the US have something in common.  They both eat out of compartmentalized trays  :)

On some level, I find this discovery extremely cool.  Thalis are a no-nonsense, no-frills, humble way to eat.  I’m guessing that this is the reason for the trays in prison too.  Hopefully, most of you find our actual food to be at least a cut above though…

Cousin Kiwi

Gujurati Thali

South Indian Thali

North Indian Thali