Mika Nasta (11) has been eating curry since they were very young, and considers it to be the happy medium between stew and soup.

Curry originated in India, but became more popular among British colonizers in the 1800s, leading to all the varieties of curry that we see in modern cuisine.

Nasta’s curry is based on a chickpea curry recipe, which fuses a northern Indian chickpea dish called chana masala with the southern Indian technique of adding coconut milk to sauces. Nasta altered this recipe to include eggplant, green beans, and their own special blend of spices. They enjoy cooking because of the freedom it offers, getting creative with spare ingredients and leftovers they find in the fridge.

“My dad’s a chef,” Nasta said. “So it was fun to have my own original idea, rather than copying stuff my dad makes.”

Nasta’s most prominent memory involving this dish was when they invited a group of peers over to make this dish together for an Environmental Science project. For the project, they had to film a video of them engaging in an eco-conscious activity. Because the dish is vegan, it was more sustainable in not adding to the harm of the meat industry.

For Nasta, the atmosphere of creating the dish together was enjoyable. “One of my friends was cutting onions,” they said. “Another one was grating garlic, someone was cutting up green beans, and I was making spices … It was a really fun atmosphere.”

While the base recipe only takes 30 minutes to complete, Nasta recommends letting the curry simmer for up to an hour to ensure the flavors soak in.