Meet
Sundari
Sundari is a warm and cheerful host whose easy laugh will instantly make you feel at home in her beautifully converted in-laws’ house in Chennai, surrounded by fruit trees and decorated with traditional art and décor. Sundari has been cooking since the age of eight, even preparing meals on her own coal stove while her mother cooked for the family. Today, she delights in sharing her South Indian culinary traditions and culture with guests through authentic home cooking experiences.
What to expect
Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.
In-home meal:
(1-8 guests)
Enjoy a traditional South Indian vegetarian meal in Chennai, served the local way and eaten with your hands from stainless steel plates or fresh banana leaves (when seasonally available). The dishes highlight classic South Indian flavors such as mustard seeds, chilies, coconut, and tangy tamarind, along with seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Your meal may include authentic Tamil vegetarian dishes such as rasam (a peppery lentil soup flavored with lemon, tomato, or tamarind), sambar (a lentil and tamarind vegetable stew), kuzhambu (a tangy and spicy curry often made with sun-dried vegetables), kootu (a comforting dish of vegetables, lentils, and coconut), vegetable curries, rice, raita, and appalams (pappadams), served alongside a variety of traditional Indian condiments and snacks.
Your meal concludes with a cup of South Indian filter coffee, a beloved local specialty made by blending frothy boiled milk with strong coffee decoction brewed in a traditional metal filter.
Cooking experience:
(1-8 guests)
Begin your experience with a warm welcome and a short tour of Sundari’s home in Chennai. She will introduce you to the South Indian vegetarian dishes you will prepare during your hands-on cooking class.
Then join Sundari in her kitchen to learn how to cook a traditional South Indian vegetarian meal using authentic ingredients and techniques. During this Chennai cooking class, you will prepare 3 dishes that are part of a typical Tamil Brahmin meal. After cooking, sit down together and enjoy the dishes you prepared, eating the local way with your hands from stainless steel plates or fresh banana leaves.
Your menu may include classic Tamil vegetarian dishes such as rasam (a tangy peppery broth), sambar (a lentil and tamarind vegetable stew), seasonal vegetable curries, rice, raita, condiments, and traditional snacks.
Alternatively, you may request to learn how to prepare a South Indian brunch featuring dosas, idlis, and vadas, served with a variety of fresh chutneys. Sundari also offers traditional Chettinad, Kerala, and Karnataka cuisine, giving guests the opportunity to explore a variety of South Indian regional flavors. Please include your preference if you would like to try one of these cuisines instead.
Market visit:
(1-8 guests)
After your cooking class and meal, take a short walk with Sundari to the nearby Sastri Nagar neighborhood supermarket in Chennai, where she regularly shops for ingredients. During this guided market visit, Sundari will introduce you to a variety of South Indian spices, fresh produce, lentils, and pantry staples commonly used in local cooking. As you explore the aisles together, she will explain how these ingredients are used in traditional South Indian dishes and share tips on selecting and storing them. Sundari can also help you purchase authentic South Indian spices or ingredients to take home.
Please note: This experience includes a visit to a neighborhood supermarket rather than an open market. Due to traffic and the busy nature of roadside vendors in Chennai, the supermarket offers a more comfortable and practical way to explore local ingredients and learn about everyday South Indian cooking.
Notes:
1. Sundari serves only vegetarian food, as she is a Tamil Brahmin who follows a vegetarian diet.
2. If you join Sundari for dinner or on the weekend, her husband Krishna will also join. He is a foodie who enjoys meeting new people.
3. Sundari can also offer the market tour and cooking class starting at 12:30 pm and is happy to be flexible with timing when possible.
Languages spoken:
English
Sample menu
Traveler reviews
We made 3 delicious dishes together (paneer butter masala, potato and cauliflower dry masala, and Dal/lentils). Sundari also prepared some drinks and naan to go with the meal. She is a great listener, gifted cook, and exceptional teacher. She asked for my menu preferences and developed a menu based on that. I requested to learn about spices, and she explained ratios, and the timing to add spices to maximize their flavor. Each recipe had exceptionally well balanced spice profiles that I just loved!! We also walked to a small grocer so that I could buy the spices we used to bring home. This was a great experience. A short ride (15 min) Uber from ITC Chola. I highly recommend!
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pearl
March 23, 2026
Absolutely fantastic food. This is the best food that I have tasted in a long time. Sundari I
also very good company. She and her husband have a beautiful home as well.
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olevah
February 16, 2026
January has always been one of my favorite months. Now, it holds a kind of reverence I never knew life could offer 🩷
Last January, 2025, while we were in India, I discovered we were pregnant. Just one day after praying at the sacred Tirupati temple, the test came back positive within seconds.
Tirupati is home to Lord Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu believed to offer protection, prosperity, and grace. Millions of pilgrims surrender their prayers there, trusting they are heard. I am one living proof.
I stood in our hotel room in Chennai completely stunned. Suddenly everything made sense—why I’d fallen sick in Pondicherry the week before, why I could suddenly smell everything so intensely.
While visiting Mahabalipuram days before, a street vendor begged us to buy an elephant statue to support his family. Of course, we did. Only when I returned home and unpacked it did I realize the elephant statue is pregnant. A tiny sign. It sits on Ava’s bookshelf now 💕
Amlan was already at work when I found out, and there was something surreal about being the only one who knew. Just me and her. I immediately sobbed.
That day, I had a cooking class planned with the incredible Sundari of Traveling Spoon / Cook With Sundarikrishna. I took a taxi through the buzzing streets of Chennai and was welcomed into her home, where she told me I entered like a goddess. We cooked, talked, and connected so easily. She was deeply motherly. It felt like I had always known her. I had to tell her.
Saying, “I think I’m pregnant?” felt strange, but the moment I did, she had chills. She was beyond happy and told me that many blessings had unfolded in her home and that generations of prayer had made it sacred 🌺
Then, as if the universe wanted to underline the moment, she shared that her daughter’s name is Vidya. Our shared favorite Indian name. It felt meant to be.
On the way home, I asked if we could stop by the market so I could surprise Amlan. Sundari eagerly helped me choose a yellow kurta for the baby. From that day on, all I wanted was idli, dosa, lentils, and sambar, and those cravings stayed with me my entire pregnancy.
That evening, I showed Amlan everything I had bought: spices, fragrances, oils. Lastly, I presented the kurta and saying, “I also found this today… for our baby.” From behind it, I revealed the positive test. He nearly fell over. We couldn’t sleep that night, lying awake in disbelief, already so in love with our baby and with each other.
And now, putting our baby girl into the very kurta bought for her before she was even known feels completely surreal 🥰
Just a week later, Kerala became our babymoon. We paddled through quiet, green waterways, dreaming about our baby girl. I knew in my bones it was her. From rafts, we spotted an elephant family with a tiny baby and felt it all come full circle 🐘🐘🐘
We still stay in touch, Sundari and I, and I can’t wait for her to meet Ava Vidya one day 🇮🇳
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Amanda
January 23, 2026
Exceptional welcome, wonderful and inspiring teacher, impressive results. We cooked with
heart and soul, using few ingredients but adding magical spices along the way. Eating
some of the best food, the laughter we shared and memories, will last forever! Thank you!
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Lane
January 09, 2026
Loved every minute of my time with Sundari! A real gem of a person and top home cook
chef! She teaches using few ingredients and guides you to transform flavours into magical
and memorable dishes. Food lasts only moments, but memories are forever! Thank you
-
elaine
January 08, 2026
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