A video game about a South Indian immigrant’s story one recipe at a time

When Abhi, the creator behind Venba, started narrating the story of the upcoming Nintendo Switch title, it was clear that there was much more to this cooking game that explores Southern Indian cuisine. It’s a story that centers around the Tamilian Venba who left India and made a life in Canada, the sacrifices she made to raise a son in a foreign land along with her husband Paavalan with little resources, and held the family together despite the odds. Venba’s story is told over several years as she restores her mother’s recipe book and teaches her young son how to cook.

“Cooking becomes very essential because you are trying to say everything that’s unsaid through food,” Abhi, 28, told indianexpress.com in a video call from Canada. “I thought it would be interesting to explore what if we made a cooking game that had South Indian dishes along with a story about a Tamilian Indian family living in Canada,” he says.

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The indie game is currently in development for Nintendo Switch and PC and is scheduled to launch in Spring 2023.

For years, in popular culture, especially in movies and TV shows, immigrants from the South Asian diaspora, were either stereotyped or underrepresented. Venba tries to cast immigrants in a new spotlight on many Asian populations’ experiences in Canada and the US.

The character of Venba is central to the narrative. (Image credit: Visai Studios)

Channeling the personal

Although there have been popular cooking games like Cooking Mama, no one has so far tried to communicate what South Indian food is all about and the local culture on a global map through a video game. Made by Toronto-based developer Visai Studios, the inspiration for Venba comes from Abhi’s personal space and meeting local Tamilian families in Canada while growing up alongside references from movies and music.

Abhi, who was born in Chennai and migrated to Canada with his parents at 12, says he experienced a cultural gap between his generation and his parents while growing up. “In a lot of Tamil households, I found that the kids would forget the language and they would speak English at home. So to me, that kind of inequality in that relationship is what I wanted to talk about in the game.”

The premise for the game is that when Venba immigrated to Canada he brought his mother’s recipe book with him which was damaged during the trip. Every time you cook a dish, you see the recipe but you only see part of it. The rest of it is torn apart. As a player, you have to use clues from the recipe to put things together and cook dishes in a certain way. “To me, cooking is more like a puzzle and I tried to incorporate the same in the game,” Abhi says.

Abhi says he spent a lot of time researching the food and recipes, even though he himself cooks local Tamilian cuisine at home. “As I researched this game, I realized how much depth and knowledge there is in our cuisine and how much history is attached to it,” he says, adding that a lot of people will be encountering these recipes for the first time so it was very important to get it right.

Venba is different from popular cooking games.(Image credit: Visai Studios)

A peek into Venba’s life

The game frequently boasts narratives that rely on the settings of the home, and as a result, players get a glimpse of Venba’s life whether it’s the calendar hanging on the wall which is a Tamilian thing to have or a room filled with books since Paavalan was a writer. “I didn’t want to show stereotypical items as portrayed in movies. I just looked at what my house was or my friend’s house looked like.”

The story is told from the perspective of Venba, with the most basic plot. Venba was a math teacher before he migrated to Canada. But when she moved to Canada, she felt a lot of guilt for leaving India behind. She couldn’t get a full teaching job and instead had to work as a part-time teacher. After having a son, he started to resent moving to Canada and having a new life far from India. “She had to go to Canada, not because she wanted to, but because there were some circumstances in her life,” describes the lead protagonist [Venba] and her struggles to adjust to a new country.

Much of the media attention has been focused on the younger Asian American population. But Abhi feels his parents’ generation’s struggles were not shown properly or at times were completely sidelined. “The game sheds light on what their struggle might be and what they might be thinking,” he says. “She [Venba] is like an amalgamation of

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The secret to tasty, crispy bacon is something you already have in your pantry

It’s pretty universally agreed that bacon is delicious. There are very few dishes (if any?) that can’t be improved by a few crispy, savory, meaty slices of this porky treat. Slip a few pieces into a sandwich, crumble them up and sprinkle over the salad for a noticeable improvement. Dip the stuff in chocolate, for crying out loud. We’ll take it any way we can get it. Even the grease it leaves behind is something of a magical ingredient in and of itself. There’s no denying that bacon is wonderful. A true gift. But what if we told you that there’s a secret to even tastier, crispier bacon? Impossible, you may say. And yet, it’s true. And the secret weapon is something we guarantee you have in your cupboard at this very moment. Plain ol’ fashioned all-purpose flour.

flour.
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By cooking bacon that has been dredged in flour first, you’re doing a few things to help improve both its flavor and texture. Firstly, the coating of flour will help dry the bacon and absorb excess moisture, which is one of the keys to properly browned meats. Flour also provides a protective coating, helping to keep the bacon from overcooking. Another added perk of flouring first is that the flour will weigh the bacon down so that it fries flat and won’t curl up on you, which can be very annoying when you’re trying to get that perfect breakfast-in-bed shot for Instagram.

In the end, with this simple step, you’ll have evenly cooked, crispy, picture-perfect bacon with a hint of deep-fried indulgence.

fried bacon

Crispy bacon tips and tricks

  • Even if you’re gluten-intolerant, you can enjoy perfectly crispy bacon as well. Different flours will provide different results, which is something you’re probably familiar with if you’re used to cooking with gluten-free ingredients. Cornstarch will work very well here; just be sure to shake off the excess before cooking, as it tends to stick pretty aggressively. Rice flour also works very well.
  • This method works both when pan-frying bacon and baking it in the oven!
  • For even crispier bacon, coat it in flour the night before and leave it to rest in the refrigerator overnight.

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Creamy Soup Is Possible, Without the Cream

There are few things on earth as comforting as the sound and smell of a pot of soup simmering away on the stove. While light brothy soups like chicken noodles or minestrone have their place, indulgent, creamy soups are where it’s at for cold-weather meals that feel like a hug from a best friend. This often means dairy, like cream, milk, cheese and butter. But if your fridge isn’t stocked, you’d like some added flavor, or you’re just looking to avoid the dairy, you’ve got plenty of options for the silky, velvety soup of your dreams. Let’s get into it.

Add legumes.

Quick-cooking pulses like split yellow peas, red lentils, and split mung beans break down into fall-apartness starch in 15–20 minutes, lending body and creaminess to brothy soups in a pinch. Think of the comfort of a steamy bowl of dal, or the hearty mushiness of diner lentil soup. Add ¼ cup pulses of your choice to any boiling pot of soup, then let it simmer until the grains can be easily squished on the back of a spoon. Stick to smaller pulses here—larger beans like canned kidney and black beans can certainly add starchiness, but you’ll need to crank out your immersion blender to incorporate (more on that later).

Add coconut milk.

Other plant-based milks can get the job done, but there’s something special about the richness of full-fat coconut milk. If you’re not a fan of coconut-y flavor, this is (obviously) not the move—it’s difficult to mask the fruity nuttiness. But if you’re pro coconut, stay stocked on unsweetened cans to whip up Coconut Lentil Soup, or Coconut-Ginger Chickpea Soup that you can make almost entirely from pantry ingredients. (Note: Skip low-fat coconut milk, which is too diluted, and coconut cream, which is harder to incorporate.)

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Vegan Coconut Lentil Soup

The most flavorful, hearty, and warming meal you’ve ever made with (almost) exclusively pantry staples.

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Add sesame paste.

For tantanmen-inspired soup, add toasted sesame paste for a nutty, earthy flavor with just as much fattiness as a pour of heavy cream. It could be tahini, zhīmajiàng, or neri goma, whatever you have around. While you’re sauteeing your alliums and aromatics, stir in a spoonful of sesame paste to melt it all together. Then add your water or broth—the sesame paste will dissolve into it, and create a rich base for noodles, vegetables and tofu. Sesame can stand up to robust flavors, so raid your pantry for sambal, harissa, or curry paste to add to the mix, like this Creamy Curry Egg Noodle Soup.

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Add rice.

Take a page of comforting porridges like jook or congee, and add ¼–½ cup rice to your soup for starchiness that fortifies the broth and clings to your spoon. Give the grains a quick rinse, then stir in while the soup is simmering, cooking until the rice is tender all the way through, about 15–20 minutes. Short-to medium-grain white rice is key here for maximum creaminess: Use uruchimai (Japanese short-grain), bomba (Spanish short-grain), Calrose, or arborio rice. (Long-grain rice has a lower starch content that won’t lend enough creaminess to your soup, so save the basmati for fluffy biryani or Mejadara instead.)

Make cashew cream.

This Hetty Lui McKinnon recipe for cashew cream skips the long overnight soak. When you start your soup, add raw cashews to boiling water in a separate pot. In 30 minutes, your soaked nuts are ready to blend. Pour the cashew cream directly into the other ingredients, then purée everything together. This broccoli soup uses no dairy, relying on cashew cream for its silky texture and buttery flavor.

Creamy Soup Is Possible Without the Cream
Broccoli and Cashew Cream Soup

Unintentionally vegan but very easy to love—this simple and tasty broccoli soup belongs in your weekly dinner rotation.

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Blend your soup.

For the speediest way to achieve a creamy texture without cream, turn to your immersion blender. If your soup has any starchy vegetables, like beans, corn, potatoes, squash, or carrots, it’s as easy as using your immersion blender, and giving it a whirl until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Even non-starchy vegetables like greens, tomatoes, and alliums can achieve a smooth, slurpable texture after they’re blended up. No immersion blender? Scoop about a third of the soup into a blender and give it a blitz before adding it back to the pot. And you didn’t even have to scour your pantry for any additional ingredients.

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