About · Meet Chef Teena

Cooking is in my DNA.

Currysutra® means "the art and love of spices" — and it's the holistic result of 25+ years spent sharing what I know about plant-based foods and the medicinal, aphrodisiac power of Indian spices.

This is more than a career — it's a passion project I feel lucky to call my own. I'm grateful every day for the opportunity, and the people, who let me do work I genuinely love. For me, cooking is a way of slowing down and remembering what joy actually feels like — and teaching is my favorite way to pass that feeling forward, just as my mom once passed it to me. She's still my biggest inspiration. All I really want is for everyone who walks into my kitchen to feel that same joy.

Where it started

A family restaurant, and a recipe I inherited.

Delights of India restaurant exterior in the 1980s

Delights of India family restaurant with both parents

Chef Teena's father cooking at Delights of India

My parents immigrated in the mid-1970s and spent four decades running food establishments of their own. Cooking isn't something I learned — it's in my bloodline.

I learned Indian cookery the way most of us learn our first language — by inheriting it. My parents ran our family's Indian restaurant, Delights of India, in the Midwest through the 80s and 90s, and that kitchen is where everything started.

That foundation grew outward over time into Italian, Mediterranean, Asian, and South American cooking — but Indian spices, and everything they can do for a body and a table, are still the center of it.

Before Currysutra was a full-time pursuit, I built a career as a restaurateur, market research consultant, business development consultant, HR generalist, and C-level executive assistant — and hold a Master's degree in International Management and Marketing.

I taught professionally at The Lake Harriet Community Education Adult School in Minneapolis, then later at Whole Foods Market's Salud Cooking & Lifestyle School in San Mateo, and at Stanford University — where I also completed coursework in food, health, and child nutrition, the foundation of Currysutra's Wellness philosophy today. I've also completed Foundation Diplomas in Diet & Weight Loss Management, Sports Nutrition, and Personal Nutrition through Upskillist.

Life outside the kitchen

What I'm doing when I'm not cooking.

When I'm not cooking, you'll usually find me on a long walk, at the gym, or hunting down a new restaurant to try — I'm a big believer in travel, a good movie, and always having music on in the background. I'm also a single parent, and one of my favorite parts of this season of life has been getting to know my son as an adult — that relationship looks different now, and I love it. Health and spirituality both keep me grounded, and if you ask what I'm cooking for myself on a night off, it's almost always something built around paneer — that infamous Indian cheese — my go-to being palak paneer, hands down my favorite dish. Most days include a phone call (or three) with my mom, and our three cats — Tofu (6.5), Mapo (1.5), and Chloe (6 months) — make sure I never forget who's actually in charge of the house.

I'm also launching my own non-profit, the Heart to Table Foundation, bringing food education and nourishing meals to communities across the Bay Area — more on that soon.

Come say hi and follow along day-to-day — I'm most active on Instagram @currysutra.

Featured media

See it, don't just read about it.

As seen on NBC California Live ABC7 News Live Well Network

ABC7 News: MEHKO home kitchen interview

November 2021

Food Rush: Summer Grilling Competition

Live Well Network, 2014

Diwali traditions and foods

October 2024

Papdi chaat — Indian-style nachos

August 2023

See all press coverage →

On screen and in the press

Recognition, competitions, and where I've been published.

I currently contribute to NBC's California Live cooking segments, and have been running Currysutra for corporate teams across Silicon Valley since 2016 — under the name Explore Culinary Arts before it became Currysutra as you know it today.

Competitions & recognition

NBC California Live Ongoing on-air contributor.

SF Bay Area Vegan Events Crowned "Curry Queen," Curry Contest, 2014. Visit →

Cedarlane Foods Top 5, America's Best Vegetarian Recipe. Visit →

World Food Championships Competitor, Las Vegas — with my son as sous chef. Read →

Articles I've authored

The PILOT Featured recipe, rsca.org, September 2023, pg. 6.

San Carlos Living Featured recipe, pg. 11, November 2022.

San Carlos Living Featured recipe, May 2021.

San Carlos Living Featured recipe, pg. 22, April 2020. Read →

Atherton Living Featured recipe, June 2019. Visit →

The Pilot Newsletter Featured recipes, December 2016 and January–March 2017. Read →

India Currents Magazine Featured recipe, February 2015 edition. Read →

People along the way

A few of the folks I've met along the way.

My parents and our family restaurant are still my biggest inspiration — the Minneapolis restaurant they owned even attracted the likes of Prince and members of Led Zeppelin over the years. This journey has also crossed paths with some wonderful people in the industry.

Guy Fieri

Bob · Bob's Red Mill

Chef Teena with Chef Yan of Yan Can Cook

Chef Yan · Yan Can Cook

Chef Teena with the first female chef at Paul Bocuse Institute

First female chef, Paul Bocuse Institute · Lyon, France

Chef Teena with Assistant Davud at Whole Foods Salud Cooking School

Davud · Whole Foods Salud Cooking School, San Mateo

New York Ritz Carlton Chef

Chef Ryan Scott

Chef Teena with Rip Esselstyn of Engine 2 Diet

Rip Esselstyn · Engine 2 Diet

Chef Teena with Josh Tetrick of Hampton Creek Foods

Josh Tetrick · Hampton Creek Foods

Roy Choi

Chef Teena with Scott Clark, author of Coastal Cookbook

Scott Clark · Coastal Cookbook

Chef Teena with Chef Claude of the Stratosphere, Las Vegas

Chef Claude · Stratosphere, Las Vegas

A dream, still cooking

One day, a cookbook.

Every recipe, every workshop, and every kitchen I've stood in is building toward one thing I haven't done yet — a cookbook that captures the whole Currysutra journey. Until then, I'll see you in the kitchen.

Xx, Chef T.