Om Nom Nom brings India to Durban
IF YOU’VE been to any of Durban’s local markets in the last month, from Fire in the Park to I Heart Market, you may have noticed a brightly coloured food stall serving authentic South Indian dosas. You might first be drawn to the stall by the smell of the masala potato filling, or even the coconut mint and coriander chutney.
You’d hear the crispy vegan pancake frying and the lentil sambar broth brewing. Or you might just be enticed by the catchiest of names for a food stall – Om Nom Nom.
What might surprise you the most, however, is who you will find making the dosas. It’s not an elderly Indian aunty in a sari, or even a family from Phoenix making the grub. Instead, it’s a white girl with a green streak in her hair and a bright, lively spark in her eyes.
Marisa Laidlaw, 34, is a Durban girl, born in the Berea. After completing her matric, she opted to study homeopathy.
“Homeopathy is all about healing, from the inside,” she tells me, “and that just naturally led me getting into yoga. Yoga led me to training to become an instructor, and that led me to meet a woman named Abishana...”
She pauses as she makes small adjustments to the table she is setting up ahead of the Greyville Racecourse market. She lays out flags she tells me she picked up from a Buddhist monastery in India. “And Abishana,” she continues, “told me ‘if you ever want to change your life, sell masala dosa chai’.”
Keeping Abishana’s words in mind, Laidlaw continues with her life as she knew it. Heading to the Vipasana Centre in Hereford, UK for a 10-day silent meditation.
“It’s all about how to be balanced and it teaches you impermanence. Basically, it made me more Yolo,” she laughs. “It pushed me to do the things I wanted to do, but I was always afraid of failing. This retreat made me really see my potential. To stop being afraid. And that’s when I decided to take Abishana’s advice.”
Laidlaw saved up enough cash to visit India, and attend a dosa-making workshop.
“We were absolutely rubbish but the teacher, a woman name Laika, kept at it and shared all her secrets and family recipes. At the Vipasana centre, I took on kitchen duties. That helped me hone my skills and learn more about ingredients and preparation.”
Skills acquired, she stockpiled ingredients from India.
“I bought bags of chilli, masala and spices and felt pleased with myself, until I came back to SA and realised I could get all the same things, just as fresh, also from India, right from the markets here.”
How have health trends like gluten and sugar-free foods influenced her vision?
“I’m vegan and it is important to me to not use any products that may or have harmed animals to get them. Everything I used is as organic as possible. I use sugar cane instead of sugar. I use coconut milk instead of oil. All ingredients are 100% vegan and karma-free. All the utensils we use are biodegradable. It’s all about not harming people with food.”
Laidlaw recruited a friend and started thinking of a name.
“My friend joked about calling it Om Nom Nom, but I thought it was brilliant!” she says. Laidlaw set about booking events to cater.
“Our first event was at Drumshack in Hillcrest, and it was rather funny because on our first night, all the catering teams cancelled, making me the only stand there. It was crazy being thrown in the deep end, but we sold out. More than that, people were curious.”
How do Indian customers, specifically, react to a white girl learning their trade?
“They are curious,” she says, “but they are so supportive. They can appreciate that I’m taking it seriously, and trying to be as authentic as possible while adding my own twist.”
What would she say to her sceptics?
“Come and let the food speak for itself. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding”
You can find Om Nom Nom at the I Heart Market in Durban and check out the Facebook and Twitter pages for details of other markets, or if you’d like to book the team for your own event.