Home Cooking

            When I asked Father Simon Natha (associate pastor at St. Boniface Parish in Evansville, my home parish) to prepare dinner with me for a story in The Message, I expected to depart after about an hour with some knowledge of Indian spices and the ability to greet Father Simon on a first-name basis.

            Instead, my family and I left after four hours feeling like cherished members of Father Natha’s family and carting home tubs of leftovers, which were shamelessly devoured the next day. We also left with a deeper appreciation of this missionary priest’s background, as well as the journey that led him to Evansville. 

            Father Natha and I began the evening by preparing a traditional Indian meal together; or rather, he prepared the meal – I struggled to chop an onion and write down a flurry of names of spices and grains.

            He made chicken curry – boiled chicken seasoned with garam masala, a traditional blend of Indian spices. He also added a mix of onion, garlic, ginger and chili powder. A final, surprising ingredient? Coconut, to counteract the spiciness of the chili powder and add another dimension of flavor.

            Father Natha also prepared fried rice, which he made by adding fried egg, onion, cumin and mustard seeds to white rice.

            All of this was served with dal, a sauce made with moong dal, or green gram, a legume used in many Indian dishes. Dal is also made with boiled tomato, cumin, mustard seeds, dried chili peppers, garlic, turmeric powder and curry leaves. 

            To my family and myself, this process seemed long and hectic – especially for one person to manage. However, Father Natha cooks such meals for himself daily; “I learned to cook out of necessity,” he said with a laugh.

            While eating one too many helpings of the delicious and flavorful food, my family and I talked with Father Simon about his life before his move to the U.S. 

After 10th grade, he entered a seminary of the Heralds of Good News, an order founded in India in 1984 whose mission is, according to the order’s website, “the promotion of vocations to priesthood, the training of seminarians, and the supply of zealous and hardworking missionaries to the dioceses in India and abroad which experience a shortage of priests due to the lack of local vocations.”

            He was ordained in 2009 alongside Father Sudhakar Bhastati, associate pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Haubstadt, Holy Cross Parish in Fort Branch and St. Bernard Parish in Snake Run.

            As we watched Father Natha’s ordination video, my family and I saw for ourselves the vibrancy and richness of the Catholic Church in India – the video teemed with bright colors, lively music, beautifully painted statues and lovingly decorated altars.

            Upon being ordained, Father Natha was assigned to care for nine churches; his order provided a motorcycle that he used to commute between them. 

            One of the churches he served was a small hut with a dirt floor. Father Natha decided to take action, designing and building a church where the hut stood. He also designed and built a grotto at another church. The top of the grotto is designed to look like the crown of Mary, and it houses a painted statue of the Blessed Virgin holding the Infant Jesus of Prague. 

            The day after the church was complete, Father Natha received word that he would be moving to the United States.

            Bishop Charles C. Thompson assigned Father Natha as associate pastor of St. Boniface Parish in December 2014. As he continues to adapt to his new way of life, he said that he is able to keep in touch with family members over the phone, and that he is making plans to visit them for a month.

            Before we left, Father Natha asked my family and me to visit him again so that he could treat us to another Indian dish. “Consider this your home,” he told us. “I’m happy to cook for my family.”