A culinary adventure in Auroville: Explore authentic Korean cuisine at Nowana

Nowana in Auroville offers authentic Korean cuisine in a lush outdoor setting, perfect for a cultural culinary experience.

A restaurant with outdoor seating and no air conditioning is rarely the first choice on a sweltering summer afternoon. Yet, there I was, at Nowana’s verdant outdoor space in Auroville. Brushing up on my chopstick skills, and sipping on an ice-cold kombucha keeps me distracted from Puducherry’s rising heat and humidity. 

Following an unmarked turn by the Auroville bakery and navigating unpaved roads, a beacon appears: a bowl of ramen on a signboard. Nestled amidst the greenery stands a charming restaurant with a lush canopy, run by Koreans who now call the experimental township of Auroville, home.

Established in 2021, Nowana specialises in Korean cuisine, offering dishes straight out of your favourite K-dramas. “This space belongs to Auroville and began as a community kitchen before evolving into a restaurant,” explains Gumsoon An, who manages the kitchen at Nowana.

Driven by the desire for cultural exchange, the core team at Nowana briefly offered basic Korean conversational classes. “We are not really an institute and are not certified teachers, but this is a good space for people to meet, and so we started teaching simple conversational Korean which included how to order in a restaurant,” she says, adding that they had to stop due to the seasonal inflow of tourists. 

“Whenever we are ready, I would really like to start taking cooking classes and other such things,” says Gumsoon, placing acolourful plate of gimbap in front of us. The Korean seaweed roll filled with vegetables, sticky rice and meat or cheese according to choice, is served with a salty and spicy dipping sauce of soy sauce and wasabi. The crunchy vegetables, well seasoned rice makes the bite-sized gimbap, soaked in the dipping sauce, the perfect start to the meal.

Next, a steaming bowl of japchae arrives. The sweet potato glass noodles are stir-fried in a vibrant sesame-chili oil with vegetables, offering a delightful balance of sweet and spicy flavours. “We prioritise organic produce. The vegetables, eggs, and poultry mostly come from farms in Auroville farms,” she says, adding that some ingredients, like Napa cabbage for their homemade kimchi, come from Ooty.

Other dishes on the menu range from the famous ramen (served in a chicken broth and topped with vegetables, egg and spicy Korean chilli paste), to nem, which is a deep-fried rice paper roll stuffed with vermicelli noodles, different kinds of meat and vegetables and served with a soy dipping sauce. The bibimbap is the star of the menu due to its endless possibility for customisation. Also available is bossam — tender boiled slices of pork belly served with a variety of vegetables and kimchi, which can be made into wraps with lettuce.