Besan, or gram flour, is the quiet hero of my kitchen (and I suspect many other Indian-origin kitchens too!) It thickens gravies, binds fritters, and …
Cooking with Besan
Recipes & Online Cooking Classes
How to Make Your Own Masala Blend
In every Indian kitchen, there’s a masala or spice blend that feels like the family’s signature. My grandmother’s garam masala, for example, was heavy on …
Rice, Rituals & Remembrance – Basmati
In my childhood home, basmati was more than just something served during a meal. Everything, it seemed to me, that had to do with rice …
Understanding Dals
When I was six, my first real kitchen chore was dal duty. My mother would hand me a steel bowl filled with lentils, and I’d …
Crispy Potato Salad
I have had a lifelong affair with potatoes. Even as I trudge through diets, trends, new weight-loss schemes, the one ingredient that always stays on …
Eggs in a hole!
“The Big New York Sandwich Book” by Sara Reistad-Long and Jean Tang features delicious and doable sandwiches from famous chefs around the country. The book …
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Chicken Kebabs (with brandy no less)
(photos of kebabs by the magnificent Sala Kannan taken specially for Life of Spice) The recipe for these kebabs is in my Everything Indian book …
Harissa Smeared Chicken
Have you met Harissa yet? If not let me introduce you to this fab condiment. How much do I love harissa? So much that I …
A favorite book
Let me start by saying that Ruhlman is one of my heroes. I always learn from him, always. His style really appeals to me: …
Moong Dal Medallions
I learned this recipe at the Park Hotel in Bangalore. Chef Rajiv Vimal was kind enough to give me demo of the recipe as well. …