The process of fermentation is kicked off with the addition of ground mustard seeds and contributes to the sour tangy flavor of the brine. In keeping with Ayurvedic traditions, kanji is considered to incorporate the energy of the sun and the earth to aid digestive health during winter. It also provides warmth during the colder months and help empower immunity.
Every region of the world has its version of a chicken noodle soup, but this variation may be the best one I’ve tasted on a trip to Nepal a few years ago. Perfect to eat during colder weather, it’s infinitely adaptable, tastes even better the next day and can be made with or without meat.
There are few things as comforting as the smell of banana bread wafting out of the oven, especially one laced with aromatic spices like cardamom and cinnamon. The topping of blueberries adds a splash of color and a tang to the bread. If you have houseguests, it’s a great way to start off a holiday weekend, especially after a night of indulgences.
You can make the turkey kebabs ahead of time and finish in the oven when ready to eat. Here is a tamarind glaze that will not only be delicious on grilled vegetables like butternut squash or zucchini but also on meats like chicken or lamb. The glaze will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Potatoes cooked in fenugreek aka Aloo Methi, is a traditional North Indian preparation and can be eaten along anything from a steak to grilled fish. Or of course, enjoy it like an Indian with dal and roti. You won’t find fresh fenugreek in your usual grocery stores so take a trip to an Indian grocer to look for it and who knows, you may discover a whole new world to explore!
Here is a pilaf where the warm millet is combined with chopped kale and cabbage just enough to wilt them yet keep the bright color intact. The vegetables can swap out for any hardy greens like collard, mustard, or watercress. The pilaf is good warm or at room temperature.
Here is a fresh fava curry that can be adapted to be eaten just as a soup, topped with yogurt, herbs, nuts and greens or with a side of rice or bread. Just like most stews or curries, it is best enjoyed at least a couple of hours after all the ingredients has had time to chill together and mellow out.
Here is an aromatic pumpkin and scallop stew tinged with saffron and cardamom. The cardamom stews slowly in the sauce and softens towards the end for a punch of flavor with every bite. Coconut oil is an acquired flavor so feel free to substitute with olive oil or ghee. Enjoy it for a first course over the holidays over rice or pasta or as a main course for a weekend meal.
Eggplants grown by a farmer from Congo in a curry made with poppy seeds native to Bengal, India comes together here in Houston, Texas. They are ready to be cooked in an African stew or a Bengali curry.
Serve these peppers alongside a bright green salad or as a side dish with a bit of plain yogurt on the side.
Pumpkin spice, which is a flavoring that usually includes cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves has been associated with many drinks and sweets from lattes to cupcakes. However, when I think fall pumpkin, I think savory stews, pasta, soups, or curries. Here is a crepe made with buckwheat flour and filled with a savory pumpkin masala.
Taking a page out of my own book, I adapted the royal naan recipe from Masala to give this bread a thick fluffier consistency yet kept the spirit of a naan intact. I added plums, onions, and seasonings on top. Serve it with yogurt tossed with cumin and black pepper, bean spreads, flavored oils, or ghee as a starter or to accompany a hearty stew.
Millet is very commonly eaten in India, whole in pilafs and stews or ground into rotis. A few weeks ago, I discovered a special variety called ‘Kodri’, very popular in Gujarat, the state in India where I grew up. It cooks fast, is easy to digest, high in protein and rich in phytochemicals. The Indians believe it helps control blood sugar and other related conditions. But the real reason to eat it is that it is so delicious, it may be good enough to replace white rice!
Here are figs dipped in melted butter and rolled in sesame seeds and nuts. The butter can be seasoned with salt, red chile or finely minced herbs of your choice. This recipe may be simple but biting into this luscious buttery sesame crusted fig is a luxurious experience.
Almost like grilled cheese colliding with a French toast but leaving the sugar in its wake. It’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser and is quick to make from ingredients easy to find in your refrigerator.
It’s light, deeply flavorful and the saffron cools the back of your throat as it goes down. If you prefer not to have alcohol, add lemon juice, and turn it into a lemonade!
A whole fish is a showstopper to serve at a dinner party, especially right at the table. It is also relatively easy to assemble than to cut fish in steaks or chunks. All the guests must let their guard down and get their hands dirty to really enjoy the fish. The juices of the fish seep into the rice filling, adding even more flavor. The fish can be marinated and assembled entirely and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. This filling has cooked rice but vegetables like roasted butternut squash combined with nuts or roasted potatoes with lemon also made a delicious filling. Served with a tangy green salad on the side, the whole stuffed fish makes for a memorable meal.
Here is a recipe for a small lemon cake with cherries, topped off with whipped cream and beauty berries.
Twenty years ago, when I opened Indika, my team comprised of a diverse group of cooks from Americans to Indians to South and Central Americans. One such cook was a young man by the name of Juan Velasquez. This modern rendition of the traditional Guatemalan tamale is a tribute to Juan and the countless immigrants from Guatemala. Today, Guatemala is one of the largest growers of cardamom and turmeric, and I added those to the recipe. Did I make the tamales just like Juan did? Of course not. I switched out the lard and butter for olive oil, sesame and almond butter and meat for mushrooms. Knowing my passion for vegetables, I know Juan would expect no less from me.
Just like most foods in India, every community, region and family have their own interpretation for it. This is a style of biryani my mother preferred but since goat was the go-to red meat, we had goat biryani.
Val, or the white beans of Gujarat are prepared simply and flavorfully in this easy curry. If buying the val from an Indian grocer, be careful not to buy the Surati val as they tend to have a bitter flavor. Alternately, use navy beans or Italian cannellini beans. Typical to most Gujarati foods, the curry has a slight sweet finish. The addition of chai masala at the beginning adds a aromatic haunting flavor to this curry. These beans can be enjoyed over rice or toast. As a starter, poured into small bowls and topped with good olive oil, herbs, minced tomato and/or crumbled cheese, they make quite a statement.
Curry masala, essentially curry powder, is best in long-stewing curries and beef, or any other dark meat works well with it.
What adds to the appeal of the Hatch chile is that they pack just the right amount of heat and are neither too spicy nor too mild. They can be added raw to salads, turned into salsas or fire smoked and stuffed with everything from cheese to vegetables to meat fillings.
While the state of Assam is well known for its tea plantations, the cuisine of Assam has an interesting combination of many indigenous flavors. Black sesame seeds are used abundantly. When Pondicheri was in New York for a few years, a young Assamese chef, Daisy, came to work for us. One day, I asked her to make us something traditional from her home and she made us a wonderful black sesame chicken curry. I still remember the unusual flavor of that curry, mostly from the black sesame seeds – this curry is an ode to Daisy and a delicious departure from the usual curries.
Here is a chicken curry with a lot of vegetables added for good measure. Feel free to leave them out or switch them out for other ones of your choice.
Coffee Masala is simply wonderful in coffee – it illuminates the flavors of the coffee beans and adds a sweet aromatic whiff to the coffee. In food, particularly red meat, it kind of does the same thing. Rub coffee masala on a beef roast, a lamb leg and watch the spices come to life and temper the meat flavors.
Here, a simple roasted composed beet chaat gets the crowning glory of chaat masala however, most salads are good candidates for a sprinkle of chaat masala.
Ocean masala may have been created with seafood in mind, but it is good with so many other things including vegetables and poultry. Zucchini is the kind of bland everyday vegetable that absorbs flavor effortlessly and this masala is the perfect foil for it.
The biscuit crossed with a cake like topping is crunchy but soft and cakey inside. My favorite way to eat cobbler or any such warm fruity sweet is with a side of plain unsweetened cream.
They are fresh, tiny, and tender, about the size of an apple and the knife slides right through them. For a larger butternut, I’d discard the seeds along with the stringy tissue around it but with these little beauties, I leave them in.
Here is a melon soup that you can make in minutes and serve topped with another summer fruit like diced cherries or mango.
Gatta is the famous traditional chickpea dumpling curry of Rajasthan. The dumplings are boiled in water to be cooked however, for a more decadent finish, you can pan sear them or deep fry them after they have been steamed. We add spring vegetables to the finished curry to give it a lighter flavor and finish.
An ancient Rajasthani delicacy, safed maas is a white curry usually made with red meat. It is also the only curry that is traditionally mild in flavor with no chiles added. We have made this curry with dark meat chicken and a touch of rosemary, which complements the creamy rich sauce. And just like most curries, this one is best a few hours later or the next day.
Laal maas simply means ‘red meat curry’ and can be made with beef, lamb, or goat.
Over years and after much tweaking, I have developed a non-toxic solution of edible camphor with essential oils to deter mosquitoes and I use it freely at home and at the restaurants. Spray it directly on yourself or leave a bowl out.
One of the best ways to use up leftover roasted, baked, or grilled fish is to make fish cakes or fish koftas. Then pour an aromatic curry on top, cook some rice and you have dinner. Here is a curry inspired by the coastal flavors of Sri Lanka with lemongrass, kari leaves and coconut.
Aloo (which means potato) cooked in a poppy seed (poshto) sauce is a legendary dish from Bengal, enjoyed both in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India. It’s rich, creamy, decadent, and delicious. Normally eaten with dal and/or grilled meats, along with the Bangla steak, it’s a Bengali meat and potatoes dish of sorts. While in most cases, it is a traditional dish where the potatoes are usually deep fried, we opted for this variation with the potatoes sauteed with the onions and a little addition of cream at the end.
For millennia, India had been a secular country that openly welcomed people of all religions. During the end of the British reign and the Partition of 1947 that followed, Bangladesh became the prominently Muslim country and the Hindu Bengalis remained in India. Therefore, beef is freely eaten in Bangladesh and this steak is inspired by the spices native to Bengal. Prepared with mustard oil and a smattering of spices and garlic, it can be cooked medium or medium rare – enjoy it with Aloo Poshto.
Even for biryani lovers, the kacchi (meaning raw) biryani of Bangladesh is a road less travelled. Biryanis in India are usually made by separately cooking the rice, meat masala, perhaps vegetables and bringing them all together at the end. In this style of biryani making, the Banglas cook the marinated meat and rice together and then finish it with fried onions. It infuses even more flavor into the rice. The pungent mustard oil is one of the most essential components of Bengali cuisine and here it shows up in the lamb marinade.
With a tropical monsoon climate, the cuisine of Bangladesh has been shaped by its history and the river-line geography. Very similar to the cuisine of West Bengal, India, Bangladesh has rich, aromatic dishes with liberal uses of ghee and was also influenced by the Mughal occupation of India. This chicken roast recipe is inspired by a dish made by a lovely young intern by the name of Ayesha who spent a few months with us at Pondicheri. If you do not have the Indian apricots, use about half the quantity of regular dried apricots but make sure they are not sweetened. It is rich, aromatic and can be eaten just with a side of a pilaf, rotis or warm crusty bread.
Just like India, Sri Lanka has a plethora or pickles, sambals and preserves and they are what really make a meal special. This eggplant one is one of our favorites and has inspired an entire menu of pickles at our restaurant Pondicheri. Always sharply spiced and salted, they are meant to be eaten in small quantities alongside meals.
Lamprais (pronounced lamp-rice), is to Sri Lanka what biryani is to India, a decadent meat and rice dish. The name is derived from lomprijst (meaning rice packet) and it is truly a feast of rice, curries, pickles and sambals and more wrapped up in a tidy banana leaf package. You can go as elaborate as you like.
Usually eaten for breakfast or lunch, kottu may be one of the most brilliant inventions to emerge from Sri Lanka and its cultural influences. It is also one of the best ways to use up leftover rotis. It is like chilaquiles and the Sindhi sayel roti but arguably more delicious and a little healthier. Leftover roti or paratha strips or chunks are stir-fried with eggs, meat, potatoes or vegetables with ginger, fresh coconut, kari leaves and more. We make these with Pol roti but kottu gives you a lot of creative freedom. It can also be made with the Malabar paratha and your choice of greens like spinach, watercress, or other vegetables.
A basic rice dish but like most dishes in Sri Lanka, it is made with a bit of coconut milk.
This is a take on a traditional rice dish usually made with short grain rice and any kind of meat stock. We used brown basmati rice, which takes a while to cook but absorbs the flavor of the stock beautifully. The aromatic spices, onions and coconut add enough depth of flavor to the rice to be eaten on its own. This rice dish works well with Lamprais, the popular traditional Dutch-influenced dish from the colonial days.
Borhani can be made with whole milk or non-fat yogurt and is best with yogurt that is slightly aged and sour.
Weather patterns due to climate change are evident in almost all spheres of life. While Houston has a vibrant cycle of summer fruits from peaches to blackberries, figs that used to appear late summer or fall have been at the farmers market much earlier this year. Fall fig sightings are usually followed by cool breezes but this time around, we have a long summer to contend with. But how wonderful that we get to enjoy figs for perhaps a longer harvest period? A fig is a delicate luscious, sweet fruit, however quick to spoil so usually, must be consumed within a few days of harvest. It is delicious just on its own, or sliced and tossed into salads or even slightly roasted but nothing preserves and enhances the flavor of figs like a coating of dark chocolate with a hint of aromatic spices. The chocolate dipped figs can be eaten whole or sliced and served over ice cream for a beautiful, elegant dessert. Buy the best quality chocolate you can as this will make all the difference.
Parsley is not native to Sri Lanka but the flavors do really work well in this condiment.
Rotis are ubiquitous to Indian cooking and the ones in Sri Lanka differ only slightly. This traditional pol roti has grated coconut, minced onion, and slight heat from serrano peppers.
Dal, the quintessential lentil stew of Southeast Asia has umpteen versions scattered through the sub-continent. This dal is an adaptation of the popular parippu, a red lentil stew seasoned with coconut, garlic, onions. The addition of aromatic lemongrass is a bit of game changer! We added lots of spinach to it at the end to make it greener and healthier! For a more traditional version, add a teaspoon of dried chopped fish flakes or shrimp when preparing the masala.
Cultural influence on Sri Lanka ranges from Indians, Arabs, Malays, Moors, Portuguese, Dutch and the British. The new ingredients that they brought in like tomatoes, potatoes and chiles have been adapted to local preparations. The Sri-Lankans roast their spices to a much darker finish than the Indians do, which characterizes their food as different. This traditional spicy chicken curry of Sri Lanka that is most locals crave when they leave the country. It's rustic and best made with chicken legs on the bone.
Known reverently as "Resplendent land" or the "The Land without Sorrow", Sri Lanka is a little jewel of an island sitting just below India. The Indian Ocean surrounding it is known for its fresh sea creatures that have been a part of the Sri Lankan diet for millennia. This fish curry is also called Sour fish curry and the sourness is inherently provided by a bright orange dry fruit called goraka however tamarind makes a good substitute. The curry is intense, rich, and delicious. Enjoy it with turmeric rice.
Kashmir, considered the most beautiful region of India, has a long history or conquerors and emperors, who shaped the cuisine. It is a place where luxury abounded and this shows in the abundance of meat dishes, nuts like walnuts that are native, delicious apricots and more. It is also where saffron is cultivated and used heavily in the cuisine. These delicate, creamy meatballs are inspired by the cuisine of Kashmir ~ the dried apricots used here are also called Alu Bukhara but feel free to substitute a different apricot.
Here, we make a simple golden butter infused with fresh turmeric juice and some complimentary spices! Do give it a try…
Naan, the fluffy bread usually made in a tandoor at most Indian restaurants, can also be made at home.
A bright verdant green masala is perfect for shrimp since they cook so quickly that the masala retains its color as well as flavor.
Biryani is the decadent aromatic rice dish that was created during the Mughal era of India – it is a mashing of the Persian pilaf and khichri, a traditional Indian lentil and rice stew. In a biryani, all elements are cooked separately and then brought together, allowed to rest for about 30 minutes to an hour before serving. In this biryani, since we are using white meat which tends to dry out very quickly, the chicken is roasted in the oven separately and then added to the rice just at the end. The onion masala adds depth to the flavor of the biryani so caramelize the onions long and slow.
You may never look at tempura the same way after you’ve tasted a pakora!
This mix, pour and bake pudding cake recipe is simple, quick, and given that it has 8 to 10 cups of fruit, a true celebration of the summer bounty. Enjoy it with just a drizzle of fresh unsweetened cream.
These are not the brined mild pickles of the west but more of an intense, tart, salty, spicy oily pickle that is eaten alongside a meal for an intermittent small spicy bite. Enjoy this pickle on the side or put on toast and cream cheese or in pasta or a pilaf.
A few small spoons of aromatic spices elevate the soup; the cardamom adds a sweet aroma and the coriander a lemony flavor to accentuate the tomato. Enjoy it warm or chilled.
Here is a soup inspired by the coast of Kerala using cardamom and black pepper native to that region.
They are super easy to make – whisk the wet ingredients, then add the dry, pour and bake. A sprinkle of sugar on top is a tiny indulgence but feel free to leave this out.
Here is a gently spiced lemonade to welcome a Texas spring, it’s only lightly sweetened, adjust and spike as needed.
Spice teas or brews with no caffeine are a wonderful way to heal from small illnesses like a throat ache or belly ache.
The recipe makes a little more than a cup of pesto, but it is so tasty, you will be putting it on everything from toast to tomatoes, I promise.
In this savory decadent tart, the addition of mushrooms brings an earthy note. It is best to bake the tart a few hours or the day before serving it.
A noteworthy Nawab during late-seventeen hundreds was Asaf-ud-Daula, a man known for his generosity and a notorious obsession for royal edifices and rich cuisine, particularly kebabs. During his reign, Lucknow reached the epitome of architecture with beautiful palaces, roads, and gardens. He commissioned the building of his court, the Imambara with excruciating details, where the largest arched roof built from brick and limestone, without a single beam, still stands today. An entire team of cooks was commanded to create daily changing aromatic stews, breads, and kebabs. These are the decades when Persian and Indian cooks came together to create Mughlai cuisine, still beloved in India. Legend has it that due to his overindulgences, early in his forties, the Nawab lost almost all his teeth and the ability to chew food, yet his love for kebabs did not wane. Anxious to please their beloved leader, the cooks, using papaya to tenderize the meat, concocted a kebab so soft that it required no chewing and would literally melt in his mouth. The Galouti (means melt-in-your-mouth) kebab was born and has remained a popular kebab in India ever since. The Nawab led a short but glorious well-lived life and is buried in his beloved Imambara.
The garbanzo beans are seasoned to a spicy richness with cumin, black pepper, ginger and asafetida and then added to the salad.
The keys in making this salad is first, finding a shallow bowl that will fit the entire head of lettuce and next, to keep the shape of the lettuce head as intact as possible while making the salad.
Here is a light and springy herb-forward pasta with snap peas using a lot of dill and parsley. In the spirit of spring cleansing, I decided to skip the cream or even coconut milk, instead studded the pasta with copious amounts of herbs.
Shrimp can be stir-fried with many different vegetables like asparagus, snap peas, green beans, or carrots. This masala becomes the crowning glory of the stir-fry. If you want to add heat the dish, add a teaspoon or two of red chile powder or slice a serrano pepper into the dish. The stir fry can be enjoyed on its own or with rice or noodles.
The best part about the ocean masala is that you can directly slather it on fish with very little else and roast it in the oven.
Roasting cauliflower is one of best ways to cook a vegetable that can often get mushy when braising. The ocean masala adds a nice tart tone to the cauliflower.
Ocean masala makes a wonderful tangy topping to roasted vegetables like regular or sweet potatoes, carrots, or parsnips.
These are best roasted in the oven and with this ocean masala on top, make for a tangy delicious appetizer with wine or a martini.
This makes a great side dish or serve fried eggs over it for breakfast.
Here simple mashed potatoes made with ghee and yogurt, as opposed to the more traditional butter and milk, are topped off with pop masala to not only add a crunch, but a burst of flavor.
Here is a decadent rendition of Matar Paneer, with cashews and raisins. Enjoy it with a warm roti or paratha or over plain rice.
This stew can be made with so many different root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, yellow beets and instead of asparagus, use fennel, kale, or spinach.
This is our spin on a plant-exclusive ranch dip, enjoy!
Squash is one of those plain canvas kinds of vegetables that can absorb any flavor you put on them.
Emerging wisdom is indicating that to maintain a healthy gut flora, diversity of diet is just as important as what we eat. The sheer variety of produce in an Asian grocery store from half a dozen varieties of Bok choi to other leafy greens or a whole jackfruit may seem daunting. But this is when trips to stores from other cultures can become an exciting adventure and keep in mind, it’s only food. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it again. In Indian grocery stores, aside from the umpteen aromatic spices and lentils you can peruse through, varieties of intriguing squashes can be found that resemble neither zucchini nor butternut squash. One such tender squash with a delicate burst of flavor is the tindora, or the ivy gourd. They are size of your finger, need a quick light braise, and are packed with fiber and phytonutrients. This sabzi (which simply means cooked vegetable) is inspired by the cuisine of Gujarat. Enjoy it with dal, a lentil stew, and rice. Here is to starting the new year off with a fruit or vegetable you have not tried before…
Here is a recipe for first creating a spreadable slightly fluffy seasoned cream cheese and next, you can choose three options of masalas to prepare.
More so than other vegetables, broccoli or broccolini needs to be cooked just right to be served at its best. For example, okra or green beans may not look pretty when overcooked but tastes just fine. Broccoli is better slightly undercooked than overcooked because the later can result in a soggy dish devoid of flavor, which is why roasting or grilling it guarantees good results. It took me a few tries to realize that it was the strong brassica smell of the broccoli that my taste buds subconsciously objected to. Now, I always cook broccoli with something fragrant, least of all garlic but usually an aromatic spice like cardamom, nutmeg, or mace. A quick little grating of nutmeg at the end, or the spears tossed with cardamom, black pepper and olive oil can transform broccoli. A squeeze of lemon or orange juice at the end can add even more fragrance and a smear of yogurt on the bottom can add a creamy luxurious finish.
Here is a simple oven roasted kebab recipe heavy in aromatic black pepper and other warm spices. The kebabs can be eaten as an appetizer or as a main course with a simple salad on the side or the more traditional pairing with rice and beans or a vegetable curry
Fresh from a recent trip to Kerala, India, the birthplace of black peppercorns where I got to enjoy them in their tender green state all the way to dried, black pepper is often used as a central flavor. This oven roasted chicken amplifies the sweetness as well as the pungency of black peppercorns.
While I love the traditional mayonnaise and cheese on sandwiches, with this garlicky spread, I missed neither. Do give it a try or at the very least, go buy the delicious Taha Toum at the farmers market or at Central Market, where it is now sold as well.
The large bright green Opa squash (also known as bottle gourd, calabash, white gourd or lauki) is one of the most common squash varieties in India. Mostly used in cooked preparations like a sabzi or added to a lentil stews like dal, the opa squash can also be eaten raw, like in a raita. Unusually rich in vitamins and in soluble and insoluble fiber, it’s gentle on the stomach and easy to digest. In my childhood days, I remember an older aunt daily drinking the juice of the squash to successfully help her lose weight. Ayurvedic physicians commonly recommend it to patients to balance liver function. Look for this squash in Indian or Asian grocery markets. Despite its health benefits, the squash does need a boost of added flavor and this simple bake is one way to enjoy it for breakfast or a light lunch with a salad. If you prefer not using cream cheese, replace it with a nut butter of your choice.
Pickled shrimp is popular among north Indian families.
In an attempt to get more cultures to embrace millet, the United Nations has named 2023 as the year of the millet and they are hoping that within five years, its consumption overtakes that of other grains like maize or wheat.
For most Sindhis, this tamarind fragrant soup, or Sindhi kadhi, as it is called, is synonymous with a lazy Sunday afternoon lunch. Usually eaten with steamed rice and sweet laddus, this was one of my favorite memories of growing up in a traditional Sindhi household.
Tucked deep within the belly of a famous street market in Delhi, is a legendary ethereal dessert that is often compared to eating a cloud. Served on carts over ice and only made during the coldest winter months, the delicate as dew Daulat ki chaat (translates as snack of abundance or bliss) is said to have traveled to India from Afghanistan where it was made using mare’s milk. During the early hours of the morning over moonlight, raw milk with cream and aromatics like cardamom and mace is churned with a mallet by hand. The foam is then carefully skimmed off the top and the process is repeated over and over. The early morning dew is supposed to make it light and frothy. Rose water, ground nuts or crumbled milk solids are slowly incorporated, and it’s topped with saffron cream. Just like every other street food in India, each street vendor his or her own iteration; some use almonds, some pistachios, some the essence of rose or vetiver and it is often finished marigold or rose petals and gold or silver leaf. One cold February morning, I finally got to enjoy it with a cup of chai, discussing its nuances with the enthusiastic vendor, whose family has been making this chaat for over 100 years. It is challenging to recreate the charm of street food in the comfort of our western homes however, I tried several iterations and landed on this simple recipe. I decided to turn a cake with whipped cream on its head and added tiny amounts of dry-soaked cake crumbs to whipped cream. Use old sponge or angel food cake and I suggest using a stand mixer for best results. Enjoy it on a moonlit evening over the holidays with your friends and family!
Great with your morning coffee or cup of chai!
There are many baking trade secrets I learned during my time at Café Annie. One of the biggest ones was that frozen cookie dough made the best cookies. They kept their shape; the spread was just right, and they remained moist inside. Same with scone or biscuit dough.
Truffles are so easy to make at home, they just take a little practice. The key is not to over heat the chocolate so keep a close eye on it while tempering.
Halwa is a sweet often used as a divine offering in Indian temples. To my fellow Indians who attempt it, it will be reminiscent of trips to temples and gurudwaras.
Bhel poori is a common Indian street food native to Mumbai and cities in Gujarat. Usually made with puffed rice (a very common snack in India) and varying mixes of seasonal vegetables, herbs, chutneys and crunch bits of chickpea flour or wheat flour. This is an instant ‘salad’ so put it together just before eating. The ‘bhel’ refers to puffed rice and ‘poori’ refers to bits of pooris (fried wheat puffs) crushed just before mixing. Here we are replacing the poori with sev, a crispy chickpea noodle found in most Indian grocery stores.
A layered citrus salad in the winter, especially using nice oranges like Cara cara or blood oranges can be a great start to a meal. They can also be served after dinner posing as a salad cum dessert! Variations are limitless – it’s all in the art of the composition so have some fun with it.
Sunchokes, despite being starchy, are a high source of fiber and in particular inulin, which makes us feel full after eating.
The first time I tasted potato salad was in the late ’80s at an engineer’s potluck dinner in a remote Canadian city. I was fascinated by the unabashed baby-foodlike consistency of the mayo and sour cream flavors. Not a fan of cold potatoes, over the years I made it a few times and eventually gave up. Last week, as my team at the restaurant urged me to come up with my own version of potato salad, I experimented with an entirely new idea, and it turned out almost good enough to be a main course. Roasted fingerling potatoes with a creamy yogurt, ginger and tahini sauce drizzle, a spice pop and fresh herbs on top. I love this version, look forward to making it again, and I hope you do, too.
A wonderful way to balance holiday indulgences and alleviate the guilt associated with it is to eat something cleansing after. Besides, why not start the year on a fresh healthy note? Green papaya salad, or Som Tum as it is known in Thai cuisine is believed to have originated in Laos. I have never tasted a version of this salad that I don’t love, and I often make a meal out of it. The fact that green papaya has innumerable health benefits like high fiber and vitamin content always helps. But it’s the endless possibilities with this salad that make it most exciting. On a basic level, fresh grated green papaya is tossed with chiles, dried shrimp, palm sugar and fresh garlic. Add grated carrots, cabbage, apple, green beans, cucumber, or mango. The shrimp is delicious but not essential to the flavor; instead throw in copious amounts of grated, finely minced, or julienned ginger. Slice in some tomatoes for the acid, peanuts for crunch with herbs like cilantro or basil for aroma and you have a wonderful salad. Instead of peanuts, add cashews, add sliced almonds, or pine nuts. Switch out sugar for something as wholesome as honey or maple syrup. If you have extra papaya left over, use it in meat marinades as a tenderizer.
To this day, it is one of my favorite food memories — and when I make cake at home in Houston, I like it small, buttery and fragrant with cardamom. This recipe goes a step further and is made with ghee, which gives it a nuttier aroma.
The broth like soup will absorb and enhance any flavor you put into it – so use what you have and enjoy it as a light dinner or with some rice on the side.
Pasta is one the most universally loved foods, however, not every culture eats it like the Italians do. A ‘baked’ pasta dish, usually macaroni cooked in a mildly spiced white cheese sauce will often appear on an Indian buffet table laden with curries, sabzi and pilafs. As a kid, I would search for those baked dishes and macaroni was one of my favorite foods to eat. My mother would cook it in a tomato masala, add all kinds of vegetables like peas, beans, or corn and strange as this may sound, we would eat it with flatbreads like roti or paratha. The pasta was always cooked with the masala, never on its own. Here is a macaroni just the way we Desis would like to eat it, in a tomato masala with copious amounts of ginger.
Stuffed parathas are delicious for breakfast or lunch and make a great appetizer for dinner when cut into wedges. Top them with a chutney and a slaw. Stuffing can vary from simple mashed potato to grated daikon, keema (ground meat) to a sweet paratha stuffed with jaggery and nuts.
This is a simple, rustic fish curry & almost any firm fish will work.
Sometimes, the best ideas are born out of improvisation. Stuck indoors due to the pandemic and not a fresh tomato in sight, we used Indian pickles to spread onto cooked naan, topped it with local feta cheese and some gloriously fragrant herbs to make a delicious make shift pizza. We liked it so much that it went on the menu at Pondicheri. There are plenty of Indian pickles in grocery stores to play around with.
Thanksgiving has been my favorite American holiday for a very long time. Just like many other immigrant communities
Being in the brassica family, Bok Choy is filled with phytonutrient and fiber that our bodies need.
Here is a tangy cranberry chutney you can make ahead of time and enjoy up until the day of the holiday. Cooked chutneys like this one can keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 weeks.
The common astringent persimmon varieties, such as Hachiya or Jiro, can be ripened to a point where the inside pulp becomes soft and can be squeezed out of the fruit. The pulp is a gorgeous, almost neon orange, lightly fragrant, incredibly sweet, creamy and flavorful.
Local strawberries in Houston don’t come around very often. So when the smiling farmer at Sustainable Vegetable Gardens from Missouri City offered me a taste of his crop, I could not resist. Bursting with sweetness and rich flavor, the berries were smaller and slightly misshapen than the supermarket variety. They also have less water content so are easier to bake with. I bought some and hurried home, dreaming of ways to enjoy them. These strawberry scones are made with saffron infused yogurt and make a perfect accompaniment to a cup of steaming chai or coffee for breakfast.
Fried in a light delicate pakora batter, squash blossoms were ethereally delicious, especially when the fried blossom pakora was stuffed inside a fresh blossom.
Bell peppers are in full bloom in Texas, filling farm table stands with their striking yellow, orange, red and purple hues. Mincing and tossing into scrambled eggs, a stew or in stir-fry, there are endless uses for peppers. Their skin is often discarded after roasting, as are their seeds and placenta; however, these are edible and can be incorporated into the cooking. The seeds can be bitter, but cooking mellows this out. At my restaurant, anywhere peppers are used, given their high vitamin C and fiber content, we use every part except the stem. These fresh green pea stuffed peppers are intensely flavored, which is balanced by the cooling saffron yogurt sauce. Make sure to soak the saffron threads in yogurt a day or two before; the flavor of saffron is best when it has had time to develop.
The first whiff of cool weather carries with it a craving for khichri, the peasant rice and bean stew from India, another vehicle for all kinds of vegetables. There is no wrong way to make khichri — varieties of rice and beans and proportions can vary. The key is to cook the khichri long and slow to a soft creamy stew and then add vegetables of your choice. Toppings wise, anything goes — but given that pomegranates appear in the autumn, they make a delicious tart garnish. Fried eggs, minced vegetables, herbs, cheese, olive oil or butter are just a few other suggestions.
Here is a delicious South Indian inspired shrimp soup with mango, a fruit much more likely to show up in savory foods in India. Enjoy it on its own or with noodles or rice.
Masalas do not have to be complex — they can be as simple as parsley, garlic, black pepper and olive oil. Having a masala in your kitchen cabinet or refrigerator is a great hack to whipping up a quick meal.
Rice noodles, also called string hoppers, are sometimes sold in the streets tossed with vegetables, coconut and spices. This salad-like chilled noodle dish is inspired by the flavors of Kerala and, true to my cooking, comes with copious amounts of freshly minced ginger.
Many years ago, I enjoyed a delicious chilled almond soup, ajoblanco, native to Spain, at a wonderful restaurant called Feast in Houston. The dish was garnished with a drizzle of good olive oil, sliced grapes and was delicious to the last spoonful. Ajoblanco is often called white gazpacho and predates its more popular tomato version, since tomatoes did not arrive in Spain until the time of Columbus. The classic version is made with slices of white bread pureed with almonds. Preferring my bread warm, grainy, toasted and slathered in butter, I use plain white rice as the thickener here. The quality of rice will not matter, as it will all get pureed in the end. The addition of aromatic cardamom to the base balanced the garlic, and a pop of mustard seeds and kari leaves was the final flourish. If you can find Spanish Marcona almonds, the soup will be even more delicious.
Over the years of experimenting with summer salads, this black bean mango salad settled as a favorite. It not only tastes better the next day, but it also keeps for days as the sharp taste of celery mellows and nestles in with the black beans and mango. The season for the small, skinny Atulfo mango variety is almost over, the next best is the larger rounded Kent or Hayden. Do make sure to let the mangoes ripen to a soft sweetness before making the salad.
Crisp, chilled, thinly sliced zucchini and cucumbers spread on a plate, topped with aromatic herbs, toasted walnuts, tiny chunks of aged cheese, and a simple vinaigrette.
In New Delhi, for almost a decade, there resides a sweet fruit chaat vendor tucked away near the famous Janpath street market. Depending on the time of year, his choice of fruits and vegetables varies. He rides his bike every morning with a fresh load of fruits and vegetables, hands out fruit chaat all day until his stock is over. Mango, melons, cucumber, papaya, pineapple, apples, or bananas are cubed and laid out on a banana leaf plate and sprinkled with chaat masala. Sometimes, strawberries will show up in the mix. A squeeze of lime and he hands it to you with a smile. If it can be eaten raw, any vegetable or fruit is fair game for fruit chaat. Usually, chaat masala is a combination of toasted ground cumin, chile powder, amchur (dried mango), salt and more. Black salt, a sulfurous rock salt native to India, is a common but not essential component of chaat masala. It’s an explosion of flavors – give it a try this summer with the fruits and vegetables at hand!
Eggplants are having a moment in Houston, just about every farmer’s table is bursting with varieties of these purple berries, from the large heirlooms to the tiny little green eggplants. Eggplant is one of the few vegetables which, when cooked right, can give me the satisfaction of meat. And when paired with the aromatic flavors of Bengal, the lush eastern state of India with dense coconut groves and fields bursting with greens and vegetables, eggplant can truly be a thing of beauty. Today, I bring you a humble eggplant sabzi (sabzi simply means cooked vegetable in Hindi). Cooked with pungent mustard oil, which is often considered Bengal’s olive oil and hints of cumin and jaggery, this sabzi can be enjoyed over rice, with rotis or other flatbreads or over toast.
Shikanji is simply a concoction of lime, cumin, ginger, and salt with variations like mint, basil, or saffron. It’s versatile, refreshing, hydrates the body by replenishing its minerals and vitamins, and helps with digestion.
Mattar paneer is a classic Punjabi dry dish, usually eaten with a roti or naan. Here, instead of the classic tomato masala, we do a green herb and yogurt masala to accompany to paneer and peas.
Once balanced and tempered with other seasonings, bitter melon transforms into a thing of beauty.
A staple of South Indian cuisine, particularly during sweltering summers, yogurt rice or curd rice in its simplest form is steamed white rice tossed with plain whole-milk yogurt. It is usually eaten cold at the end of a meal to help aid in digestion and cool the palate after eating spicy, warming foods. In its most glorious form, the yogurt rice combination is tempered with ghee, mustard seeds, red chiles, fresh coconut, curry leaves, herbs, nuts, and dry fruits. There comes a time every summer when the Texas heat cries out for cooling foods like these — that time is now. This version is more like a rice yogurt salad, flavored with saffron, herbs, celery, and lots of tangy seasonings. Keep it tucked away in your refrigerator for 2 to 3 days; the flavors of saffron will only get more luscious and the yogurt rice will make a delicious snack or a side dish.
Chaat — a family of roadside salty, sweet, tangy and crunchy snacks in India — come in many sizes, shapes and flavors. After leaving India, this is the food I missed most and, over time, taught myself how to make versions of it. These days, I can pretty much turn anything into a chaat if I just have the right sauces, which usually comprise of a creamy yogurt sauce flecked with cumin, a bright herby cilantro chutney or just a handful of herbs and something sweet — perhaps diced mango or peaches, or just a dash of sugar. The crunch can come via crushed nuts, tortilla or potato chips. Top it off with a sprinkle of black salt and roasted crushed cumin seeds and there you have a chaat.
India is a land of snacks — from crunchy, addictive, savory, nut-filled chevdas to tingly, glorious street foods such as chaats. Some of the snacks can be transformed into cold salads — and this summer, I am on a path of discovery. I ate a warm sundal, a traditional South Indian salad made with chickpeas, coconut and mild spices once in a restaurant in New Delhi, and the memory has haunted me ever since. Sundal can be served warm, cold or at room temperature, and it makes for the most satisfying midday or late-night snack. Staying true to my tradition of turning most foods into carriers for vegetables, here I threw in tiny local ‘Sun Gold’ tomatoes and purple cabbage — but feel free to add diced cherry or large heirloom tomatoes.
The mild flavor of squash takes on the aromatic flavor of spices well!
This simple watermelon drink is a great way to stay hydrated — the basil adds a haunting fragrance and the salt and chile balance the flavors.
Part pickle, part curry, Prawn balchao is the classic shrimp dish from the tiny state of Goa, India.
Composed salads lend themselves to so many possibilities — they have become my go-to salad. For breakfast I’ll sauté mushrooms with a cumin seed pop, spread them on a plate, tuck in a few slices of tomato, throw some microgreens on top, sprinkle salt and red chile powder and a drizzle of olive oil and lime juice. In the evening, mustard seed roasted carrots plated with diced mango or peaches and mint leaves can be the start of a light dinner salad. Given how short the treasured local heirloom tomato season is here in Texas, I find many ways to enjoy them, from raw in a salad to cooked into a masala or a chutney. Here is a truly local salad made with heirloom tomatoes from a small farm in Alvin, local blackberries and blueberries and cashew butter dressing.
When heirloom tomatoes are in full bloom, this chilled raw soup is the delicious epitome of a hot summer. I’ve omitted the onion, switched out garlic for ginger; the soup takes minutes to make. The color of the tomatoes will deeply affect the color of the soup, so pick the reddest ripe tomatoes you can.
Like broccoli, Romanesco begs for added flavor. And as I walked by these little beauties at the organic Animal Farm table stand this past Saturday, I began to salivate imagining them with a masala made with garlic, local cherry tomatoes, and a fragrant punch of Sichuan peppercorns. The Sichuan pepper, also known as prickly ash, belongs to the citrus family. It produces a unique but delicious numbing, tingling effect on the tongue and can overpower other flavors — so use with caution. While the Romanesco roasted in the oven, I made the masala on the stovetop; within 30 minutes, we had a delicious dish to eat on its own or as a side.
Biryani usually starts with marinated meat, chicken, vegetables, or beans slow cooked with warm spices, onions, garlic, and ginger to make a base masala. Tomatoes, yogurt, or coconut can be added next. On the lighter side, one can forego the onion masala and make a vibrant fragrant green herb masala, like a salsa verde or pesto (minus the cheese) for quick cooking seafood or vegetable biryanis. Rice is usually prepared separately, and can be cooked in stock or just plain water – saffron and/or warm spices like a large stick of cinnamon, mace flowers, or bay leaves can be added to the rice. I usually cook the rice with oil rather than ghee or butter as the oil facilitates the flakiness of the rice and prevents it from getting sticky. It is best to make the rice last as freshly cooked hot rice is placed over the base masala topped with nuts and dry fruits, tightly sealed, and allowed to rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes for all the flavors to meld. Here is a recipe for a simple garbanzo and vegetable biryani that can be easily adapted to the addition of meat.
Cabbage may be a humble brassica, but it is packed with plenty of essential phytonutrients and makes a great low-calorie addition to the pilaf
Just like most dishes in India, there are dozens of variations on haleem, some are made with goat, some with beef, different kinds of lentils or grains but here is a recipe that reminds me of the haleem my two older brothers would sneak into the house at night for late night treats.
This is as simple as a salad goes but it will stay crunchy in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 hours.
Wilted kale, crunchy lettuce and the tasty bite of cumin seeds make this salad extra special
Vegetables are our past, present and future — and incorporating them into doughs and batters has begun to define the way I cook.
If you do not have celery leaves, use half a head of celery, thinly sliced.
Sabzi simply means cooked vegetable – this cauliflower sabzi is punctuated with mustard seeds and amchur, a dry green mango powder that adds a deeply flavorful sour flavor.
A bean native to the United States, the yellow buckeye bean is extremely creamy, more like a classic turtle bean than anything else. Thought to be originally from Montana, it’s dense without being too intense in flavor.
Hummus is central to many Mediterranean cuisines — but it does not need to be made with chickpeas. Medieval cookbooks mainly mention only two ingredients in hummus_ chickpeas and ground sesame, but today, we add garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Instead of chickpeas, one can use simple yellow or red lentils, red beans or black beans for a different flavor. This recipe uses micro-nutrient dense black beans combined with black sesame seeds, which I have resolved to eat more of due to their high calcium content.
Here is a simple way to coat a masala, spice blend, on the pecans for added flavor.
Be it through taste, aroma or touch, food is one of the most visceral ways our brain stores happy memories. The mere smell of chickpea fritters frying in a big vat of oil reminds me of monsoons in India, when pakoras instantly become snack du jour. And despite not having much of a sweet tooth, chickpea flour roasting with ghee to make mithai, an Indian fudgelike sweet, makes me salivate. On a recent trip to India with my daughter, Ajna, we had one such experience that I will forever cherish. Late into the night after two long flights, we arrived in our hotel in New Delhi, hungry and tired. The only food available was limited room service. We ordered the staple, dal, and rice. Dal, being a lentil stew popular in virtually every home and restaurant across India, can be made a thousand different ways. That night, the dal was a simple yellow nourishing moong dal flecked with fresh tomatoes and cumin but with a sharp delicious bite of ginger in every spoonful. It was very similar to a dal my mother would make that is native to the province of Sindh, but the copious amount of ginger changed everything about it. Even for a seasoned cook like me, the dal made me tingle with excitement, and we happily licked every drop knowing that it was going to become a staple in my cooking when I returned to Texas. This dal is currently on my restaurant’s menu, and here is a recipe for it — I urge you to fearlessly put this much ginger.
Oatmeal porridge may be one of the most popular ways to start the day in America, but I’ve never really been into sweet breakfast. So, years ago, I began experimenting with savory versions with the addition of vegetables and spices.
When I was working as a microbiologist in Canada many years ago, a Hungarian co-worker would often bring in cabbage rolls for lunch. Common to the cuisine of central, northern and eastern European countries, cabbage rolls are usually stuffed with meat and rice. While I developed a fondness for them at the time, they were largely forgotten until recently. In helpless and heartfelt solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters as we watch the havoc unfold, I find myself wanting to cook their cuisine, from borscht to holubtsi, the Ukrainian cabbage roll. These are a simple vegetarian version.
After many attempts, I landed on a seafood stew that had all the elements of a gumbo but used deeply flavorful chickpea flour for the roux instead of white flour. This stew quickly became a family favorite, and it can be enjoyed with rice, bread or even noodles.
Originally from Maharashtra, a state in the western and central peninsula region of India, poha is now enjoyed across the country in different iterations. In southern India, it is often prepared with cashews and coconut. In Gujarat, the state I was born and raised in, poha is usually cooked with onions, ginger, peanuts and fresh herbs. A bowl of steaming fragrant poha with leftover vegetables made for many a memorable breakfast during my childhood. Even though poha is made from rice, somehow it has a lighter texture but deeper flavor than cooked rice. I always keep a jar of poha tucked away in my pantry to turn into a quick, delicious meal.
Now that my restaurant is almost entirely vegan on Mondays, plant-based cooking has become one of the most creative new forays into my cooking. A cake or cookie with no eggs and butter? No problem. Boiled mashed sweet potato makes an excellent substitute for eggs, but be careful not to use too much or it will add a gummy flavor. I have been pleasantly surprised to see how many recipes I’ve been able to substitute the green gold of olive oil for butter. Here is a simple olive oil cake that showcases fresh berries and can be enjoyed for breakfast or with tea in the afternoon.
Somewhere between a raita and a dip, I started making a homemade version years ago, followed by umpteen iterations. A golden ranch tinged with saffron or turmeric; a bright green one with mashed avocado and herbs. Here, I bring you a spicy hot ranch, tinged pink with beet juice.
What makes this coconut biscuit exciting is that the recipe is entirely plant based, using coconut oil in place of butter.
Usually relegated to crudité plates or a salad add-on, radishes get little respect in the western cooking world. But one just has to look over at the vast and varied culture of Asia, where they first grew in the wild, to see the umpteen ways to enjoy these pungent cruciferous little globes. From quick pickles in a Vietnamese banh mi to brightening up a Thai cucumber salad to making the north Indian Punjabi “mooli” paratha, radishes are used all over Asia. Seeing the vast array of brightly colored radishes at the farmer’s markets these days makes me want to find more ways to enjoy them — particularly the large, purple heirloom Japanese radishes that appear perfect for roasting. Roasting radishes diminishes their pungent flavor and adds an interesting sweetness. The hardest part of this recipe may just be deciding how best to arrange the vegetables on the platter — it’s a visual feast.
Move over, rib-eye. Biting into a thick, roasted, sizzling Romanesco slice with olive oil, spices and dotted with pistachio makes for a mouthwatering and satisfying main course. The tomato-based sauce is like a rich curry — drizzle it generously over the Romanesco. With its characteristic chartreuse color, cone-shaped florets and branched meristems making up a fractal spiral, Romanesco looks like an elaborate work of art. Tastewise, it’s somewhere between a broccoli and cauliflower, just more deeply flavorful. Nutritionally, it’s from the brassica family, rich in vitamins C and K and dietary fiber. Do give it a try — your body will thank you.
Butter from pasture-raised, grass-fed cows makes wonderful ghee. A visiting Indian guru even told me there is a new term going around — “veghan,” or vegan with ghee. Here is a recipe for lightly mashed potatoes inspired by South Indian cuisine — feel free to replace the ghee with coconut oil for a plant-based version.
A bean salad tucked away in the refrigerator has made for a wonderful late-night snack after busy nights at the restaurant, especially during the holiday season. Over the last few months, I’ve experimented with umpteen combinations, none of which I have stuck to. I always start with soaking one cup of beans overnight (this cuts the cooking time in half), cooking them to softness the next day and adding a changing assortment of vegetables, herbs, nuts, or dry fruits. I’ve embellished some with roasted carrots, others with steamed asparagus, peanuts, walnuts, cilantro, mint and much more. In the last few weeks, I finally arrived at a combination that I have made for three 3 weeks straight and one I am excited to share with you. Raw purple cabbage, celery and beans make the base of this salad, and one can go in so many directions with it. It makes a great light lunch on its own or pairs it with a sandwich or soup. The best part is that cabbage and celery taste better wilted and after they’ve marinated in the juices for an hour or two. The salad tastes delicious for up to three days so use it for a healthy late-night snack.
Nothing satisfies in cooler weather quite like dal, the quintessential aromatic spice-laden lentil stew of India.
Here is a soup that elevates the vegetable to an elegant course, perfect when served with a holiday dinner.
Dum Aloo, a slow-cooked potato curry, is a traditional staple of the Kashmiri Hindu cuisine. Dum means cooked under steam; aloo means potato.
Try this simple salad for a light respite from holiday indulgences.
Emerald green, shiny, almost tarlike cold-pressed oil that tastes of smoky dark walnuts and pumpkin seeds, which pairs beautifully with roasted squash. I have also used it to top yogurt, chopped salads, roasted figs and to dip warm bread in.
Pakora is the lesser-known cousin of tempura. Just like tempura, it’s a fritter made with vegetables such as onions, peppers, potatoes — but instead of a batter of white flour, the batter is made with chickpea flour.
Hot Potato cakes off the fryer, when made right, are one of the best appetizers ever. Called Aloo tikki in India, they can be stuffed with all kinds of fillings like ground meat, cheese, crushed peas, or other such fillings. This herb yogurt spice filling is an explosion of flavor in your mouth, well worth the work in making it. Turn the potato cake into a chaat by drizzling cumin yogurt, tamarind, and cilantro chutneys on top.
This is a no-brainer crowd pleaser recipe.
Try this stew using chestnut mushrooms and serve it with warm toasted sourdough bread. If you do not have garam masala — an aromatic finishing spice blend native to Indian cuisine — add a varying combination of ground cinnamon, cardamom, clove and nutmeg or mace.
As you can probably guess, the popcorn at my house is neither microwave popcorn nor does it have only melted butter.
There are a variety of Asian-type rolls, most of which originate from China. However, my favorite are the fresh spring rolls native to Vietnam. I love that they are rice-paper wrapped and not fried, and as far as filling goes, pretty much anything works. Traditionally made with chicken, pork or shrimp and vermicelli, I love stuffing them with a mixture of raw and cooked vegetables with lots of herbs for fragrance and flavor. When picking vegetables, make sure they are cold when you are ready to make the rolls. It does take a bit of expertise to make them — at first, I was making lumpy, awkwardly shaped rolls with vegetables sticking out. They still tasted good, and my family happily ate them up. It took some time and practice to get them to look uniform — the key is not to overstuff them and pack the vegetables in tight when rolling.
This smooth and creamy soup is supremely simple to make as we drift into the autumn season. If you do not have asafetida, which is a natural spice that mimics the flavor of onions and garlic, slice a few cloves of garlic instead.