Open a packet of kasuri methi and take a whiff. That dry, leafy scent that hits you? That’s not just…

You can tell a lot about an Indian kitchen by its coriander. Not the dry, powdered version we toss into…

The first time you encounter hing (asafoetida), it’s likely not by sight but by smell. And what a smell it…

In most kitchens, salt is just… salt. A white, pourable staple that sits in a shaker and quietly does its…

In my mother’s kitchen, coconut wasn’t an ingredient. It was a given. A default. It didn’t need an introduction or…

There’s rice, and then there’s basmati. The latter doesn’t just sit on a plate. It introduces itself. With its perfume,…

When people say Indian food is “spicy,” they usually mean it’s hot. As in, tears-in-your-eyes, sniffles-on-your-shirt kind of hot. The…

Ajwain was never the spice you reached for first. Or even second. It lived in the back corner of the…

The first taste that made me flinch—and then reach for more—was tamarind. That sharp jolt on the tongue, that split-second…

In my kitchen growing up, cooking didn’t begin with heat. It began with sound. Specifically, that tiny, electric pop of…