Life in Spice

Upma (pronounced oop-mah) is a common Indian breakfast dish made of Cream of Wheat, sold generically in Indian markets as Sooji, the term for ground semolina flour. But this isn't your typical breakfast porridge. Upma is a mix of fried spices, vegetables (though it can be made without) and often is eaten mixed with yogurt. It was my morning breakfast almost everytime I stayed the night at my Nana and Nani's house -- another incredibly nostalgic dish. One spice we haven't discussed yet in this *exploration* is Cumin. Its distinctive chemical compound is called cuminaldehyde, again found in its volatile oils, and it takes on a fresh, woody flavor in dishes. Cumin and Coriander paired are sometimes called the "backbone" of Indian cooking. On its own, however, it's widely considered to be a digestive aid and is often offered, in seed form, at the end of meals. Cumin, Bitter Cumin specifically, is an antioxidant that can help inhibit lipid peroxidation -- a t

Beans and Lima Beans is such a modest name for a dish that punches so much flavor. It is one of my dad's favorites and he says the smell is "nostalgic." When it was heated up, after my Nani and I made it for the first time, he just inhaled deeply. The addition of fresh spices, like ginger and garlic, adds to this signature aromatic intensity, as do the two forms, powdered and fresh, of coriander (cilantro). Coriander is a plant in the parsley family, Apiaceae, that produces small, round, light brown seeds and the more well known flat lobed leaves. The toasted seeds, from which the powder is made, have a fresh spicy flavor, while the leaves have a citrusy taste that to some reads soapy due to an aldehyde content that only some contain the ability to detect. The organic compounds that give coriander leave's their distinctive flavor are 82% aldehyde and only 17% alcohol. Of the aldehydes present most are six to ten carbon. These variants of aldehydes, as well as o

Ironically, the citrus used in Lemon Rice is actually lime! Other star ingredients in this staple rice dish are fresh Serrano chilis, which provides kick, Black Gram Lentils, which, after being toasted,  adds crunch, and the very visually evident turmeric. Although turmeric is used in most Indian dishes, it is worth featuring in Lemon Rice due to lending the dish its signature rich yellow color. Turmeric is made by boiling the root, or rhizome, of the plant Curcuma longa in water, to set the colored pigment in the root, as well as cook the starch, before drying it in the sun then grinding it into the yellow powder we are all used to seeing. Turmeric adds a dry, earthy and pungent flavor to dishes. It is often used in the blend of common spices -- including Cumin, Coriander, Mustard Seed and Hing -- that sustain many an Indian dish. Apart from its role in adding color and flavor to Indian cooking, the Turmeric craze has been sweeping the world lately. It's health benefits ar

When I was thinking of recipe’s to make for this project, I knew that I had to cook things that my family would like to eat. After all, I can't eat all of this on my own (I actually could but that’s not the point). Mullangi Sambar, or Sambar with Diakon, is a lentil soup of sorts that features a multitude of ingredients and spices. It can be made with many different vegetables, or even without vegetables at all, but the one with Daikon is my mom’s personal favorite. The spice we are featuring for this dish is Asafoetida, or colloquially, Hing. When asking my Nani about finding dishes that feature Asafoetida I was met with “what do you mean? I use Hing in all my cooking.” I thought that can’t be true, it’s such a strong flavor, but as the weeks progressed I realized that indeed, Hing is used in almost every dish we made together. Hing is the powdered dried sap that collects on the exposed tap roots of the giant fennel plant. When used raw it is a sticky brown, but when dried

Pisa, or Pysa, is a thickened sweetened milk dessert that can be made with vermicelli noodles, as seen here, lentils and sometimes rice. Kesari, or Saffron, is the most expensive spices in the world — and for good reason. It’s is, literally, the three lone stamens from a crocus that only blooms once a year. The flowers, furthermore, are often hand-picked in the morning while the petals of the bloom are still closed to prevent damage to those precious threads of saffron. Even after it is harvested it will take around 75,000 saffron crocuses to make a single pound of the spice. The time-intensive growing and harvesting process, along with the crops low yield, makes for a final result that goes for $10 to $13 a gram . So eat this Pisa and feel expensive.   Saffron has an easily recognizable color, anyone would recognize that rich yellow, but not an easily placeable flavor. Some liken its earthiness to “sweet hay” while others describe it with hints of bitterness. It truly is one of t

Connecting with your homeland’s culture when living in a different country has always been hard. For centuries immigrant families have struggled to keep their traditions alive while simultaneously attempting to assimilate in their new homes. The issue is made even more complicated when your family is mixed, like mine. There’s the constant worry about how much of your culture you can lay claim to. Only half? Three quarters? What even is half of a culture? Are you neglecting to recognize your own privilege by wishing you were more “typical?” For me, the question has never resolved itself. I still can’t talk about the stereotypical Indian upbringing with other Indian kids. I can’t make relatable jokes, apart from those recycled from brown twitter, and I definitely can’t speak a second language. What I have learned to do, however, is use the opportunities I have to acsess aspects of my culture that are learnable — clothing (see prom dress above) and more importantly, food. I’ve