Khushbu Shah's cookbook 'Amrikan' honors the Indian American diaspora
Jul 25, 2024
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Khushbu Shah, author of 'Amrikan', discusses the fusion of Indian cuisine with American ingredients, like cream cheese and shokupan bread. She explores the evolution of Indian dishes in the diaspora and the importance of making traditional recipes approachable to all, featuring easy recipes from her cookbook.
Shah's cookbook 'Amrikan' integrates American pantry staples into Indian cuisine, reflecting the adaptation of immigrants in a new country.
The evolution of Indian cuisine in America involves a fusion of traditional dishes with new ingredients, preserving culinary traditions while embracing adaptability.
Deep dives
Incorporating American Ingredients in Indian Cooking
The podcast discusses how food writer Kushbush Shah's new cookbook 'Amrikan' blends everyday American pantry staples into Indian cooking. Shah highlights the fusion of traditional Indian dishes with ingredients like peanut butter, ketchup, and Bisquick, showcasing the adaptation and improvisation immigrants faced when recreating flavors from home in a new country.
Evolution of Indian Cuisine in the Diaspora
Shah reflects on the evolution of Indian cuisine in America, influenced by different waves of immigration and regional variations within Indian cooking. She emphasizes the importance of staple Indian ingredients like Kashmiri chili powder, kasuri methi, and curry leaves in enhancing flavors and preserving culinary traditions, while also acknowledging the ongoing fusion and adaptation of traditional dishes.
Accessible Indian Cooking for All
Shah aims to demystify the complexity often associated with Indian cuisine, making it approachable for a wider audience. By incorporating Indian street foods like chart and simplifying recipes in her cookbook, she intends to show that Indian cooking can be simple, flavorful, and achievable with basic spices and ingredients. She shares a quick and easy recipe for Cabbage Nushak, a stir-fried cabbage dish seasoned with Kashmiri red chili powder and turmeric, highlighting the simplicity and deliciousness of authentic Indian flavors.
Today's episode is packed with recipes from Khushbu Shah's new cookbook, Amrikan. But beyond that, it's also a conversation with the author and Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about how Indian cuisine has changed with new generations living in diaspora, and how that has led to the introduction of some unlikely ingredients – cream cheese, pickled jalapeños, shokupan — to shake up traditional dishes.
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