Chile

To add earthy heat to your cooking, roast dried Thai chiles in the oven before grinding them to a powder.

The Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh is the epicenter of prawn cultivation in India. I am lucky enough to have family in Nellore and have spent many memorable childhood summers with ammama there. The prawns in Nellore make it to the kitchen literally minutes after they are caught, and really do taste like the sea. The trick to this recipe is to be patient and allow the onions to brown to a deep, caramelized sweetness. It never fails to amaze me that such a simple dish can be absolutely delicio.…

Fish fragrant sauce doesn’t actually have any fish in it, but the sweet, sour, and spicy elements in the sauce are traditionally used to cook Sichuan fish dishes, and it gives this dish its name.

Smoky, subtly sweet grilled broccoli feels luxurious served on a bed of creamy egg salad, turning this dish into a satisfying, comforting main meal.

The defining characteristic of this chile sauce is the crispness, and in my version I’ve included old-fashioned rolled oats and coconut flakes for extra crunch. You will find me adding it to pasta, eggs, jook, pizza and, of course, roasted vegetables. 

For this grilled tofu recipe, allspice, thyme, garlic, brown sugar, and Scotch bonnet peppers join together in an aromatic marinade that’s spicy and warm.

If you can’t eat just one totopo (tortilla chip), this is the salsa of your dreams. 

These extra-thick cousins of the tortilla are toasted on a comal or griddle and split open before they’re stuffed with a wide array of flavorful fillings.

I long for the flavor of tamales de elote, made with puréed fresh corn kernels. But our starchy, flavorful Mexican corn cannot be replaced with United States sweet corn, which creates a terribly insipid, watery effect. So I evolved something a little different using a regular masa mixture with fresh corn kernels and seasonings beaten in.