The Joy of Making Rajma

My new Chaat Masala Blend and My Recipe for Rajma

For the past few months, I’ve been working with the lovely folks at Oaktown Spice to develop my version of one of my favorite Indian spices, Chaat Masala. I think of garam masala as the serious everyday house blend you’d use for all your savory Indian cooking, but chaat masala is the fun spice blend because it does much more. It easily moves from savory to sweet dishes; it’s funky, smoky, sour, and salty. In India, it occupies a prominent position in street food (which is why I LOVE this blend); it adds personality to dishes - try my Colcannon with Chaat Masala or the Indian Omelet Sandwich (which is also sometimes called Railway Omelet Sandwich), and sprinkle it over the pakoras that are in The Flavor Equation cookbook. Here’s the special part: you can also sample one of the recipes at Oaktown Spice Shop from my upcoming cookbook, Veg-Table, before everyone else and make the Chaat-Style Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes.

On a side note, chaat and garam masalas are not always interchangeable, but you can use them together in some dishes. Think of chaat masala as the blend that takes things to the next level.

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This week is extra special and a little surreal.

• Paddington turned three. I got him a cake from The Dog Bakery in Pasadena to celebrate his life. However, I failed at his birthday gift. I got him a medium sized bed instead of a large one, he is confused and won’t use it. My ginger tabby has taken over the bed and Paddington is on the couch.

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• The IACP/International Association of Culinary Professionals in New York honored me with the Trailblazer Award for the year for my work and contributions to the world of food writing. I couldn’t be there to accept the award, but I am so grateful to be the recipient and to all the people who’ve supported me on journey, including YOU! For a cookbook writer, the greatest joy is when I see you cook my recipes in your home. Thank you💞

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How to Make Rajma

Honestly, I feel that any bean dish can quickly fall into the comfort food category (maybe you’ll rethink this or not the next day or 6 hours later when you’re hot-boxing the entire room up, but for that, there’s Beano and Gas-X and candles). Rajma is one of those exceptional Indian dishes that is pure comfort food, and as the weather cools off, I love eating a big heaping of this stew over steamed rice. I love it topped with thin slices of red onions or shallots and steaming basmati rice. A generous scoop of plain yogurt is fabulous with it.

Let me share some my tips on how to make this classic North Indian dish.