Also we were in a new culture and she wanted me to acclimate to our new environment. She didn’t want me to sit off in a corner with my rice and beans; she wanted me to be able to integrate into the society we had adopted.
SLOANE: What are some of your favorite go-to dishes from Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet that are easy to prepare, healthy and flavorful?
PADMA: The tuna and red kidney bean salad is great. It’s packed with protein and greens, it’s filling, and you can make it with shelf stable items from your pantry. It’s great for lunch, packed in Tupperware with dressing on the side until you’re hungry.
The recipe for flounder with chipotle yogurt sauce is also very healthy and spicy. I use non-fat yogurt and it’s got tons of flavor from the chipotle chutney.
SLOANE: I love the flavor combinations in Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet. Where did you get the inspiration for chili honey butter, chipotle date chutney and lemon honey ginger jam?
PADMA: From my childhood and my imagination mainly. We all start at point A, and as we go through life our tastes evolve, our horizons broaden, and we develop our own culinary preferences.
I look at my spice rack as a tool kit or as a painter looks at his box of paints. I’m a big believer in using all of those nuts and seeds and powder and then the freshest fruits and vegetables, the freshest dairy, the freshest poultry and meats and serving the ingredients by using the spices to frame and exalt those ingredients.
SLOANE: I’ve tasted many of these spices in restaurants, but I’m a little intimidated about using these new flavors at home. I’m sure I’m not alone. How can I dive in?
PADMA: That’s why I did this book. I feel like a lot of us love Thai food or love coconut curry or love noodle soup and we’re ordering it at our desks at work or ordering take-out three or four nights a week, but we’re not making these dishes at home. We can with the addition of a few spices and flavors that keep well in the pantry.
You can make the recipes you usually make, but by adding two or three ingredients we can elevate that dish to the next level. For example, by adding the Omani lemons to a chicken soup with garbanzo beans and dill, that one ingredient completely changes a pretty straightforward chicken soup to something really special.
