Episodes
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Today, we talk to the incredible associate professor of food studies from NYU, Dr. Krishnendu Ray. Dr. Ray is the author of several books including, The Ethnic Restauranteur and Curried Cultures.
In this discussion, you will learn why Indian food has struggled to gain notoriety in the west and how food helps shape cultures. -
Join Ragini and Chef Keith in conversation with Sana Javeri Kadri, the trailblazing founder of Diaspora Co., a direct trade spice company working towards a radically equitable, sustainable, and more delicious spice supply chain.
Sana was born and raised in Mumbai, India in a big, mixed up Muslim-Jain-Hindu. She’s been working in the food industry since she was a teenager, and has dipped her toes in every facet of the food industry from line cook, to farm worker, to food photographer, to marketing consultant, to CSA manager, to spice CEO.
She founded Diaspora Co. in 2017 with a big vision and a very small budget ($3k!). It has quickly grown (125x in 3 years!) to become a nationally acclaimed, beloved spice brand that champions over 150 regenerative family farms & 1500+ farm workers. Diaspora aims to set a new standard for what equity and culture in our global food system can look like.
You can find Sana here: https://www.instagram.com/sanajaverikadri/
Learn more about Diaspora co. here: https://www.instagram.com/diasporaco/
Order some wonderful, fresh spices here: https://www.diasporaco.com/
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Missing episodes?
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Ragini and Chef Keith in conversation with the legendary chef, Maneet Chauhan, TV personality, Chopped judge, 2021 Food Network competition Tournament of Champions. winner, restauranteur, and all-around amazing human being.
In this episode chef Keith and Ragini dive deep into how Indian food continues to transform the world, chef Maneet's rise to the top, and her philosophy on work/life balance. -
Ragini and Chef Keith in conversation with Alak Nanda, the founder of Podi Life. Learn about the incredible story of Alak and her mom and their passion to preserve the deeply and rich history of podi.
Find them on Instagram @podi.life -
Coriander, one of the world's most used spices. Seed, stalk and leaf are all incredible flavours - fascinatingly, very different from one another! Join Ragini and Chef Keith as they uncover the history and some of the curious stories behind this beloved spice. Including a Roman penchant for candied coriander seed!
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Ragini and Chef Keith in conversation with Charulata Moorjani, the founder of Junyali Spice Blends. Charu takes us through her fascinating journey and life in haute couture fashion, which unexpectedly but ultimately led her to Junyali. Junyali is the celebration of home, of women who are flavour geniuses, and a tapestry of unique stories from across India. From Sawantwadi Garam Masala, to a Lucknowi Lazzat-Ul-Tam, Coorgi Pandi Masala and Chai Masala all the way from Meerut. Junyali brings these family secrets to all of us, to help us cook specialty dishes from all around the country.
Find them on Instagram @junyalispiceblends or Cafe Junyali on Facebook.
You can check out their range of spices at: https://junyali.in/ and use a special code for More than Masala listeners! 15% off with the code MTMPODCAST15 valid till 31st March, 2022. -
Join Ragini and Chef Keith in conversation with our favourite food guru, Dr. Kurush Dalal. Dr. Dalal is an archaeologist, historian, food anthropologist and raconteur. He was an Assistant Professor of the Archeology Department at the University of Mumbai and the co-director of the Salcette Explorations Project, which documented the archaeology of Mumbai. He currently teaches Archaeology and its allied disciplines at the INSTUCEN Trust, consults with Live History India and runs his own Culinary Anthropology Workshops. Dr Dalal also owns Katy’s Kitchen, a beloved and popular Mumbai catering service specialising in ethnic Parsi food. Settle in with a cuppa, for all things life and Parsi food with Dr. Kurush Dalal.
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Pepper, pepper, pepper. It'll make you sneeze, but you will keep coming back for more! Did you know we trade more pepper than any other spice in the world? Did you know that the Roman empire fell to a whopping demand for black pepper? Or that they did not permit pepper plantation workers to wear cuffed trousers, for fear that they'd steal the black gold? Chef Keith and Ragini unravel the tales of pepper's past.
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This month, Ragini and Chef Keith dive straight into a favourite holiday spice: nutmeg. Encased in its equally gorgeous counterpart, mace, the nutmeg seed is both potent and beautiful. A little goes a long way, and in fact, too much nutmeg may make you mildly hallucinogenic. But what is Christmas without nutmeg? How did that come to be? As always, the history is part fascinating, part surprising, and in this case, part gruesome. Grab a mug of your favourite holiday beverage, curl up and join us to talk about all things nutmeg. Happy Holidays!
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Spicy, piquant, zesty - mustard has it all. One of the world's most widely loved spices, mustard is prized for its leaves and multiple seed varieties. From the depths of China, through South Asia, Europe, and North America, mustard most definitely... cuts the mustard! Join Ragini and Chef Keith as they do deep dive into the spice. The history, the religious significance, the varieties, and the origin - they talk about it all. Grab a cup of tea, and curl up for another great episode of More than Masala - this time, it's mustard.
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Meet the duo behind this podcast. Who are Ragini and Chef Keith? What makes them tick? What are their thoughts on the history of spices? What perplexes them? What would they be doing if it weren't for food? What excites them? Join us for a chat about this, that, and the other through this unscripted episode.
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Turmeric, turmeric, turmeric. From religious symbolism to counterfeit saffron, to the mainstay of curry powder. Turmeric is perhaps one of the most easily recognizable spices in the world. Its brilliant yellow hue has captivated cooks and doctors alike. An old superfood in the East, a more recent superfood in the West. Ragini and Keith explore the journey, the symbolism, the colonial impact on curry, and everything in between. Grab your cup of tea and settle in for more than masala.
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Ah Cumin. Cumin is that spice, you know, the one that is almost everywhere? It's used pretty ubiquitously across the subcontinent, from the southern tip of India, all the way north, and well into Central Asia. It goes to the east into China, and in the other direction across the Mediterranean and the Middle East. We also see it in North and East Africa, and then over the oceans into Mexico. Later in history, we see cumin show up in the Southern United States. This month Keith prepares an Afghan dish to celebrate this beautiful spice that is incredibly versatile. You can't imagine hummus, dal, garam masala, foul medammes, tacos or chilli without cumin. Grab your cup of tea, and maybe a cumin biscuit to go with it, and settle in for more than masala.
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EPISODE SOURCES:
Maskevich, Adam. From 'Ancient Sumeria To Chipotle Tacos, Cumin Has Spiced Up The World', https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/11/392317352/is-cumin-the-most-globalized-spice-in-the-world#:~:text=To%20the%20east%2C%20cumin%20traveled,from%20there%20throughout%20South%20Asia.
Prior, David The Jewels of Afghanistan. https://www.prior.club/inspiration/parwana-afghan-cookbook-durkhanai-ayubi
Subhash Padhye, Sanjeev Banerjee, Aamir Ahmad, Ramzi Mohammad, and Fazlul H
Sarkar, "From here to eternity - the secret of Pharaohs: Therapeutic
potential of black cumin seeds and beyond". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2583426/pdf/nihms-73138.pdf
How Black Cumin is Harvested in Afghanistan", https://www.rumispice.com/blogs/rumi-red-saffron/cumin-harvest
Achaya, K.T, The Illustrated Foods of India A-Z, Oxford University Press, 2009
Achaya, K.T, A Historical Companion Indian Food, Oxford University Press, 2004
Nabhan Gary, Cumin, Camels and Caravans -
The hero of masala chai, cardamom. Flavourful and delicate, but also pungent and astringent. From the ancient texts of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine, to the Arab spice trade - cardamom is the official queen of spices. Join food researcher Ragini and Chef Keith as they talk about eating, understanding and contextualising this beautiful spice. Why is it used in so many of the subcontinents' desserts? How much cardamom does India really use? Where does the "best quality" cardamom grow? Grab a cup of tea (cardamom, preferably), sit back and listen to More than Masala.
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Ah Saffron. Flavourful, delicate, and very very fragrant saffron. From La Mancha in Spain, to Morocco, to Iran, to Afghanistan, to the Indian subcontinent - saffron is the queen spice. Join Ragini and Chef Keith as they talk about eating, understanding and contextualizing this beautiful spice. Why is it used in so many of the subcontinents' desserts? Why does Iran consume so much? Why do we talk about the chickens of the Mughal royal kitchen? Grab a cup of tea (saffron, preferably), sit back and listen to More than Masala.
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Our first episode! The history of spices is complex and loaded with stories, folklore, warfare and cultural connections. Spices have the potential to flavour, to heal, to become tea or food - in olden times they were even used as salary! It's safe to say they've been a pretty important part of human history. Join Chef Keith Sarasin and Ragini Kashyap of Third Culture Cooks, as they explore spices of the Indian subcontinent.
This month, we chat about a brief history of the spice trade. Grab a cup of tea, tune in, and join us?
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Our first episode to whet your appetite for spices! The history of spices is complex and loaded with stories, folklore, warfare and cultural connections. Join Chef Keith Sarasin and Ragini Kashyap of Third Culture Cooks as they explore spices of the Indian subcontinent. Spices have the potential to flavour, to heal, to become tea, to become food - in olden times they were even salary! It's safe to say they've been a pretty important part of human history! This month, we're chatting about a brief history of the spice trade. How is it, that we can buy spices all over the world, and relatively cheaply today? Why does pretty much every part of the world use cumin? Grab a cup of tea, sit back, and listen in to More than Masala.
