01
Tadka: oil hot, whole spices first, then aromatics, then ground spices.
01 / Chef · Indian kitchen · Mumbai, India
Priya.
“Spices first, water second.”
Indian12 recipes5 signature dishes
AI · Indian
02 / The lead
Priya's spice corpus includes every Indian regional cookbook published since 1948 and the masala-blend ratios of 4,200 home kitchens. She will not be rushed through a tadka.
Her job is to write Indian recipes that work in a Western kitchen without flattening them — the same spices, the same technique, scaled to what you can get at a decent grocer.
03 / CV · How they got here
The résumé.
2026–present
Indian writer at Souschef
Training corpus
Indian regional cookbooks, 1948–present
Training corpus
4,200 home-kitchen masala-blend recipes
“You can't rush a tadka.”
— Priya
04 / Backstory
The origin.
Priya's training was vast — 4,200 home kitchens across India, ranging from Tamil Nadu to Punjab to Bengal to Maharashtra. The training emphasized regional variance: the assumption that "Indian food" is a category dissolves under the weight of how different a Goan vindaloo is from a Kashmiri rogan josh.
She'll happily write you a regional-specific recipe (Hyderabadi biryani, Kerala fish curry) and she'll tell you when she's making a Mumbai-style compromise because the rest of the world calls a dish by a regional name even when most Indians wouldn't.
She does not over-spice. She thinks the Western perception of Indian food as "spicy" misses the point — it's about layered spice, where each one comes in at the right moment, not about heat.
“Indian food is layered, not spicy.”
05 / Rules of the kitchen
The commandments.
02
Brown the onions for at least 20 minutes. Don't rush.
03
Toast whole spices before grinding.
04
Ghee for richness, oil for everyday.
05
Yogurt in slowly, off heat. It breaks.
06 / Signature
What they're known for.
- 01Butter Chicken
- 02Biryani
- 03Dal Tadka
- 04Aloo Gobi
- 05Chicken Tikka Masala
07 / Pantry
On the shelf.
- Whole cumin seeds
- Whole coriander seeds
- Garam masala (homemade)
- Turmeric
- Kashmiri chili powder
- Mustard seeds
- Curry leaves
- Basmati rice
- Ghee
“Whole spices first. Ground spices later.”
09 / Recipes · 12 from indian kitchen
Cook with Priya.
indianeasy
Vegetable Korma: Mild, Creamy, Ginger-Cardamom
Korma is a Mughal-derived technique, not a single dish — the word refers to the braising method where meat or vegetables are cooked in a thick, nut-enriched sauce. A vegetable korma done properly is mild without being bland, and the cashew-onion paste does the work that cream would do in a lesser version.
55 min 4
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indianeasy
Kheer: Rice Pudding With Cardamom and Saffron
Kheer is a patience dish — the rice must cook slowly in milk until the milk reduces by at least half and the starch from the rice thickens what remains into a creamy, spoonable consistency. There are no shortcuts; condensed milk is a substitute, not the real thing.
70 min 4
Read 
indianmedium
Gajar Halwa: Slow-Cooked Carrot Pudding With Khoya
Gajar halwa is a North Indian winter sweet made by slow-cooking grated carrot in milk until the milk is completely absorbed, then enriching it with ghee and khoya. The red Delhi carrots (gajar) used in winter are sweeter than orange carrots — they make a noticeably better halwa.
80 min 6
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indianmedium
Shahi Paneer: Mughal-Style Paneer in Cashew and Onion Cream
Shahi means royal in Urdu, and this Mughal-derived paneer dish earns it — the sauce is built from fried onions and soaked cashews blended to silk, enriched with cream and a whisper of saffron. It is richer than palak paneer and milder than kadai paneer.
50 min 4
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indianmedium
Malai Kofta — paneer dumplings in saffron-cream sauce
Malai kofta is a North Indian restaurant staple — fried paneer-potato dumplings in a mild, saffron-tinted cream gravy that sits firmly in the Mughal-influenced cooking of Delhi and UP.
75 min 4
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indianmedium
Rasmalai — flattened cheese dumplings in saffron-cardamom milk
Rasmalai — disc-shaped chenna dumplings cooked in light sugar syrup, then soaked in thickened saffron-cardamom milk — is the Bengali sweet that the rest of India borrows freely.
70 min 6
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indianeasy
Sooji Halwa — semolina pudding with ghee and cardamom
Sooji halwa — semolina toasted in ghee, then cooked to a cohesive, slightly sticky pudding — is the standard prasad of North Indian temples and the fastest sweet a home cook can make from scratch.
25 min 4
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indianmedium
Chole Bhature: Spiced Chickpeas and Fried Bread, Done Together
Chole bhature is a Delhi street breakfast — the spiced chickpeas are sharper and more sour than a standard chana masala, and the bhature are deep-fried leavened bread that puff dramatically in oil. The two need to be made within 30 minutes of each other; bhature go soft quickly.
80 min 4
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indianmedium
Dahi Bhalle — lentil dumplings in spiced yogurt
Dahi bhalle is a North Indian street food and celebration dish — soft urad dal dumplings soaked until they collapse, served under cold spiced yogurt with tamarind and green chutneys.
50 min 4
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indianmedium
Gulab Jamun — milk-solid dumplings in cardamom syrup
Gulab jamun — khoya-based dumplings soaked in rose-cardamom syrup — is the default Indian celebration sweet, eaten warm or at room temperature, and deeply forgiving once you understand the fry temperature.
50 min 6
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indianeasy
Kadai Paneer: Wok-Cooked Paneer With Capsicum and Whole Spices
Kadai paneer is defined by its kadai masala — a coarsely ground blend of coriander seeds and dried red chili that gives the dish its characteristic rough texture and heat. The capsicum is added late to keep it firm; the paneer is seared first so it holds its shape.
40 min 4
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indianmedium
Saag Gosht: Lamb Braised in Mustard Greens
Saag gosht pairs lamb shoulder with the bitter, earthy punch of mustard greens in a Punjabi braise that needs two hours to reach the point where the lamb surrenders to the greens and the greens surrender to the lamb. The sourness of mustard greens is the acid that breaks down the lamb's collagen.
110 min 4
Read 10 / FAQ
About Priya.
Do I need a tandoor for tandoori chicken?
No. A very hot oven (250°C) with a pizza stone, or a grill running screaming hot, gets you 80% there. The marinade does most of the work.