“Since we have different strengths and kitchen work styles — my mom is a practical, efficient cook who knows right away what works and what doesn’t, while I’m more methodical and attentive to the spice flavour balance — our collaboration was natural and easy because we know each other so well.”
— Preena Chauhan
After immigrating from Uganda to Canada in the ’70s, Arvinda Chauhan was dismayed to discover many misconceptions about Indian cuisine: it’s over-spiced, it uses too much oil. By the ’90s, she decided to do something about it, reported The Star. “She wanted to change that by presenting Indian food as healthy, tantalizing with spice flavours and with a modern flair,” her daughter, Preena Chauhan, says.
Three decades later, she’s been successful in her mission, teaming up with Preena to run both a popular spice-blend company and cooking classes. Now, the pair has released a new cookbook, “New Indian Basics,” to help even more folks master the spice life.
Arvinda Chauhan knows Indian cuisine inside out. She took up the mortar and pestle at age seven after her mother died. She began assisting her grandmother in cooking for her four siblings, grinding her own spices and preparing chapatis on the chulha, a rustic earthen stove heated by fire.
Arvinda’s Healthy Gourmet Indian cooking classes started with an eight-week beginners’ course on how to make a full Indian meal: mastering the spices, and making appetizers, chutneys, dals and curries, traditional flatbreads, basmati rice and sweets. They had only three students in that first class; 30 years on, they’ve taught thousands.
“We show them shortcuts, tips and tricks on how to make Indian cooking easier to save time without compromising on flavour,” Preena says. “We feel a lot of joy when our students tell us how our recipes have transformed their weekly meals and how they’ve become so proficient at creating Indian foods at home.”
Arvinda Chauhan knows Indian cuisine inside out. She took up the mortar and pestle at age seven after her mother died. She began assisting her grandmother in cooking for her four siblings, grinding her own spices and preparing chapatis on the chulha, a rustic earthen stove heated by fire
Also helping out the home cooks is Arvinda’s, their popular line of spice blends sold across Canada and at Harrods in London. They use Ontario garlic and as many local ingredients as possible – roasting, grinding and mixing their masalas according to traditional family recipes. Their signature blends are the peppery, intoxicating madras masala used in South Indian-style and coconut-based curries, Preena says, and the garam masala, a cardamom-laced aromatic finishing blend.
Spices are the star of “New Indian Basics,” of course. Over their decades as teachers, the Chauhans collected all the common questions about Indian cooking that came up repeatedly. “The students either had misconceptions about cooking with spices, were timid about using too much spice, or just had overall trouble with balancing flavours,” Preena says.
Both modern and traditional recipes are included along with a spice glossary. The book also features a guide to cooking with lentils and beans. “During these inflationary times, we want to encourage readers to become acquainted with cooking with lentils and beans as they are economical, nourishing and healthy,” Preena says.
For Preena, the sweetest treat of all was getting to work on the book with her mom. “I feel blessed to have this experience,” Preena says. “Since we have different strengths and kitchen work styles — my mom is a practical, efficient cook who knows right away what works and what doesn’t, while I’m more methodical and attentive to the spice flavour balance — our collaboration was natural and easy because we know each other so well.”
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