I Fell in Love with Cooking in a Kitchen in India

"Madam, come cook." As I looked up, I saw Chandu, my Indian cook, smiling at me, with a spoon in his hand. Hearing the words, "Madam, come cook," had become part of my daily routine, and I welcomed the opportunity to learn how to cook Indian food from a man who grew up cooking chapattis and spiced lentils over an open fire in the village where he was raised.

My husband and I, along with our two children, had moved to India to work as cultural researchers. One of the perks of living in India was having household help, including a cook. At the beginning I was content to let Chandu do all of the cooking, but I knew that when I returned to the U.S., Chandu wouldn't move with us. If I wanted to continue to enjoy home-cooked Indian food in the U.S., I was going to have to learn how to cook it myself.

It all started with bell peppers, stuffed with spiced potatoes, then charred in a cast iron skillet. The moment I took my first bite, I knew I just had to learn how to make them. They were that good. "Chandu, can you teach me how to make this?" I asked, and he happily agreed. The next time he made potato stuffed peppers, he called me into the kitchen so I could watch him prepare them.

Chandu continued to impress me with the variety of recipes he knew off the top of his head. I never saw him refer to a cookbook or recipe of any kind, and yet he never made the same thing twice, unless we specifically requested some of our favorite dishes. The more Chandu cooked for us, the more I wanted to learn, until I eventually spent every evening in the kitchen with him, with a notebook and pen in hand.

After we returned to the U.S., armed with my notebook filled with Chandu's recipes and an assortment of Indian spices and ingredients, I set out to see if I could replicate the recipes Chandu prepared for us.

That was over ten years ago, and I still cook Indian food at home on a regular basis. Conquering a complex cuisine such as Indian food also gave me the confidence to experiment with many other types of cuisine, ingredients and cooking techniques.

Here's the recipe that started it all:

Chandu's Indian Potato-Stuffed Bell Peppers

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons amchur (dried mango powder) or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup milk
4 green bell peppers
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 cup water

Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and then mash the potatoes, mixing in the cilantro, amchur or lemon juice, salt, pepper, jalapeno, butter and milk. Set aside.

Trim the base of the bell peppers so they stand flat. Slice off the tops of the peppers and remove the seeds and the white pith. Reserve the tops of the peppers for later use.

Fill each pepper with equal amounts of the spicy potato mixture and replace the pepper tops.

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a pot that is deeper than the height of the peppers. Cast iron works best, but any pot that is deep enough will do.

When the oil is hot, toss in the cumin seeds, stir, and cook until the seeds sizzle and turn a brownish-red color. This should take about 30 seconds.

Stir the water into the pot and carefully place the stuffed peppers into the pot.

Cover the pot and cook until the peppers are tender, the water is absorbed, and the bottoms of the peppers are slightly charred.