For Jyoti Mukharji, cooking didn’t come naturally. In her early days in the kitchen as a medical school grad, she recalls making watery daals and hard rotis that cracked in your mouth like a chip. But with time, cooking became a language she knew fluently. It connected her to her home in India and helped her connect with the community she built for herself in the United States. After deciding to quit her career in medicine to become a full-time mother, she poured her energy into the kitchen and leaned into sharing her knowledge of and love for cooking.
More than 15 years ago, Jyoti began teaching cooking classes in her Kansas City home, welcoming students of all ages. More than 6,500 students later, those lessons inspired Heartland Masala, a cookbook that goes beyond recipes, offering precise cooking advice, step-by-step guidance, a spice glossary, tips for using Indian flavors in unexpected ways and so much more.
Her son Auyon, a musician, writer and culinary historian, helped bring the project to life by writing through her voice based on meticulous documentation over the course of eight years. Together, they’ve created a cookbook that is both practical and deeply personal, reflecting years of teaching, learning and sharing. Through Heartland Masala, she and Auyon invite home cooks to explore Indian cuisine as an adaptable expression of identity.
To share a bit of the duo’s passion and knowledge with you, we chatted with Jyoti and Auyon to dig into the book a bit more. They shared some great tips, tricks and advice for making Indian food at home, including one genius technique you need to try in your kitchen ASAP: tadka.