Quotes from Sohla El-Waylly

When most people think of raita, they imagine the cucumber-flecked two-ounce cups that tag along in every Indian takeout meal, but, just as with chaat and dosa, the term raita can apply to a wide variety of yogurt-based condiments.

Fried chicken is a special-occasion, celebratory dish in our home, so I really like to splurge. For a dish thats fully dependent on just three everyday ingredientschicken, flour, and oilit could be tempting to go buy it all at your local supermarket, but carefully sourcing each ingredient is an essential step to getting the best fried chicken.

Normally, the path is you get mentored by a chef and they take you under their wing and then they help you open a restaurant. But that path doesnt exist for most people of color.

Once cooked, unripe green plantains have the dense, starchy texture of taro. They are traditionally braised, fried, or mashed. A green plantain can go anywhere a potato can, making it a great choice to shake up your starch game.

Whole watermelons will keep in the fridge for about a week with no negative consequences for the texture or flavor, while cut pieces are best eaten within three days. When serving watermelon as part of a buffet or outdoors, always keep the cut pieces on ice for a cold and refreshing treat.

Giving nuts and seeds a few minutes in the oven deepens their flavors and improves their texture - and it provides more even cooking than the stovetop.

A white chef can be an expert in French food and then turn around and go to Thailand for a week and come back and be an expert in Thai cuisine.

With a small wire rack set inside your sizzle platter, youve got the perfect setup for dry brining one or two portions of meat. The small footprint of a sizzle platter fits easily in any fridge, while the matching mini rack keeps the meat from hanging out in its own juices.

Great basmati is golden in color, smells floral and nutty, and can withstand the long cook time of this process. As an extra bonus, aged basmati is much more merciful, steaming up just fine even if you over- or undercook it a touch during the parboiling stage.

Easy-to-grip handles are particularly important when a dish is hot and filled to the brim. The last thing you want is to grab skimpy handles with thick oven mitts and have the whole thing come crashing to your kitchen floor.

Ultimately, mayonnaise and aioli are brothers from the same mother. Both are emulsions of oil and water, which just means that the two incompatible liquids are brought together with the help of a third party stabilizer to create something thicker, creamier, and richer than before.

When you knead youre not only developing the gluten, but youre also lining up those gluten strands into an orderly structure thats strong and tight.

I painted my pantry door with Rust-Oleum chalkboard paint months ago because I wanted my kitchen to look like a fancy pub. Working from home has made that chalkboard a necessity. Its where I write my grocery lists and recipe notes and daily to-dos.

I did not develop a recipe for my mothers biryani. I tried, and I failed, and so I made my own.

A ricer looks a lot like a giant garlic press and works in pretty much the same way. It comes equipped with a perforated hopper, where you place your cooked food before applying pressure with a lever, which forces the food through the small holes. The tiny holes are about the size of a grain of rice, hence the tools name.

Aioli is jazzy, showy, and a downright attention hog next to chill and classic mayo.

Once you know how to make koshari, youll never think twice about whether to save those last few scoops of rice or the half-cup tomato passata.

A food mill both pures and strains soft items, like boiled potatoes or tomatoes, in one shot. It has a simple construction, consisting of a bowl fitted with a hand crank that rotates a plate, which forces food through a perforated base.

I think one big thing with food and race that is a hot topic is cultural appropriation.

Kneading dough is as simple as pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your palm, folding it over itself with your fingers, and pulling it back. This repeated push-pull cross-knits the protein strands, developing a strong gluten net.

We need representation of different chefs, as well as different foods.

While my husband and I were still just dating, we courted over Popeyes fried chicken. What better way to really get to know someone than by getting elbows-deep in biscuit crumbs and chicken grease?

Scales aren't just for all the would-be pastry wizards out there, either. They're a necessary tool for any serious cook as well, especially for determining ratios or servings.

Spanakopita is a traditional Greek savory pie wrapped in flaky layers of crisp phyllo and filled with spinach and salty feta.