Priya Krishna is not only a food writer, cookbook author, and regular contributor for the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and others—she's also the daughter we want to be when we grow up. Priya joins host Kristen Miglore to discuss what it was like writing a cookbook with her mom, Ritu, what Seth's baking next, and a brilliant, five-minute shortcut spicy-bright pickle that will electrify everything from dal to quesadillas.
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Kristen Miglore (voiceover): Hi, I'm Kristen Miglore, lifelong Genius hunter. Each week, I’m uncovering the recipes that will change the way you cook. My guest this week is food writer and cookbook author Priya Krishna. We talk about her mom Ritu’s brilliant five minute shortcut Indian pickle, what it’s like writing a cookbook with your mom, and how 2017 Priya differs from 2020 Priya.
Kristen: Hi Priya.
Priya Krishna: Hi Kristen.
Kristen: It's so good to see you.
Priya: You too.
Kristen: Where are you right now?
Priya: I'm in my apartment in Brooklyn.
Kristen: Oh okay. I saw on Instagram that for a while you were staying at your parent's place in Dallas, right?
Priya: Yes. I got back in June.
Kristen: How was that? It looked extremely comforting.
Priya: It was, I mean, it was really nice. Like my mom and I cooked dinner every night. My dad put out cheese plates. We had happy hour. Like my parents really went above and beyond to sort of like make living at home feel really comforting. When I was, like an adult woman moving back in with my parents, ostensibly,
Kristen: (laughs) Was it sort of a flashback to putting together your cookbook?
Priya: Yeah. Oh, definitely. But it was even more enjoyable this time around because instead of like chasing my mom around for, for measurements and like making sure that she wasn't secretly adding coriander to a dish when it wasn't in the ingredient list, I could just enjoy her food and not have to monitor or, like, write things down or do any work. I could just enjoy it.
Kristen: Well, to take a step back, um, speaking of your cookbook, would you mind just like sharing a little bit about the cookbook and what the process was like for you to decide to write a cookbook with your mom.
Priya: So my cookbook is a collection of the Indian and American foods that my mom made for me growing up in Dallas, Texas. Um, I wouldn't say that I am a, I wouldn't call myself a recipe developer. I'm definitely more of a journalist. And, you know, when I was working at the food magazine Lucky Peach and contributing some of my mom's recipes to the magazine and to the cookbooks, I got a lot of feedback that my mom's recipes felt really accessible. That, you know, a lot of folks didn't realize that Indian food, cooking Indian food at home was actually very simple, which, which it is. The Indian food I grew up eating was simple, accessible, bright, flavorful, vibrant. All the things you want, um, for your everyday cooking. And so I basically, you know, I was approached by an editor who said, I would love a you know, a cookbook of your mom's recipes. Something that shows Indian food to be, um, not only flavorful but dynamic and sort of showing what it means to be an immigrant family living in the States. And sort of what happens to food when it travels outside of its home country. And you know, all of the ways that my mom took these memories of the Indian food she grew up eating in India and sort of translated it in America according to what she had access to. Which is, you know, I feel like what every immigrant has to do.
Kristen: And the way that you described how your mom cooked. I just don't know how she did it. Like, after working full days, being able to come home and make dinner every night in 20 minutes without spilling anything on her beautiful clothes. As a new-ish mom, now, it it just seems completely unfathomable to me.
Priya: It feels unfathomable to meet too. And there were moments during quarantine when my mom and I would be cooking and I would be so exhausted. And I'd be like, how did you do this after like, getting your kids ready for school, driving to work, going to work, coming back. I remember my sister and I wanted food immediately when she walked in the door.
Kristen: (laughs)
Priya: And so she had to quickly whip something up. And she was so insistent on, like, we have to have a fresh meal every night for dinner. And, uh, yeah, it was It feels more and more unfathomable, um, as time goes on to both me and my mom.
Kristen: Like was your mom, you know, rushing around the kitchen, throwing things together or did she seem like she kind of had a plan and just was making it happen?
Priya: She was not rushing. My mom made it look incredibly easy. She would come home, pour herself a glass of wine, put the ABBA on our CD player and get to work cooking. And it was, she always was so chill, so methodical. She knew exactly what she was going to do. When my parents immigrated here, ABBA was just all, all the rage. My dad talks about, like watching baseball games and the song "Fernando" would come on whenever this, like one pitcher, no this one like batter from Los Angeles with the name Fernando would come out on the field. They, like, have all sorts of stories and songs that they associate with specific moments. It's really sweet.
Kristen: That’s very sweet.
Priya: It was pretty amazing. I mean, it was interesting. My parents, sort of. My dad was the one who picked me up from school, who came to all my soccer games. My mom wasn't super involved in that part of my life. Sure, she wasn't there for, like, my debate tournaments, but like instead, she was sort of setting an example of what it meant to be a successful working parent. And I feel really grateful for that.
Kristen: I know you said basically like these are your mom's recipes, and you did the testing and the writing. How many of the recipes did you immediately recognize from growing up with them? And how many were newer riffs that your mom had made or that you came up with together?
Priya: I would say about 85 percent were stuff I grew up with, and 15 percent were kind of newer riffs she had come up with since I left the house to go to college.
Kristen: And what would be some examples of either one that stand out in your mind?
Priya: So you know, a very OG classic was my mom's Dahi Toast. Which is sourdough bread filled with yogurt, mixed with chilies and onions and cilantro. You sandwiched between bread. You griddle it on both sides, and you cover it with fried mustard seeds and curry leaves. And dip it in ketchup and chutney. It’s really, it was like a classic. One that I guess I hadn't remembered my mom doing. But she's had started doing more and more was the, the Saag Feta, which is like a classic Saag Paneer and my mom's spinach gravy. It's just like out of this world good. And instead of cubes of paneer, you put cubes of feta. And I remember cooking it and like not, like not really thinking much that it was going to. Like it, just like I I don't know. I just like, I was just like testing and, you know, going through my day. And that recipe kind of like, stopped me dead in my tracks when I tasted it. I had like completely forgotten how good it was. I knew that was gonna be one of my favorites. But then when we did the photo shoot and we saw how like un-photogenic it was, I was like, oh, man, people aren't gonna make this. And fast forward it's the most made recipe in the entire book. (laughs)
Kristen: So why do you think that is?
Priya: I mean, ultimately, I think like people love things that feel familiar but have, like, a fun twist. I feel like that is the key to most recipes you see that hit. And it's like, a part of me is like It's like familiar, because, like Saag Paneer is like one of the take-out stables that came to define Indian American cuisine. And Indian-American cuisine is so much of that. But I believe really strongly this is a delicious dish. And it was one of my all time favorites when I was cooking and so I was really excited to see it take off.
Kristen: Well and the feta is so different, and it really is bringing something completely new to that spinach gravy. Like you hadn't seen anything like that anywhere else, right of people substituting feta in?
Priya: I had seen people substitute for other cheeses like halloumi is popular because it's sort of like a firm cheese. I had seen people do like mozzarella, although the mozzarella kind of melts a little bit, like if they do like a hard mozzarella. I hadn't really seen feta. I'm sure enterprising Desi moms have made saag paneer with feta and that we're not the first people to do it, but it felt novel and exciting to me.
Kristen: Yeah, it, it does seem very, very different and unexpected. And, but like, also if you think about the different Greek dishes that combine spinach and feta? It starts to, you realize how good of a combination is actually it. It sounds incredible. Actually, that's one that I haven't made yet, but it will be soon.
Priya: It's really good, and it's really been amazing to see all the ways that people have riffed on that, like one person made the Saag Feta and then mixed a little bit of coconut milk in with the spinach gravy and that sounded so, so, so delicious.
Kristen: Wow, have you made that version?
Priya: I haven't made it, but I need to. I always have, like several cans of coconut milk in my pantry. I feel like you can throw coconut milk in a lot of meals and make it taste really good.
(Both laugh)
Kristen: What are the dishes that you make the most out of the book?
Priya: Um, the Most Basic Dal, which is like the first dal recipe in the book. That recipe, the Aloo Gobhi and the kachumber are probably, because that is like the staple meal I grew up having. Dal Chawal, Aloo Gobhi, kachumber, like, your salad, your like, vegetables, your lentils, your rice.
Kristen: Perfect.
Priya: All you need in a meal.
Kristen: Was there a moment that you realized that you wanted to call the book Indian-ish? I know you said it was a placeholder, but was there a moment that you realized. no, that's, that's it.
Priya: I feel like it was really It was not only the publisher that was really jazzed on the idea, but, like my dad sent me like a long text one day after I sold the book. My dad, just like, sends me text with his like ruminations on life and I remember he sent me a text being like, Indian-ish: It describes not just our food but our whole identity. And like he went on, it was this long rant. I ended up including, like most of that in the intro of the book cause it was so true he was like, It's not just the food, It's like every part of our lives, like our lifestyle is Indian-ish. Um and that I just thought that was really sweet. And after he said that, I was like, Okay, I guess I have to name it that. And he also noted that Indian-ish was very SEO friendly as long as I put a hyphen between Indian and ish. My dad is like a tech guy through and through. So I was like, alright, sold. (laughs)
Kristen: You're the best daughter. You listen to your parents. You obviously involved them in so much of your work. Im, I aspire to be a daughter like you.
Priya: I don't think I am as good of a daughter as you think I am. But I try. I try to, like, make up for my high school angsty-ness every day. (laughs)
Kristen: You know it, easy to assume that if you're going to make a cookbook with your family, that you must be best friends with them and, and be super close in every possible way. But I, I really appreciate your honesty that it's, it's much more nuanced than that.
Priya: Oh, yeah, I mean, I grew up in, like, the Gilmore Girls era where, like everyone wanted to be like Rory and Lorelai. And I was like, why can't I talk about these like, intimate issues with my parents? And it's just a different relationship. Like I don't see my parents as friends. I see them as my parents, as like authority figures. And I think like, as time has gone by, you know, as you start to realize your parents aren't like perfect people. Um, you kind of start to break down that barrier a little bit, but I don't know. I just—we often, like, ask our parents to do so much and to like, be the perfect person for everything. And I think one thing I realized is sort of where that sweet spot of not setting my parents up for failure and like not setting myself up for failure with my parents. And I think that’s, it's like important to recognize all that your parents are, and also all that they aren't like. Your parents are amazing, but like they can't do everything for you, they can't be everything for you.
Kristen: And that you can have a really meaningful relationship with them in spite of all of their flaws and your flaws.
Priya: Totally.
Kristen: (laughs) I'm like getting a little choked up now. I just spent a weekend with my parents and, like, I feel like you're teaching ways that I should, you know, just be more or open to our differences.
Priya: I'm not perfect at it. And like, there are so many moments in Dallas where I would, like, lose my patience with my dad or like, find my mom to be overly neurotic. And I'm and I, like, did plenty of stuff to annoy them, too. But, you know, there, there was always, like, that moment during the day or at the end of the day where I would just, like have, like, appreciation for, like, exactly the people that they were. Now I'm getting emotional.
(both laugh)
Priya: Who would have thunk it?
Kristen: This is not supposed to be like a Oprah-style podcast.
Priya: I know, yeah, jeez.
Kristen: (laughs) But I mean, that is something that you do in your work is you really like, open up your your world and your family to people and it’s, it’s a really beautiful thing. And it really like um it shows you as, as a whole person, not just as the recipes that you write or the stories you publish.
Priya: Yeah, thank you. That's really sweet.
Kristen: Of course (laughs) Um you're setting a great example for the rest of us. I saw in the recent conversation that you published with Yewande in Bon Appetit that you had um, you know, kind of fought to have every language be not in italics. To not italicize things that were in Hindi. So, I I really glad you shared with everyone and why, why you wouldn’t want to do that. So I don't know if you want to speak a little bit more about that decision, but also I'm curious if there was a process for you of deciding how to title your recipes as well? Um, you know how much to include English versus Hindi and like where to prioritize those things.
Priya: It's funny. My publishing company, I have to say, like compared to like, a lot of the stories I've heard, I feel like they were, they were pretty accommodating with what I felt comfortable with and what felt right to me in terms of naming and italics and so on. I actually like, look at my book and I think that I did too much explanation in the titles. I think if I could do it all over again, I would get rid of the parentheses descriptions. It was just like I kept looking in Indian cookbooks. It would say, like Khichdi (rice and lentil porridge). What is the reason for putting those explainers in parentheses? It's mainly to like make your recipes feel palatable for a White audience. But at the same time, like there are photos, there are ingredient lists. People can surmise what a dish is, they don't need, like a watered down explanation that inevitably, like doesn't doesn't do justice to that recipe. Like in my book, there's a dish called kadhi, and it says turmeric, yogurt soup in the, in parentheses. But I don't think that that, I don't think that that does justice to how delicious and like crave-worthy and awesome that dish, which like, sort of evades definition. Like it's not a soup, it's not a stew. It's like something entirely different. Like there are limitations to the English language when it comes to describing non-English dishes. And I wish that I had leaned, leaned more into that and sort of like, embraced the name of those dishes because I don't think, I don't think we need the parentheses explainers anymore.
Kristen: Well, it's also such a long process making a book too, um, from the time that you sell the proposal to this through all the writing and editing and then until it comes out. Like you probably you're not the same person by the time it publishes, as like by the time you're done doing book tour and all that, as you were when you started writing it and proposing it, too. So it seems like every book you do will be a learning process like that.
Priya: Totally. I mean, I read parts of my book now, and I'm like I am so different than the person who wrote this headnote. I was reading the headnote for the recipe that will be talking about and even still, like in smaller ways. I was like, Oh, this definitely reads like 20-2017 Priya.
Kristen: What is the difference there? How would you describe what 2020 Priya would write and 2017 Priya wouldn't.
Priya: It's funny. In 2017 I thought I was pretty unapologetic about my food and my identity, and yet I was still putting things in parentheses. I still read my headnotes, and I feel like I'm directly speaking to a White audience. And I don't think I realized all of the subtle ways that writers of color often like train themselves to, like, whitewash their own language to, like, accommodate an audience other than themselves. And I think 2020 Priya is like a lot more, um, empowered to like, center myself and my family and my identity in the recipes. And if people want to make this delicious recipe, they will go out and find all of the spices. And, you know, there are certain things that there just are not substitutions for. Like, there is no substitution for asafoetida, even though in the book it says, I think it says, onion powder. Like, yeah, you can use onion powder but it's not asafoetida. It's not that distinct, pungent, savory taste. And and it definitely took me some years to be comfortable with that. And I mean, it also like takes privilege to be unapologetic about recipes. Like if you're contributing to a prominent food website and a White editor’s asking for substitution is, you're going to give substitution. You're not, I mean, if you if you're not, if you don't know better, you won't know to push back. And I feel like now I have institutional knowledge to push back.
Kristen: And has that changed at all? Especially recently with the process that you've been going through with negotiations with, with Conde Nast Entertainment and then ultimately deciding not to make videos with them. Has that, even in that like, period, has anything changed for you and your goals about what kind of content you wanna be producing from here on out?
Priya: I mean, I think I recognized that, like, I think I fully recognize that when I walked away from video, I was doing so again because I had the privilege to walk away. Like I have contacts, I have a platform. I'm going to be just fine. And I think, like it has solidified that, like the purpose of my career, I believe, should be to make the food world a more inclusive place. It should be to lift up the voices of people who don't have the platform that I have. To make it so that more voices of color have the platform that I have and beyond. I mean, it is a big deal to give up the Bon Appétit video platform. But at the same time, it wasn't paying me that much. And all of us video talent have our own platforms that we can decide what we want to do with. I will be fine. It's like the people after me that I'm worried about.
Kristen: Well, and you, you setting that example, and like sending that message is going to make an impact.
Priya: I hope so. My partner is like, sitting here getting his lunch. He’s like, I’ve heard Priya say something along these lines so many times.
(both laugh)
Priya: Sorry Seth. He's heard everything he could like, have his own, like Conde Nast gossip blog at this point.
(both laugh)
Kristen: I mean, yeah, this is, this is our water cooler. This, whoever is in our immediate bubble gets it all.
Priya: Yea, yeah, exactly. It's just all Seth. I'm honestly, I'm pretty. I'm happy. I'm not with my parents. I feel like this would have been like, yeah, this, this would have been a lot for them to deal with. But, yeah.
Kristen: Yeah, just trying to talk about anything that's like. Like, do you think they would have agreed with you on a lot of the things that that you wanted to do and believed? Or would you think they would have pushed back?
Priya: I mean, I spent all of quarantine pretty unhappy doing video, and I was like, pretty open to them about how unhappy I was. And they grew up in the generation of like, well, you've been given this amazing opportunity and you should be grateful for that opportunity. And I do wonder if they would have, like, encouraged me to stay. But ultimately, when I did leave, they were super, super supportive, and they agreed that I made the right choice.
Kristen: That's so relatable, and I'm really glad that, um, that they came around. It would have been tough to be on opposite sides of that. They sound really, really supportive. Genuinely.
Priya: They're really supportive. I mean, they were also the ones when I was, like, so tired of shooting video for something I didn't care about. They were like, you need to smile in this video, you look miserable.
(both laugh)
Kristen (voiceover): This is The Genius Recipe Tapes. We'll be right back. (music)
Kristen: So this recipe-would would you mind just briefly describing this recipe and the story behind it?
Priya: So this recipe, it's a green chili and cherry tomato pickle. It's a quick pickle. There's a whole category of condiments in Indian cuisine called achaar. And the way that I remember achaar, it was, you know, my great aunt putting, um, you know, fruits, vegetables, spices, oil in a jar, letting it ferment for the entire summer. And we'd have this like, really amazing, tangy, spicy, jammy condiment that we could put on everything. But it takes an entire summer, or at least a month. And so my mom kind of wanted to come up with sort of a quick version of a pickle that she had grown up eating with a fruit called quoronda. It's like a tropical berry. And so she sort of liked the really sweet tart flavor of cherry tomatoes. And she liked what they tasted like fresh and didn't want to, like compromise that fresh flavor. So she started with panch phoron, which is this Bengali blend of fenugreek, nigella seed, cumin seed, black mustard seed and fennel seed. You bloom them in oil while still whole because the texture is really key here. You add asafoetida or hing, as we call it in Hindi. You blister some long green chilies and then right at the end, you mix in cherry tomatoes, turn the heat off, transferred to a container. And so you get these, like blistered chiles, these crunchy spices and the really like fresh, juicy, sweet tomatoes coated in this bitter, earthy, crunchy coating. And it's an amazing tomato salad, but you can also eat it as a condiment for dal, any soup or stew. It's beautiful to look at. I mean, it's just it is so summery. I always forget about it and then it’s tomato season. And then people like you remind me how perfect this is for tomato season. I feel like oftentimes people are like the best thing to do with fresh tomatoes is to just leave them as is. But I actually think fresh tomatoes and spices is such a beautiful combination because the tomatoes are so sweet, because they're so flavorful. They stand up so well to these very, very intense, aromatic spices, and it just ends up being such a dreamy combo.
Kristen: Definitely, and the fact that the tomatoes are, like, just barely cooked. They’re like warmed enough for the juice to escape and become a little bit of the dressing. But, um, they still completely keep their shape and their texture. What were the ways that your mom would usually serve?
Priya: With dal chawal was was the main way. Um, when we were growing up very often, there was like a jar of achaar sitting on the table, and this was sort of if instead of that in the summer, we have this this fresh version. And you could literally have it with anything. We have it with dal. Say we had a side of matar paneer, aloo gobhi, it’s just one of those. It just adds, like a pop of brightness and flavor to anything. Let's just put it this way, like I really can't think of a savory dish that this wouldn't go well alongside honestly.
Kristen: The batch that I made yesterday, we ended up, we had some leftover roast pork that my parents had made while I was visiting them. And so we crisped some of that up in a pan and made quesadillas with it. And then, just like every, every wedge of quesadilla, piled it on top and then, you know, just dunked, like dragged it through all of the spicy, um, juicy dressing. It was an excellent
Priya: Sounds really, really good. I feel like so much of Indian food, what makes Indian food so good is that it is like a study in balance. Like Indian food balances sweet with salty, savory, intensely savory with intensely sweet, you know, crunchy with creamy. Like so much of Indian food, is about bringing together all these contrasting flavors, and they somehow work. And this recipe kind of speaks to that mentality.
Kristen: I know that you are a big proponent of using chhonk in all kinds of different dishes. For anyone who's not familiar with that technique, would you mind just describing it and what you love about it?
Priya: Sure, it's just a way of, I want to say, like, sort of activating spices. But I mean, people make chhonk with not just spices, they make them with other aromatics like garlic and onions well, But it's literally just like you heat up fat, you add spices and or aromatics and or herbs, and the oil gets infused with the flavor of those spices, and the spices also like release their aromatics and their essential oils. So it's like this really nice symbiotic relationship where the oil gets more flavorful, the spices, you really, you can like, you get more out of, like you could really get the flavor out of the spices. And then on top of that, you're getting some texture and fat too. So it just is like everything you want wrapped up in one. Like I have made dishes where, like, I have exclusively seasoned them, like put salt and then poured chhonk over the top because it worked so well.
Kristen: And it all happens in like, a flash, In, like, less than a minute, it all just like explodes this flavor that you could pour over things.
Priya: Yeah, it happens really fast. And if it, if you don't work fast enough, your spices will burn. Which happened to me a lot early on in the cookbook process.
Kristen: (laughs) Do you have any advice to keep people from burning their spices?
Priya: Um, if you're scared, just like make your chhonk on medium heat. In the book, I think I say medium high. But just start on medium. If you're a beginner, if you're scared, it'll take a little extra time. But you won't burn your spices. My mom makes her trunk on high heat, and I don't think I'll ever get there.
(both laugh)
Priya: I don't even want to try. It's just it's just showing off at that point.
Kristen: The panch phoron. We were going to get back to talking about that. How else would, does your mom use it? Or how else would you recommend people using it once they have this combination of the five different seeds?
Priya: There's a recipe in the book for a mango launji, which is like a green mango like thick, jammy chutney. Um, it goes really well with that. Like I would say, like, really like sweet and like high acid fruits and vegetables. Panch phoron stands up really nicely, too. That's why we paired it with tomatoes in this particular condiment. Um, you can use it as a chhonk for dal. You can also use it as, you can bloom them and then use them as a base for a sabzi, like sauteed vegetables. Um, you could drizzle, you could make a chhonk and drizzle it on top of the soup. Um, yeah, I mean, it's the possibilities are really endless. Um, the other day or this was on the other day. I don't remember when this was, but I roasted some asparagus and then bloomed these spices and put that on top. And like really nice, like sweet, like good quality asparagus. Roasted vegetables where like, you can really taste it, brings out the sweetness with this on top, it is very good. Like a squeeze of lime to finish, delicious.
Kristen: It sounds amazing, and another good textural contrast similar to the tomatoes. Like when asparagus is just like tender and sweet, but cloaked in this crunchy mix sounds very delicious.
Priya: It’s really good, I mean you can even like, like plate it very French style where you have the soldiers of asparagus and you like drizzle this, like a little blanket draped over it. Um, yeah, so good. I’m getting so hungry.
Kristen: So, so for people who,um, who aren’t sure where to find these spices. Like I ordered from Kalustyan’s and I’ve actually ordered from them twice because I accidentally packed all my spices and forgot to set aside the ones I knew I was going to be using. So they are like in deep storage right. And each time they came very quickly and very inexpensively. And I appreciate that they will last a while because they’re whole seeds instead of ground. But do you have any other places that you like to order from?
Priya: So this is not an ad at all, but I just discovered it a few weeks ago. But this spice company called Spicewalla. They sell panch phoron already mixed up like the blend of five spices in a little canister. So you can, it's like it's a classic. It's a classic blend, like it's as classic as like, say, like Za'atar, where, like this combination of spices is, at least in parts of Eastern India, it's like quite universal. So, like if it were me, I would just buy the combo because it's not a ground or anything. It's just the whole spices mixed together, Um, and then you just don't have to measure anything out because, like, honestly, the most stressful part of this recipe is you have to, like, put your spices out and have them ready to go, because when I was testing the book, I would like put my like, put my little spoonful of fenugreek seed. And then I'd be like, fumbling in nigella seeds, and my mom would be like the fenugreek seeds are burning. You really have to, like, toss everything and at the same time, otherwise things will start burning. So I would say Spicewalla is great, Kalustyan's is great. Um, i would say the biggest thing here is don't use ground like you're gonna need the cumin seed and not the ground cumin. Like their recipes in my book where I'm like if you only have ground cumin, that's fine. But here, the whole spices and like the crunch of that of the whole spices is really important. So go go with whole.
Kristen: What are you making for yourself for dinner tonight for dinner?
Priya: For dinner, I am making, uh, I'm making. It's like it's a sort of this is kind of a mysterious dish that I need to look into the origins of, If people know the origins, please tell me. It's called wollamsam, and it's sort of a Korean take on a Vietnamese, uh, spring roll. Um, so it's fresh rice paper rolls, and stuffed up with sauteed king oyster mushrooms, pan seared tofu, cucumber, um, grated carrot, basil, cilantro. You like, tightly wrap it up and you sort of dip it in like a Nước Chấm type sauce. And I don't know what makes it Korean versus Vietnamese, but it's, I'm sort of looking into it and researching it, because I'm working on a cookbook with the chef David Chang, and it's something that he makes for his family. But he also doesn't know the origin. So we're researching the history and trying to understand how Koreans adapted this Vietnamese dish.
Kristen: That sounds really delicious. You’re, you're recipe testing it tonight?
Priya: I'm not, I-I have rescue tested a million times. I just love it so much and make it like, once a week.
Kristen: Amazing. Um, and do you know what Seth’s gonna be baking next?
Priya: He just made a, uh, this is so good. It's a passion fruit tart with a gingersnap crust and lemon pastry cream on top that he liked piped very elegantly.
Kristen: Yum.
Priya: We will be having that for dessert. Very excited.
Kristen: Wow, that's for, is that for dinner and dessert tonight that you just described?
Priya: Yeah, this is dinner and dessert tonight.
Kristen: Okay, I'm very jealous because I'll probably be having quesadillas.
Priya: I'm very—well, quesadillas sound great. It's just like I mean, my dinners are fine, Seth desserts really, like, bring it home. When we have people over. I'm like, You know what? Even if my dinner doesn't 100% deliver. the desert will like, erase all mistakes.
Kristen: The dessert is what people are probably going to be talking about.
Priya: It always is. You know, it's like I spend all day on a pot of short ribs, and all they can talk about is Seth’s coconut cream pie. It's fine. I feel fine about it.
Kristen: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today and have an amazing dinner and dessert.
Priya: Thank you. And now I'm excited about dinner. I got to go out and buy some mushrooms.
Kristen {voiceover): Thanks for listening. Our show was put together by Coral Lee, Gabriella Mangino, Alik Barsoumian, and me, Kristen Miglore. You can find all the Genius Recipes, videos and stories on our site, Food52.com. And if you have a Genius Recipe that you'd like to share, please email it to me at genius@food52.com—I am always hunting. If you like The Genius Recipe Tapes, be sure to rate and review us. It really helps. See you next time.