Food can be a way of preserving culture and maintaining a connection to home in a foreign place, as was the case in my family. In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I’m sharing a favorite family recipe to open a window into my heritage.
Food is an important part of culture, and for me, like many people, food is a part of my identity. Our tastes and preferences are often shaped by our lived experiences – for example, I love spicy food because most things I ate growing up had a healthy splash of chili peppers. And for immigrants, food can be a way of preserving culture and maintaining a connection to home in a foreign place, as was the case in my family. As a first generation Indian-American, the food of my childhood consisted largely of curry, rice and lentils – the staples of South Indian cuisine. While I ate my fair share of pizza and chicken nuggets too, the food that I most deeply associate with home are dishes like dosa, rice, sambar, masala and chettinad chicken.
For me, food has also been the one consistent connection I’ve felt to my South Asian roots. Growing up first generation, I just wanted to assimilate, particularly during my teenage years – I felt like being white was cool, and being Indian wasn’t. In my efforts to be like everyone else, I put most elements of my heritage on the backburner, whether it was language, traditions, or clothing. But I never lost my love for the food. There’s something special about recipes and dishes that have been passed down, prepared and eaten generation after generation – it evokes warmth, and an irreplaceable sense of belonging and connection, even if I’ve grown up thousands of miles away from the land my family comes from.
I’ve spent my twenties reclaiming my heritage, and one of my favorite ways of doing that has been to make the recipes my family has passed down to me for my friends – it’s an opportunity to open a window into my culture from by sharing the memories I associate with different dishes and explaining the preparation and traditions. In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I share the recipe for my comfort food of choice – a heaping serving of my mom’s chicken biriyani, a fragrant rice dish made with spices, saffron and a meat such as chicken, goat or lamb – in the hopes that you’ll get to experience some of the joy I do each time I have it.
Dry roast powder ingredients: (you can also pick up a pre-mixed spice mix from your local Indian store)
1 tsp of cumin powder 1 tsp of coriander powder 1 tsp of turmeric powder 2 ½ tsp of chili powder 3-4 tsp of Shan Bombay Biriyani mix 3 bay leaves 2 small cinnamon sticks 1 star anise 3 cardamom pods 3 cloves
Directions for dry roast powder: dry roast all of the powder ingredients in a pan on low heat until you get a nice aroma. Turn off stove and let it cool.
2 lbs of chicken with bone (my mom typically asks the butcher to cut a small whole chicken for her) 1 cup yogurt 1 small bunch of fresh cilantro leaves (save a ¼ of the bunch for garnish) ½ cup fresh mint leaves 1 tsp of garlic paste 1 tsp of ginger paste Juice of 1 fresh lemon Salt Dry roast powder
2 ½ cups basmati rice 2 1/8 cups water Big pinch of saffron 3 tsp milk 1 tsp salt 3 tsp oil
1 red onion (julienned) 4 tbsps chickpea flour 1 tbsp rice flour Salt to taste
Mix all of the above ingredients and deep or shallow fry according to your taste.
