Jyoti Mukharji remembers vividly the first day she taught the art of Indian cooking: Feb. 6, 2010.
For the previous four years, as part of a fundraiser for Head Start, Mukharji had donated a home-cooked dinner for eight. But then she decided to offer a cooking class instead.
“That day, I realized that I had achieved nirvana, because my passion to cook as a mother and my passion to teach as a little girl, just came together,” Mukharji told KCUR’s Up To Date. “The rest is history.”
For 15 years, Mukharji has taught Indian cooking classes out of her Prairie Village home. Thousands have taken her classes, which often sell out in a matter of hours.
Mukharji’s classes have always ended with the distribution of recipe cards, so that students could re-create her dishes at home. Now, a collection of her favorite recipes have been compiled into a cookbook, “Heartland Masala: An Indian Cookbook from an American Kitchen.”
Mukharji co-authored the book with her middle son, Auyon, who also performs in the indie-rock band Darlingside. The two wrote the book together over the course of eight years — a bit longer than they originally planned.
“My mom was like, ‘All right, it’ll take like, a year. We’ll get this thing done… and then we’ll just start doing it every year,’” Auyon said. “It was the idea that she would all of a sudden… be a cookbook factory.”
“Every couple of years,” Mukharji corrected.
The final form of the cookbook is more intentional. It features nearly 100 recipes from Jyoti Mukharji’s kitchen: recipes from the Indian states of Punjab and Bengal, where she and her husband lived before they moved to the United States, as well as restaurant favorites and originals she developed as a mother raising three boys in the Midwest, such as masala brussels sprouts.
The recipes are interspersed with illustrations and cultural and historical essays about Indian cooking by Auyon, something that he says sets the book apart.
“I realized that early on (that) writing yet another cookbook of family recipes from an upper middle class Indian family was not of interest. There are many books in that genre, and we didn’t need to add to it,” Auyon said.
Mukharji has hundreds of recipes that didn’t make the cut. She’s not opposed to the idea of writing another book, but it’s not in the works right now.
“Auyon says, ‘I look forward to meeting your next co-author,’” Mukharji joked.
The Mukharjis recently wrapped up a three-month book tour across the United States to promote “Heartland Masala.”
“It is the book of our dreams,” Mukharji said. “I get goosebumps every time I hold this book.”
- Jyoti Mukharji, cookbook co-author
- Auyon Mukharji, cookbook co-author
