What We Call Masala: A cook's practical guide to the poetry of Indian spices

Masala is the vehicle that opens the door to a food multiverse. And Kashmiri-Australian cook and author Sarina Kamini is inviting you inside.

For ten years Sarina taught her Kashmiri Hindu family's kitchen secrets to people of all ages and cooking talents via her masala masterclasses. She was The Spice Mistress to whom spices sang. But the more she taught, the more she realized that masala spoke to everyone … once they understood its language.

What We Call Masala is that code breaker. Learn what white pepper does to pavlova. How to use spices and fats to speak to nervousness or anxiety. Why domestic Ayurveda says good digestion is ensured not just by what we eat, but by how we think.

Equal parts storyteller and recipe writer, Sarina deftly ties together Hindu mythology, intimate family moments, and practical (and permissive!) traditional health tips with the types of recipes you never thought you could pull off at home. Real-deal Kashmiri Hindu rogan josh. Made-from-scratch paneer. The simple yellow dal that's broken one thousand hearts. And a smoky, tangy butter chicken that'll send your local takeaway to the wall.

Through more than 70 spices and fats, and 80-plus recipes, What We Call Masala shows readers that masala is so much more than spice. It offers lessons in both culinary mechanics and magic to any level of cook — from can't-boil-water to cordon bleu.

Evocative words and full-color photography that literally places you on Indian streets and inside Sarina's Bengaluru family kitchen makes this captivating hardback both a coffee table must-have, and a beautiful gift for the food lover in your life.