At the Chef’s Table: Spices make her world go 'round
By Suzy Singh October 25, 2011 11:10AM
Suzy Singh serves chicken sliders flavored with garam masala, her go-to spice, in her South Loop kitchen. | Scott Stewart~Sun-Times
SAMOSAS ON THE MOVE
Suzy Singh has developed a line of samosas for the Haute Sausage food truck. Fillings include Butter Chicken, BBQ Beef and Nutella. The samosas, each a quarter-pound, cost $5 or two for $9.
Track the truck on Twitter (@hautesausage or @SuzySamosas). This week, Sun-Times readers who stop by the truck and mention Singh’s column will get $1 off samosas.
You also can order samosas for delivery; $4 a piece for orders of 10 or more. E-mail suzy@suzysingh.com.
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Updated: May 9, 2012 9:55AM
When I was growing up in Buffalo Grove, my Punjabi Indian parents made it a priority to keep Indian culture a part of our family structure.
Every Saturday morning when most of my peers would be waking up to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, I would wake up to my mother frying up puri, a delicious thin fried dough. My dad would be alongside her making North Indian-style channi, chickpeas with spiced gravy, and a side of pickled mango that my nanima (grandmother) would send to us all the way from India. I loved Saturday mornings. The aroma in my home was divine.
We would always have a Punjabi-style salad of diced cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet onions, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and cilantro. To top it off, my dad would make a salted fresh yogurt drink called lassi.
My parents’ efforts to pass down Indian tradition to their first-generation children paid off. To this day, I still enjoy this Punjabi feast on Saturdays, and I use Punjabi ingredients and techniques in my cooking.
Being exposed to the different flavors of India and America at a young age taught me how to cook and think outside of the box. Through those Saturday morning feasts, I became obsessed with a spice blend called garam masala. This spice has been used in my family for over a century.
Garam masala translates to “hot spice” (hence my nickname, the Spicy Chef). It is a fragrant blend of toasted cumin, coriander, cayenne, cinnamon, clove, black cardamom and black pepper . I use garam masala in stews to flavor meat and, my favorite, as a rimming spice for delicious cocktails.
I believe chefs’ personalities should come out in their food. Infusing Western dishes with traditional Indian flavors is my way of doing just that .
Suzy Singh was a contestant on Season 2 of Fox’s “Masterchef.”
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