MARCH 2020 31
observation foreshadowed a career change—and several cook-
books for Sahni. And though her mother, who is in her 90s and
lives in India, still doesn’t understand exactly what it is that
she does, Sahni remains deeply devoted to teaching Americans
about the pleasures and joys of Indian food.
The magic of Classic Indian Cooking, and in many ways of
Sahni herself, is just how incredibly thorough both are. Sahni
tells me she tested the book for seven years before she allowed
it to be published. “Every recipe has been tested hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of times. They’re kind of idiot-proof,”
she adds with a wink. (Once, for a microwave cookbook she
wrote, Sahni says she tested every recipe using four different
microwaves.) The book also opens with nearly 100 pages that
serve as an exhaustive primer to the spices, tools, techniques,
and serving sensibilities of Indian food, and its pages are filled
with innumerable facts on Indian food and history, giving any
textbook stiff competition.
And while the cookbook is prodigious in volume—it clocks in
at 560 pages—it is devoted to demonstrating just how approach-
able Indian cooking is. “There is no mystical secret behind
Indian cooking. It is, in fact, the easiest of all international
cuisines,” Sahni wrote in the introduction 40 years ago. It’s a
lesson she has hammered home in her cooking classes since
1973 and something she still deeply believes in today. The bhurji,
for example, is just three steps in her book and is ready once
Sahni finishes it with a flurry of fresh cilantro, toasted cumin,
and those chiles.
At her dining room table, which sits adjacent to a long hallway
and is covered with more pots and pans and cooking utensils
than your average Williams Sonoma, Sahni piles the eggs onto
a blue plate that she feels is more photogenic. As I tear through
the flaky paratha she laid next to the bhurji, I ask her if she
thinks the perception of Indian cuisine has changed in the
four decades since she first published Classic Indian Cooking.
Suddenly she seems tired, her boundless energy and playful
optimism betrayed by a difficult reality check.
“Not much has changed except the ability to get groceries,”
Sahni notes. When she first started teaching classes, some
Indian ingredients were impossible to source. Now, she drives
students (who she lovingly refers to as her kids) in her BMW to
visit several Indian grocery stores to gather supplies, though she
still prefers to pick up fish from the Korean markets in Queens.
Her biggest hope is that one day soon, people will learn to
acknowledge the immense regionality and diversity of Indian
food. “Everyone seems to understand that there is a big differ-
ence between French food and German food and Italian food,”
she states. “Even within Italian food, people know the difference
between Tuscan food and Roman food. Why can’t Indian food
be understood in the same way?”
Sahni laments that Classic Indian Cooking mainly focuses
on the cooking of North India, “because that is what people
were cooking,” she explains. She hopes to remedy that with a
new book she is working on; it catalogs the recipes of the far-
reaching Indian diaspora which extends from Fiji to Trinidad
and beyond. “I just have two more places to travel to,” she beams.
In addition to the new book, Sahni has no plans to slow down
anytime soon. Her calendar is filled with classes to teach and
tours to India to lead. Forty years later, she is just getting started.
Scrambled Eggs with
Cumin and Fragrant
Herbs (Ande Ki Bhurji)
TOTAL 10 MIN; SERVES 4A traditional Indian scrambled
egg dish, ande ki bhurji
includes an almost equal ratio
of chopped yellow onion to
eggs. As the beaten eggs cook
(until they are fully set but not
browned), the onion sweetens
and mellows. Topped with
toasted cumin seeds, cilantro,
and fresh green chiles, this
meal is fragrant and savory,
with a distinct vegetal crunch.6 large eggs
1 tsp. kosher salt(^3) / 4 tsp. cumin seeds
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, cut
into^3 / 4 -inch pieces
1 Tbsp. finely chopped
fresh cilantro
1 to 2 green chiles, seeded
and sliced (optional)
- Lightly beat eggs and salt in
a small bowl, making sure not
to overbeat (eggs should not
be foamy or frothy). - Toast cumin seeds in a dry
10-inch skillet over medium,
stirring occasionally, until fra-
grant, 3 to 5 minutes. Grind
seeds, and set aside. - In same skillet, heat oil over
medium. Add onion; cook,
stirring occasionally, until
translucent but still firm and
crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. - Reduce heat to low. Add
beaten eggs; cook, undis-
turbed, 5 seconds. Using a
spatula, begin pushing eggs
toward center of skillet. When
most of the egg has coagu-
lated, gently flip and cook
other side, stirring and turning
until eggs are fully cooked,
about 3 minutes total. (Do not
let eggs brown.) Transfer to a
warm serving platter. Sprinkle
with cumin, cilantro, and
sliced chiles. —JULIE SAHNI