Curry powder’ drove Chutke to bear witness to the delicate individuality of Indian masalas
It took Smita Chutke a year of emails to get me into her kitchen. Once I agreed, the Amherst banker made me poha, a western Indian dish of flattened rice, peanuts, turmeric, lemon, onions, coconut, and chilies.
Stunned by its magnificent eating, sad it’d taken me that long, I started taking Chutke seriously.
A decade later, her drive to redefine Indian food in the eyes and palates of her American neighbors has taken her to Netflix’s Cook at All Costs and local television, and the dining rooms of people who’ve hired her to educate and feed them at the same time.
We’ll talk about how she shaped Smita’s Cookery with time available from the rest of her life, what she’s learned from the journey so far, and where she wants to take her spice road in the future.
Four Bites Show S1E3, Smita Chutke, will start at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18. Get your questions ready for a real Indian cooking expert. Here’s the link to join us.
