What’s in Padma Lakshmi’s kitchen? Like me, her many viewers and readers have probably wondered this over the years.
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So I asked her. She shared what she loves using in her terracotta-hued kitchen in New York City: classic items, like the Dutch oven that’s lasted over 20 years, and a few surprises, like the pair of mad-scientist onion goggles that protect her eyes from tearing up.
Lakshmi, a longtime host of Top Chef and one of the most recognizable voices in American food, may not seem like she has time to prepare a meal. Her recent cookbook, Padma’s All American, draws on years of traveling across immigrant communities in the US. Just this week, in a New York Times op-ed, she defended birthright citizenship and its impact on America’s diverse food culture. Meanwhile her new competition series America’s Culinary Cup pits chefs against each other for the biggest prize in food TV history.
Even so, she told me, she still makes ice cream with her daughter, and grinds her own spices with a mortar and pestle.
Below, she shares her tips for zhuzhing up your home cooking.
What helps you make a dish instantly better?
Padma Lakshmi: I didn’t realize how much I reached for a Microplane until testing recipes. It makes any dish more glamorous: shaving dark chocolate over ice cream in a bowl, shaving Parmesan like freshly fallen snow. The last time I used one, I Microplaned a tangerine peel onto a salad. It’s another way to add that citrus aroma. It lets you zest pomelo, lemon, tangerines, anything, into really fine dust.
Photograph: Courtesy of Microplane
Microplane Soft-Handle Zester Grater
$18.95 at Sur La Table What’s your tip for a home cook in a rut?
PL: The easiest way to expand your cooking is taking something you can make in your sleep, like mashed potatoes, then adding a spice or ingredient you haven’t used before. Like sumac, which adds beautiful tart spice, or ground dried chili to make it spicier. Chipotle will give a more smoky flavor; Kashmiri chili powder will give it a mellow heat. That’s the best way to add character and diversity in your kitchen: add spices and learn about spices. An old dish is a good canvas to try something new.
Photograph: Courtesy of Uncommon Goods
Global Explorer Spice Tin Gift Set
$55 at Uncommon GoodsWhat’s one of your tricks to fragrant, flavorful dishes? Photograph: KarpenkovDenis/Getty Images/iStockphoto
PL: I always try to use fresh spices. First, I dry roast the spices whole in a hot pan to bring out their flavor. I use a little wok, but any small stainless-steel pan works, even cast iron, any frying pan. Dry roasting is quick and takes anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple minutes; the exact time depends on the spice. Cumin burns faster than peppercorn or star anise, so you have to watch it. At that first whiff of aroma, take it off the heat.
How do you prep your spices?
PL: To grind them, I use a mortar and pestle; I prefer a Mexican molcajete, which is made of lava rock, so it grinds spices faster and easier, but if you’re doing a big batch at once, you can also use a clean coffee grinder to make the process much faster. Cuisinart makes a good one.
Photograph: Courtesy of Masienda
Masienda Mexican Molcajete
$95 at Masienda Photograph: Courtesy of Wayfair
Cuisinart Coffee Grinder
$24.95 at Amazon$26.99 at Wayfair What does your spice pantry look like? Photograph: Westend61/Getty Images
PL: I keep my spices in a drawer by the stove, and built little platforms that keep them laid flat at an angle so I can easily see them. Don’t keep spices in a rack near where you cook; light and heat will affect the spices, and they’ll fade in color and flavor.
If you have a drawer, you can also label them up top to help you quickly pick them out. You just don’t want something to burn while looking for one. And get small quantities: no more than 3-4oz of anything because you won’t use much, and they do go stale.
Photograph: Courtesy of Amazon
Adhesive Waterproof Spice Labels
$5.97 for 432 pieces at AmazonWhat brings delight to your kitchen?
PL: My daughter and I are obsessed with our Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker. You can freeze whatever you want: milk, cream, fruit. We mash bananas in containers, freeze them, and the next day add milk, cinnamon and maple syrup to make the creamiest, most delicious soft-serve banana ice cream. We’ve also used all kinds of berries to make sorbet.
Photograph: Courtesy of Walmart
Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker
Now $169, originally $199 at Walmart $204.99 at AmazonWhat’s a buy-it-for-life thing you’ve owned for decades?
PL: I have a yellow Le Creuset Dutch oven, and I’ve literally had it for over 20 years. I got it in 2000. You can’t tell. Most Dutch ovens now are actually round, but this one is oval. It’s 6.75qt and great for a big roast, a pot roast, a brisket.
Photograph: Courtesy of Le Creuset
Le Creuset Dutch oven (6.75 qt)
Now $372, originally $465 at Le CreusetWhat’s an upgrade that changed your cooking for the better?
PL: Tierra Negra pots, the black clay ones from Colombia, are the best when making lentils and beans. There’s something about them that makes them taste delicious – I don’t know why! They’re great for slow cooking. I like La Chamba the best; they can be pricey, but if you take care of them, they’ll last. A donabe is another clay pot good for making rice dishes, beans, lentils, anything slow cooked.
Photograph: Courtesy of Amazon
La Chamba Soup & Bean Pot
$149.99 at AmazonWhat’s a pantry shortcut you’re not embarrassed about?
PL: I love tamarind concentrate. It gives you that tang in a lot of Asian, Latin and Caribbean cuisine; it’s also an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce. You can make it by steeping dried tamarind and compressing it in hot water to get the pulp, but sometimes I just get jarred concentrate from the Indian store. Or jarred minced fresh ginger or minced pureed garlic – it helps with a weeknight meal.
Photograph: Courtesy of Savory Spice Shop
Savory Spice Shop’s Liquid Tamarind Paste Concentrate
$12.99 at Savory Spice Shop
PL: I’ve been using these onion goggles – they have a pad around the frame to seal your eyes so you don’t cry while chopping onions. They look totally goofy but I don’t care.
Photograph: Courtesy of Amazon
RSVP International Onion Goggles
$31.79 at Amazon
I also like steel mesh gloves that protect your hands while you’re cutting fine things or using a mandolin. Oxo makes good ones. (Editor’s note: those aren’t available, but we found an affordable alternative below.)
Photograph: Courtesy of Amazon
Schwer SlicePro Cut Resistant, Stainless Steel Mesh Metal Glove
$9.99 at AmazonAny last advice for home cooks hoping to level up?
PL: Read the recipe twice before you ever turn on the stove. Then mise en place: rinse and chop all of your ingredients and lay them in the order that they go in the pan. That alone takes out so much anxiety and room for error.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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