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Indian cooking often requires whole spices to be tempered in oil. How can I do that in oil free cooking while still bringing out the flavors? I have tried using stock. Any other suggestations?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on October 8, 2024

Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Nolan is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Madhurima Borooah

Indian cooking often requires whole spices to be tempered in oil. How can I do that in oil free cooking while still bringing out the flavors? I have tried using stock. Any other suggestations?

Answer

My response to that is that if you look at the recipe for making the, uh, sunflower nutritional yeast topping that we make in I think one of the vegetable units, you're supposed to take your spices and first saute them dry in a pan so that their natural oils are released. So you have a couple of things that you can do if you have, let's say a whole spice like a peppercorn for example, or star anis or whatever, you can roast it in a pan and then grind it so that it will be fresh and fragrant and add a wonderful flavor to your dish. I do believe that there is a link, um, uh, about, uh, cooking without oil when using Indian food. Um, when I make Indian food, this is what I do. I dry saute my, uh, spices and then I grind them up and they are very, very fragrant and smell, have the aroma of something that's very, very fresh. So that's a great question and thank you very much for posting it. I hope that is helpful to you.

Char Nolan

Chef Instructor

Char Nolan is a serious crusader for plant-based education, armed with a degree in public health from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She teaches nutrition and plant-based cooking throughout Philadelphia, and in many underserved communities. Char holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and completed Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification course in 2015. In 2019, Char completed post-graduate course work in social media marketing at the University of the Arts. When she is not cooking or teaching, she manages social media accounts for several plant-based influencers. Char prides herself on learning everything she knows about cooking from growing up in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant. Her favorite vegetables are Brussels sprouts and kale, of course. Char originally hails from Queens, NY, but has lived in Philadelphia most of her adult life. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer.