According to Desi tradition, it is rewarding to eat with others and it is a blessing to have guests at the table.
It is said that salt is the cure for seventy diseases. It is recommended to start the meal with a pinch of salt and end with it. It is also said that vinegar before meals sharpens ones brain and so does salt.
A person should eat enough food to fill his/her stomach three quarters. Always leave the table with a little bit of desire for food. Except fevers, all sudden illnesses and pains are usually caused by over eating. Eating fresh fruit after meals helps digestions and lots of fresh vegetables are better than cooked foods.
It is advisable to eat two days meat, two days chicken, two days vegetarian and one day fish, during the week.
It is important to make a meal time a special family time, specially dinner where the whole family gathers together. Have meals, talk about the day, work, school, politics, religion and share information. It is the best time to teach and reach the children as they learn what they see and hear.

Welcome to Masud's Desi Kitchen

There used to be a time when I could not slice a tomato. I spent hours looking for tools to slice tomatoes. That was then, long time ago. My work involves a lot of traveling. When you travel, you eat out a lot. For how long can you eat out and how often. As my job required me to travel, and that was most of the time, if not all the time, therefore I had to find ways to eat something different. We all know that necessaity is the mother of invention and it did take place. Nothing new was invented in this case, as Desi cooking is centuries old tradition. What happened was that Masud learned how to cook and cook reasonably well.

This website is designed to be simple but sophiticated at the same time for the novice cook like me. This website is divided into several sections to make it easy for the visitor to find his/her favorite dish to cook. The methods used are strictly step by step for the absolute novice. I have tried to make this website as fool proof as possible. There are some remarks and notes that might look too simple or childish. I did this on purpose because I believe it is better to be safe rather to be sorry. Masud's Desi Kitchen contains recipes for dishes that I like to cook and enjoy eating them. It does not contain all the Desi dishes, rather only those dishes that I have succeeded in cooking and my guests have enjoyed eating them. Below you can see me working in my kitchen. These are of course self portraits.

Remember America was discovered because the Europeans went looking for Desi spices and cooking.

Centuries old Desi cooking is rich with delicate flavors. It is the combination of centuries old cooking developed through many generations. I intentionally preferred the term "Desi" over "Indian", "Pakistani", "Subcontinent" or "South Asian". As a basic definition, "Desi" means "Traditional" or "Something from back home". Something that you miss when you travel away from home. It could be Indian, Pakistani, South Indian any place around that area. A dish that will remind you about the cooking that your mom used to make. Believe me, Desi cooking is not that hard. You just have to do it right and follow the rules. If I can cook Desi, then I anybody can cook Desi.

Bon Apetite.

Desi Cooking Tips

1- Go Slow

The basic rule of Desi cooking is the slower you cook, the better it tastes.

2- Get the ingredients

Have all the ingredients and spices ready on the counter. Once you start cooking you will realize that there will be not enough time to look for ingredients.

3- Spices

Desi recipes have a long list of ingredients, but usually most of hte recipes have the same basic ingredients but with varying quantities.