10/15-Madhur Jaffrey, Dan Mattern

Madhur Jaffrey-At Home with Madhur Jaffrey

For all who love the magical flavors of good Indian cooking and want to reproduce effortlessly some of the delectable dishes from that part of the world, here is a groundbreaking book from the incomparable Madhur Jaffrey that makes it possible. By deconstructing age-old techniques and reducing the number of steps in a recipe, as well as helping us to understand the nature of each spice and seasoning, she enables us to make seemingly exotic Indian dishes part of our everyday cooking.

• First, she tantalizes us with bite-size delights to snack on with drinks or tea.

• A silky soup is mellowed with coconut milk; a spinach-and-ginger soup is perfumed with cloves.

• Fish and seafood are transformed by simple rubs and sauces and new ways of cooking.

• A lover of eggs and chicken dishes, Jaffrey offers fresh and easy ways to cook them, including her favorite masala omelet and simple poached eggs over vegetables. There’s chicken from western Goa cooked in garlic, onion, and a splash of vinegar; from Bombay, it’s with apricots; from Delhi, it’s stewed with spinach and cardamom; from eastern India, it has yogurt and cinnamon; and from the south, mustard, curry leaves, and coconut.

• There is a wide range of dishes for lamb, pork, and beef with important tips on what cuts to use for curries, kebabs, and braises.

• There are vegetable dishes, in a tempting array—from everyday carrots and greens in new dress to intriguing ways with eggplant and okra—served center stage for vegetarians or as accompaniments.

• At the heart of so many Indian meals are the dals, rice, and grains, as well as the little salads, chutneys, and pickles that add sparkle, and Jaffrey opens up a new world of these simple pleasures.

Throughout, Madhur Jaffrey’s knowledge of and love of these foods is contagious. Here are the dishes she grew up on in India and then shared with her own family and friends in America. And now that she has made them so accessible to us, we can incorporate them confidently into our own kitchen, and enjoy the spice and variety and health-giving properties of this delectable cuisine.




Dan Mattern-Executive Chef Ammo Restaurant

Chefs come and chefs go. Some don't change a thing. Others don't quite fit in. But sometimes a new chef can bring a breath of fresh air to a tired menu or contribute a whole new spirit to a place.
Ammo, the little restaurant that could, on Highland Avenue just north of Santa Monica Boulevard, is enjoying an extraordinary moment where all of the stars seem aligned in its favor. Much of it has to do with the new chef, Daniel Mattern, and his deeply satisfying cooking.

He was just a kid, really, when he worked with Suzanne Goin at Campanile. And when she left to open Lucques in 1996, he went with her. He helped open A.O.C. as well. Then came a sojourn in Portland, Ore., one of the West's great food cities, at the highly regarded Clarklewis restaurant, where Casey Lane, now chef at theTasting Kitchen in Venice, was his sous chef.


Back in L.A. at long last, Mattern has found a home at Ammo. His wife, Roxana Jullapat, just joined him as pastry chef, a sign that the laidback 14-year-old Hollywood restaurant is a good fit for this itinerant chef. If Mattern was a chef in search of a restaurant, Ammo, owned by founder Amy Sweeney and general manager Benedikt "Benny" Bohm, was just as much in search of a chef with the right sensibility for this spirited restaurant.