NYC 'Top Chef' celebrates bold flavors in 'Flavorwalla'

Get ready to jolt your taste buds. Floyd Cardoz, the executive chef behind the acclaimed flavor-forward restaurant Tabla in New York City, is headed to town to cook from his new book, "Flavorwalla" (Artisan, 351 pages, $29.95). The volume reaches beyond India to encompass a variety of foods, all of which receive his one-two flavor punch.

In addition to the book, Cardoz has focused his attention on the Bombay Canteen, his restaurant in India, and is at work on a new restaurant, Pao­walla, in New York City, which will open later this year. He's a familiar face on TV, and was the winner of Top Chef Masters' third season.

In advance of his class at Cooks of Crocus Hill on April 16, we chatted by phone.

Q: So what does "flavorwalla" mean?

A: [In India] a walla is anybody who is an expert or trader in a particular area, so you could have a chaiwalla if someone sells tea, a paowalla [the name of his new restaurant] sells bread. So a flavorwalla is an expert or a trader in flavor.

Q: Cooks sometimes confuse the term "flavor" with "spice." What's the difference?

A: Spice is a great way to bring flavor to something. But flavor can be brought to food by utilizing a balance of taste sensations like sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and heat. Once you put all those flavors in there together, you can have an interesting flavor profile. Then you balance it with vinegars and sugars and fruit juices and acids. That's how you get a lot of flavor.

Q: In your book, you talk a lot about the sense of balance in a dish. What do you mean?

A: When there is balance in a dish, no one element overcomes the dish or takes over. I always get this thing about Indian food — "Oh, Indian food is very hot." Well it's not. Indian food is very balanced. There are some dishes that are very hot, and there are some dishes that are lightly spiced. So if you have a dish that's too sweet, after some time your taste buds get tired. If you have a dish that's too acidic, it takes away from eating it.

When you balance sweet, salty, bitter, spicy and hot, then you get these sensations as you are eating it with nothing overtaking or tiring the taste buds. You get this feeling of wanting to eat more and more and more without getting fatigued. But if a dish doesn't have balance, your taste buds get fatigued very quickly.

My dishes always have some sort of acid and some heat in there. Then there is an element of bitterness and an element of sweetness. When all this is in harmony, then I believe you get a perfectly flavored dish.

Q: What spices do home cooks need to have in their kitchen?

Start with very limited amounts and then start building. I have one breakfast dish that only uses turmeric. Buy small quantities — an ounce or 2 ounces. That's all you need.

Q: What has had an effect on your cooking?

A: India influences me in the sense that balance of flavors and textures is very predominant. So my palate has been blessed with that element. But when I eat food or when I cook food, be it Chinese or Japanese or Thai, I always try to make sure that I don't disrespect the cuisine that I'm borrowing from. I may add a bit of myself to it, with the balance of flavor, but I want the food to be so exciting that when you eat it, it's not Chinese but it has an element of that. Indian food has helped me get that balance, but for me to adapt to another cuisine, I always try to understand and learn what that cuisine is before I can change it.

Q: Do you use different cooking techniques at home from what you use at a restaurant?

A: I pretty much use the same techniques. I can't not cook food the way I have been taught how to cook it. But at home I don't have access to dishwashers and all the equipment that I have in a professional kitchen. I do have great tools at home, but I have a home stove, not a professional stove. Every single dish in the book can be done in a home kitchen.

A: I believe, if you are a good cook, use my recipe once. Try and figure out what I want you to do. Then after that, adapt to what suits you, because you are the person eating it. I want you to enjoy it, but I want you to have the guidelines on how to use it. Some people are blessed by being able to do it, but there are many people who are not who have to follow the recipe. I don't follow recipes. But I believe you can learn a lot from following a book's recipes and understand what the chef is thinking. Then change to what suits you.

Serves 12.

Note: This is a great meal for a crowd — it can be pulled to­gether quick­ly using pan­try and freez­er sta­ples. Make sure that your li­quid is hot be­fore you add it to the rice, so that it will cook more e­ven­ly, and stir the rice very gen­tly with a sil­i­cone spat­u­la to keep the grains whole. (The sil­i­cone spatu­las are heat-re­sist­ant at high tem­pera­tures.) To pre­pare basmati rice, rinse it in a bowl of cold wa­ter, re­peat­ing at least 10 times or un­til the wa­ter re­mains clear; soak for 20 min­utes. To slice the ci­lan­tro leaves thin­ly, stack them a few at a time. From "Flavorwalla," by Floyd Cardoz.

• 2 (13.5-oz.) cans co­co­nut milk (stir well be­fore using)

• About 6 1/2 c. un­salt­ed chick­en stock

• 2 tsp. cum­in seeds

• 2-in. piece cin­na­mon stick

• 6 whole cloves

• 4 c. fine­ly chop­ped white on­ions

• 1/4 c. minced peeled fresh gin­ger

• 2 tbsp. co­ri­an­der seeds, fine­ly ground

• 1 tbsp. black pep­per­corns, op­tion­al

• 2 tsp. tur­mer­ic

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 c. white basmati rice, rinsed, soaked and drained (see Note)

• Kosher salt

• 1 c. thin­ly sliced washed and dried ci­lan­tro leaves with ten­der stems, plus more for garnish (see Note)

Di­rec­tions

Pour co­co­nut milk into large glass meas­ure. Add en­ough stock to make 2 1/2 quarts (10 cups). Heat stock/coconut milk mix­ture in me­di­um pot over me­di­um-high heat un­til boil­ing. Re­duce heat and keep at very low sim­mer.

In 8-quart stew pot with tight­-fit­ting lid, heat oil over me­di­um heat un­til it shim­mers. Add cum­in, cin­na­mon and cloves and cook, stir­ring un­til the spices are fra­grant and little bub­bles form around them, about 1 min­ute. Add on­ions and cook, stir­ring, un­til soft­ened but not at all col­ored, about 3 min­utes.

Stir in the hot stock mix­ture and bring to a boil, stir­ring oc­ca­sion­al­ly. Sea­son to taste with salt. Cov­er and cook over me­di­um heat un­til all li­quid is ab­sorbed and chick­en is cooked, 15 to 20 min­utes. Fold in the ci­lan­tro. Cov­er and let rice rest for 15 to 20 min­utes.

Fluff rice with fork; re­move and dis­card cin­na­mon stick, cloves and bay leaves. Sprin­kle with chop­ped ci­lan­tro and serve.

Var­i­a­tion: Add a bunch of fresh dill, rough­ly chop­ped, along with the ci­lan­tro.