On October 5, I launched the Daal Project podcast in person in Kingston, Ontario. Here is an excerpt of my conversation with the dynamic Joshna Maharaj about daal, the complexity of South Asian cuisine, connections with other food cultures and more. Shobhana Xavier introduces the launch.
Recipes referenced in this episode include this coconut daal, toor daal with peanuts, and my own masoor moong daal.
Joshna Maharaj is a chef, speaker & activist who believes strongly in the power of chefs & social gastronomy to bring values of hospitality, sustainability & social justice to the table. Joshna’s first book Take Back the Tray captures the lessons & experience from her work in creating a movement to reconnect food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in public institutions. Joshna is an award-winning, two-time TEDx speaker and just completed a Master’s in Gastronomy at TU Dublin in Ireland.
Shobhana Xavier is professor of religion and diaspora at Queen’s University’s School of Religion (in, Kingston, Canada). She works on Islam, Sufism, and popular spirituality, especially in the United States, Canada, and Sri Lanka (North America and South Asia). She explores developments and practices of contemporary Sufism through the lens of migration, diaspora, gender, popular culture, rituals, spaces, food, and institutions. She is also a co-host of the New Books in Islamic Studies and Just Eats podcasts.
Intro and exit music: Creep by Lal @lalforest
Follow @daalproject on instagram and access additional recipes at daalproject.org
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