Nut Free

Cooking cabbage wedges until very tender is one of the easiest, most delicious things we can think of. If the spiced tomato broth has reduced to the point where the pan starts getting dry and dark before the cabbage is ready, just add a splash of water to loosen it and keep going.

In this recipe, every single grain of rice gets coated in egg yolk and fries up perfectly distinct and chewy. Think of this method as a canvas for mixing in different ingredients and flavors—just don't skip the furikake.

This super-flexible, all-purpose salad turns cabbage into luscious tangles of crisp leaves generously coated in a rich and bright dressing.

These beans cook with a combination of herbs, alliums, and chiles—and salt is added right from the start. No pre-soaking means this just might be the easiest pot of beans you'll ever make.

Precooked, compact, and way more flavorful than store-bought frozen spinach, these portioned greens are ready to be thrown into soups and stews straight from the freezer or thawed in the fridge and tossed into omelets and pastas. Even simple side dishes of garlicky greens become infinitely faster when virtually all the prep work is done ahead of time.

Traditionally these banana fritters are sweetened with a syrup made from gur or jaggery, which gives them a musky aroma and a dark brown color. This version uses maple syrup, which hits many of the same notes as those sweeteners. These fritters are fluffy and tender on the inside, crispy and craggy on the outside.

This pungent, spicy, and garlicky broth is a riff on rasam, a South Indian soup. Tamarind juice typically acts as the base for the dish, but here tomato paste and lime juice add fruity acidity to balance the intense flavors.

This is the cake you bake on the weekend and then eat a slice of every evening (or morning) throughout the week. It’s called meal prep.

This roll can be filled with whatever you like: beef, pork, or vegetables. The combination in this recipe is my favorite.

Inspired by the tangram, a Chinese dissection puzzle made up of geometric shapes arranged in varying combinations to form other shapes, this design is one that has come to define the Lokokitchen aesthetic. While the concept is derived through coplanar placement of polygons and assorted angles, don’t get bogged down by the formula. Ultimately, the sum of its parts is simply a tart, and variables will translate, too.

This pie was inspired by my friend Erin Clarkson, a fellow baker who asserts that “if it can be infused, it should be infused with Earl Grey.” I took that to heart to create this caramel-spiked pie, infusing the milk and cream with plenty of tea before whisking them into a classic custard filling. And because I adore the combination of chai tea and caramel, there’s a variation for that version.

You'll find these round chickpea flour and spiced potato fritters wherever Indian snack sellers congregate. Serve them with whatever chutney you like for dipping.

The dark brown sugar gives this cake a little molasses edge, which cuts the sweetness of the berries and the richness of the cream cheese.

These crispy fritters are made with grated carrots, onions, and ginger, plus garam masala and chile. The dipping sauce has a hefty pour of bourbon, which adds warming depth.

A popular Southern dessert said to originate in England, chess pie consists of staple ingredients: eggs, butter, and sugar, bound with cornmeal, flour, or both. While some recipes rely on tangy buttermilk to offset the rich custard, this version uses lemon juice and barely cooked cranberries instead.

This vegetable fritter recipe calls for onions, cabbage, potato, and carrot, but you can use any combination of vegetables you have.

When I was growing up in India, the arrival of the red carrots in winter was always the food highlight for my family. This is not a quick dessert, but it is exceptionally delicious.

I use lard for my crusts because I love the rich flavor and short texture, but an all-butter dough results in an even flakier crust, should you choose to substitute more butter for the lard here. This recipe makes two crusts, for either two single-crust pies or one double-crust pie. Making the full amount is just as easy as making half of it, so if you only need one crust, freeze the other; that way there is always homemade dough on hand.

A vanilla wafer crumb crust gives signature banana pudding flavor to this meringue topped holiday pie.

Use this simple sauce for dumplings.