Cast iron isn’t just for home cooks. There’s a growing list of A-list chefs who are singing the praises of cast iron. One is Vishwesh Bhatt, chef/proprietor of Snack Bar in Oxford, Mississippi and author of I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef. What’s the allure of cast iron? Part of it is practicality he says. “It heats up evenly and holds its heat for a long time.”
And contrary to cast iron care horror stories, Bhatt finds it easy to keep cast iron pans in peak condition. “You take care of it, you wipe it dry and you’re good to go.”
Bhatt recommends a 10 or 12-inch frying pan for cast iron novices. He’s also a fan of two-sided pans with ridges on one side for grilling and a smooth side. It’s a smart investment as you can do everything with it from fry eggs, make pancakes to grill a piece of fish or a steak. His other hint is to fry in a deep Dutch oven on an outdoor grill. It’s a handy way to reduce clean-up and avoid smells from cooking oil.
But the draw of cast iron goes beyond practicalities. “There’s something about cast iron that has that earthly feel to it that is hard to replicate. It has more soul to it.” Born in India into a large family where mealtimes were occasions of conversation as well as food, this soulfulness matters to Bhatt. “Not only does it improve with age but it will last forever,” he says. “You can pass it down.” And when you pass a piece of cast iron down to the next generation, you pass on the memories of countless meals with it. “You have those memories as well. There are few other things that you can say that about.”
Not Your Mama’s Cornbread Recipe by Vishwesh Bhatt
Makes 1 pan/serves 6
I am going to be honest with you: This is not my recipe. The credit goes to my friend Farhan Momin, an Atlanta-based dentist who happens to be a very talented cook. Farhan grew up in Atlanta, the son of immigrants from Ahmedabad. His parents run a halal butcher shop and an Indian restaurant. He learned to cook from watching them, but made the smart decision to attend dental school. When Farhan is not busy being a dentist, he is part of Brown in the South, a friendly collective of chefs and cooks of South Asian descent who claim the American South as our home. Formed in 2018, we staged several dinners each year until the COVID-19 pandemic forced us take a hiatus from in-person events.
Experimenting with Corn Meal
For a dinner we cooked in Raleigh, Farhan wanted to make cornbread and asked me for advice. I told him about my experiment with corn dhoklas and mentioned that I often season my cornbread batter with toasted cumin seeds, asafoetida, and curry leaves. He took all that in and made a cornbread that absolutely blew my mind. He had taken the basic technique of a traditional Southern cornbread and added elements of our shared Gujarati cuisine. The result was at once familiar and novel. I have tweaked the seasonings to my personal taste, but the soul of the recipe is his.
Roasting the corn and charring the jalapeños might seem like a lot of prep work to make a simple cornbread, but please don’t skip these steps. The layers of flavors they add are well worth the effort.
INGREDIENTS
2 large ears corn
2 jalapeño chiles
6 tablespoons neutral oil, such as peanut or canola, divided
1 cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup chickpea flour
1⁄3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 large egg
1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
½ teaspoon asafoetida
1 serrano chile, stemmed and very thinly sliced
¼ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- First, char or roast the corn. If charring, fold back the husks (but leave them attached) and remove the silk. Twist the husks so that each ear of corn has a “handle.” Holding the handles, char the ears over a grill or gas flame on the stovetop, turning to cook evenly. If roasting, leave the husks on and roast in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes. When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off the cobs. You should end up with 1 cup of kernels, or a little more—use it all.
- To roast the jalapeños, turn the flame of a gas stovetop (or grill) to medium-high. Using tongs and an oven mitt, hold one pepper directly over the flame, turning until it is charred on all sides. Repeat with the remaining pepper. (Alternatively, you can roast the peppers under the oven broiler. Watch them carefully and turn with tongs as each side chars.) Once the peppers are charred all the way around, carefully transfer them to a small plastic bag or a small bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow them to sit for about 10 minutes. The resulting steam and heat will finish cooking the peppers and make the skin easier to peel. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off the blistered skin. Remove and discard the seeds and stems and finely dice the peppers.
- Generously brush the bottom and sides of an 8-inch cast-iron skillet or an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with 2 tablespoons oil and place it in the hot oven. Leave the pan in the oven while you mix the batter.
- Combine the cornmeal, both flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, chili powder, salt, turmeric, sesame seeds, and ginger in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the egg and buttermilk together in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in the corn kernels, jalapeño, cilantro, and 2 tablespoons oil. (The batter will have some lumps.)
- Using an oven mitt, remove the hot pan from the oven and carefully pour in the batter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cornbread to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. While it is resting, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a small skillet. Once the oil is shimmering, add the mustard seeds and cook until they start popping, about 30 seconds. Add the curry leaves, asafoetida, and serrano slices and cook, stirring, for 15 seconds. Pour the oil mixture over the resting cornbread. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top. Cut into slices or squares and serve.
- If you have any leftovers, allow them to cool completely before wrapping tightly in aluminum foil. The cornbread will keep overnight at room temperature. The next morning, toast yourself a slice and top it with a fried egg.
Excerpted from I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef by Vishwesh Bhatt. Copyright 2022 by Vishwesh Bhatt. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
Story by Julia Platt Leonard
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