Seasoned Experts

THIS YEAR, DIASPORA CO.'S SANA JAVERI KADRI AND ASHA LOUPY RELEASED A VIBRANT BOOK DEDICATED TO SOUTH ASIAN COOKING

- BY REBECCA FIRKSER PHOTOGRAPH BY CAYCE CLIFFORD

Asha Loupy and Sana Javeri Kadri survey citrus at the Rojas Family Farms produce stand at San Francisco's Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

You may recognize Diaspora Spice Co. by its tins, each one more colorful than the last: neon pink, glowing orange, bright turquoise.

Beyond the labels are single-origin, hyper-fragrant spices: floral saffron threads from Kashmir, sticky vanilla pods from Kerala, and sharp fennel from Gujarat. The brand recently published its first cookbook. Its aim, writes founder and CEO Sana Javeri Kadri, “is to reveal the depth and complexity of South Asian cuisine, and perhaps for the first time in recent history, to center South Asia in our understanding of how to cook with spices.”

To develop The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook, Kadri, coauthor Asha Loupy, and photographer Melati Citrawireja traveled across India and Sri Lanka, visiting the brand’s 22 farm partners and the home kitchens of 35 women. Since professional cooking across the subcontinent is a male-dominated industry, it was vital to Kadri to highlight the women who feed their families. The result is something “deeply feminist,” preserving heirloom South Asian recipes and techniques through the authors’ California-ish lens.