Heartland Masala
A Journey Through Indian Gastronomy, Culture and History

Join us in celebrating a special new cookbook from Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji — a mother-son collaboration that brings together rich Indian culinary traditions, personal storytelling, and a deep love of home cooking. Since 2010, Jyoti has welcomed many into her kitchen, teaching the flavors and techniques she carried with her from India. Auyon, a touring musician and thoughtful culinary historian, brings his own lens to the table — one shaped by years of cooking on the road and studying the stories behind what we eat.

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Your ticket price includes talk with Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji about the heart and soul behind developing their cookbook, a copy of Heartland Masala, and a wonderful dinner featuring Jyoti alongside Chef Linda Duerr and our culinary team.

$175 per person, plus tax and gratuity

Heartland Masala: An Indian Cookbook from an American Kitchen is a rich and immersive volume by Kansas City-based mother-son duo Jyoti Mukharji and Auyon Mukharji. This beautifully illustrated book offers readers not only traditional and diasporic Indian recipes, but also the historical and cultural context to better appreciate them. Heartland Masala's most distinctive feature is its tag-team authorship: a yearslong collaboration between an immigrant mother and her American-born son. The pair's shared love of teaching, cooking, and culinary history shines throughout. Their writing and recipes are playful and approachable enough for beginners, yet substantial enough to surprise and educate even experienced Indian cooking enthusiasts.

Cooking instructor Jyoti Mukharji chose 99 of her favorite recipes, culled from her 14+ years of teaching Indian cooking classes, to build the core of Heartland Masala. Her recipes hail from all over India, with a special emphasis on the cuisines of Punjab and Bengal. Dishes include not only restaurant staples like Saag Paneer and Vindaloo, but also regional specialties like Anglo-Indian Spiced Liver Toast, Bengali Murgh Rezala (Chicken Curry with Water Lily Seeds and Cashews), and Hyderabadi Baghare Baingan (Eggplant with Coconut, Sesame, and Tamarind). Alongside these traditional preparations, Jyoti presents original recipes like Masala Brussels Sprouts and Spiced Watermelon, inspired by her life and motherhood in the American Midwest. There are even a couple of cocktails!

To complement his mother's recipes and recollections, culinary historian Auyon Mukharji introduces a generous helping of culturally-focused essays and vignettes. Olivier Kugler's stunning illustrations punctuate both the recipes and writing, providing easy-to-follow instruction and charming comic relief. Kevin Miyazaki's beautiful photography—an artfully photographed 32-page spread—rounds out the book.

"The history of Indian cooking is the history of India," Auyon writes. "The cuisine itself is in constant flux, both within and beyond India’s national borders. Any attempt to pin it down is merely a record of a moment and place." It is in this spirit that Jyoti and Auyon frame their collaboration: not as a singular, exclusive, or authentic vision, but as one small piece of the nearly boundless, shape-shifting puzzle that is global Indian gastronomy.

"The Hindustani word masala, which translates to 'spice mixture,'" Auyon continues, "feels an appropriate metaphor for not only the multifaceted and diasporic quality of my mother’s cooking, but also for the twists and turns of history that landed a daughter of Punjab here in the American heartland."

Jyoti Mukharji is a chef, teacher, and retired physician. She immigrated to the US from India in the late 1970s, and she began teaching weekly Indian cooking classes out of her home in Prairie Village, KS in 2010. Jyoti has since welcomed several thousand students into her kitchen, and her writing and teaching have been celebrated in press and radio outlets across the Midwest. Jyoti's team includes her husband Jhulan (art director), her eldest son Arnob (grocery shopping deputy), her middle son Auyon (musical guest), and her youngest son Aroop (copy editor).

Auyon Mukharji is a musician, writer, and culinary historian who spends most of his time thinking about food. He studied biology at Williams College and was awarded a Watson Fellowship in 2007 to study self-expression in folk music. Since 2009, Auyon has toured with, and cooked for, the acclaimed indie-folk band Darlingside. He otherwise finds time to work in and around kitchens (and farms) in both his hometown of Kansas City and his adopted state-of-residence of Massachusetts,