Originally from Calcutta, Ruby Banerjee will teach a John C. Campbell Folk School class in August that aims to simplify Indian cooking. “Normally it’s quite a laborious cooking style,” she says. Banerjee has a few shortcuts and tricks for tasty, fast Indian dishes.

Common misconceptions about Indian food: The use of the word “curry.” People use it as a generic term, but it’s a blend of spices. “There are so many different types of curries. The word curry actually means a vegetable preparation.”

Don’t try this at home: “Don’t waste time trying to make complicated masala spice blends from scratch,” she says. Buy them off the shelf at stores like Greenlife or Earth Fare, or in Asian markets.
Other tips for the home cook: A good pantry should have all the spices one needs to cook Indian food. Chiles and turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and mustard seeds. For anything more exotic, there are plenty of good ready-made spice mixes available.

Indian ingredients that are hard to find: Regular American grocery stores don’t usually carry good saffron or a wide variety of lentils.