If our past collaborations have taught us anything, it’s that some things are just better when more people are involved. From the hyper-limited Carbon Steel Pan we designed for Chef Tom Colicchio to the Hudson Green collection named for Chef Brooke Williamson’s son, we’ve learned that the design and creation process is (sometimes) more fun for all when there’s more seats at the table.
So when Khushbu Shah, contributing editor at Food & Wine, award-winning food writer, and author of upcoming cookbook “Amrikan: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora” approached us with the idea for a South Asian collection, we knew we had to make it happen. And after more than a year of collaboration, we’re thrilled to unveil the Amrikan Collection.
From the stainless steel Kadai and Masala Dabba to the carbon steel Tawa Pan, we've created the perfect collection to craft Khushbu's signature recipes—from Saag Paneer Lasagna and Classic Dosas, to Keralan Fried Chicken Sandwiches and Spinach Tadka Dal.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how the Amrikan Collection (named as a nod to her debut cookbook of the same name) came to life, along with some of our favorite features of the collection, launching Thursday, 3/14.
Two Kinds of Culinary Expertise
You may know acclaimed food writer Khusbhu Shah from her contributions to The New York Times, GQ, The Washington Post, or Eater, to name a few; or from her tenure as restaurant editor at Food & Wine, where she crossed the United States several times over on her hunt for the best new chefs in the country. She was the first person of color—not to mention the youngest—to ever hold the title. So when she came to us while working on her debut cookbook with a request for traditional South Asian cooking tools that were both high-performance and readily available, we got right to work.
This collection became possible because of two kinds of expertise: Shah’s Indian-American heritage and culinary know-how, and our obsession with sourcing the best possible materials for cookware. The result? A collaboration in every sense of the word.
Unlocking New Culinary Possibilities
While Shah was working on her cookbook, she kept running into an unforeseen barrier: sourcing the necessary cookware to make her South Asian-inspired recipes. Getting traditional (or at least serviceable) Indian cookware in the United States, she found, was limited at best—you’d be lucky to find one or two options, and even those would vary widely in both price and quality. In fact, she found it was easier to have someone in India ship the proper tools to her than it was to find them in the States.
As Shah puts it: “It's very important to do a collaboration like this, because when you're really looking at the canon of cookware that's kind of out there right now, it's very geared towards European sensibilities [...] obviously you can make Indian food with these other tools that are geared towards European cooking [...] But it's harder. You have to adapt it.”
This led her to thinking how beneficial it would be to have high-performance, readily-available South Asian tools from a brand she already trusted to deliver quality cookware. Not even exclusively for her cookbook—but for anyone wanting to expand their culinary repertoires. Enter: the Amrikan Collection, with tools that invite and empower you to unlock new possibilities, recipes, and techniques.
New Shapes, Same Materials
Shah was further inspired by our previous collaboration with Masienda, which produced a limited run of Carbon Steel Comals. And since a Tawa (or Dosa) Pan is essentially a smaller comal, she knew Made In was the right choice to balance the needs of traditional cookware shapes, while ensuring they were manufactured using the best materials available.
With her guidance, we designed the three pieces that make up the Amrikan Collection: the Stainless Steel Masala Dabba, Carbon Steel Tawa, and Stainless Steel Kadai. All are classic shapes in traditional South Asian cooking, manufactured in the Award-Winning materials you know, love, and trust.
Shah puts it best: “There’s something really beautiful about it. I think it blends in to, no matter how you cook it, you feel like a really global kitchen—like all the pieces still work together.”
Ready to Shop?
Blending together cues from Khushbu Shah’s Indian-American heritage and our carefully engineered design ethos, each piece in the Amrikan Collection is as carefully selected and designed as the recipes in her upcoming cookbook, releasing June 4, 2024.
