LEILA FADEL, HOST:
What I'm about to tell you is not surprising - I love ice cream. Like, love, and I'm suspicious of anyone who does not. So when I got the opportunity to spend an evening at an ice cream shop for my job...
Hello. How are you?
POOJA BAVISHI: I'm so good - awesome.
FADEL: I'm so excited.
...Let's just say I was willing to put in the extra hours.
Ice cream is my favorite thing (laughter).
BAVISHI: Good.
FADEL: I wasn't just here to indulge. I do that on my own time. I came to Malai's store in Washington, D.C. to meet Pooja Bavishi. She's the owner of Malai and the author of a new frozen dessert cookbook of the same name.
BAVISHI: When I started Malai, the goal was always to change the way that ice cream is perceived in this country. It used to be one of the only categories where you, like, walk in and you expect to see certain flavors. But why isn't it as typical and normal to pull a pint of masala chai from your grocery store freezer as it is a pint of cookies and cream?
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER #1: What does this taste like?
FADEL: The bright little shop was buzzing with curious customers.
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER #2: Could I try the saffron pistachio, please? Thank you so much.
FADEL: So we stepped outside for a quiet place to chat about Bavishi's new book and her ice cream creations.
BAVISHI: You know what? I'm going to grab my jacket, too. I'll be right back.
FADEL: Yeah.
You'll hear the traffic pick up from time to time.
I want to start with the name of both your book...
BAVISHI: Yeah.
FADEL: ...But also your stores. Where did it come from?
BAVISHI: So Malai means - it figuratively means cream of the crop. Malai translates to the best of something, but it also means cream. When I started, Malai was always going to be just, like, Indian-inspired ice cream, so it felt like a really appropriate name for the brand.
FADEL: Do people know they're walking into a South Asian-inspired ice cream store?
BAVISHI: Maybe, maybe not. The point of Malai is not to be the best Indian ice cream that you've ever had. It's to be the best ice cream.
FADEL: I love that. Why ice cream?
BAVISHI: Why not ice cream? Ice cream is truly the...
FADEL: That is the answer.
(LAUGHTER)
BAVISHI: It's truly the best dessert out there. It is frozen. It's creamy. It's sweet. It's all the things. And there's - like, there's - literally, I know no one who does not like ice cream.
FADEL: I - there was...
BAVISHI: Are you about to tell me that you don't like ice cream?
FADEL: No...
BAVISHI: (Laughter).
FADEL: ...I love ice cream. There was a - I was thinking about the period where I was like, you know what, Leila? You eat too much ice cream. And we broke up, ice cream and I...
BAVISHI: Oh, no.
FADEL: ...For, like, two weeks.
BAVISHI: OK.
FADEL: And I was like, I can't...
BAVISHI: And then you went back?
FADEL: Yeah. I was like...
BAVISHI: Yeah.
FADEL: ...Why would I have this emptiness?
BAVISHI: Yeah. Yeah.
FADEL: I'm going back to ice cream.
BAVISHI: I'm glad you reconciled.
FADEL: (Laughter) Yeah. I don't like this.
BAVISHI: Yeah.
FADEL: I want to get more into the way that you found your flavors, what you've chosen, 'cause it spans from - you've got - I think you have an apple pie ice cream and a white chocolate cheesecake ice cream. And then you have, like, rose almond and...
BAVISHI: Saffron pistachio, yeah.
FADEL: Saffron pistachio.
BAVISHI: Absolutely.
FADEL: And...
BAVISHI: I mean, there's some - I think that that's what is a total spectrum of what influences me. I think that's the point that I'm trying to make in the book, that the white chocolate cheesecake ice cream - that's what got me into, like, desserts and food in the first place because I saw Mrs. Fields (laughter)...
FADEL: Yeah.
BAVISHI: ...Mrs. Fields...
FADEL: I was going to...
BAVISHI: ...Making a white chocolate cheesecake on TV and told my mom - I was 10 years old. I told my mom that I wanted to make that. She was like, I'll take you grocery shopping. The kitchen is yours. And so I made it, and it was terrible.
(LAUGHTER)
BAVISHI: I cut the cheesecake when it was still warm, so it was, like, kind of soupy. And to this day, I distinctly remember giving, you know, quote, unquote, pieces - it was really, like, in bowls, scooped out - to my parents and my sister. And they were just like, this is delicious. I was like, this is kind of amazing - that, like, dessert will always bring joy.
FADEL: Even if it's soup.
BAVISHI: Even if it's soup and it's not supposed to be soup.
FADEL: What is the story that you want listeners or future readers to take away from this book?
BAVISHI: This book is not at all supposed to be intimidating in either the flavor profile or the technique. It actually is supposed to be an everyday book. So when you have a dinner party on a weekend or on a Tuesday night and you want to make something really, really delicious and really want to wow your guests, you will turn to Malai.
FADEL: Now, I couldn't leave without a frozen treat, so we went back inside to try out one of the recipes from Bavishi's book.
BAVISHI: We are making crunchy ice cream balls from the cookbook. This is a very, very, very simple dessert, but it's - has a little bit of a wow factor. So all you have to do is scoop out ice cream, let it freeze as scoops in your freezer. And then, while that's happening, you're going to toast either graham crackers or digestives or, you know, Oreo cookie crumbs - like, some kind of cookie crumb. Mix your favorite spice in it.
So in the cookie mix today, I have a combo of shortbread cookies with Nilla wafers with some cinnamon.
FADEL: Got to do to it (ph).
BAVISHI: My cookie crumbs are very uneven, but you know what? They're going to be just as delicious.
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: Next, Bavishi pulls out a scoop of black forest ice cream.
BAVISHI: All right, let's make these. OK. So they should be, like, rock solid, truth be told.
FADEL: So you're just pulling that. That is, like...
BAVISHI: These are - well, this is a little soft.
FADEL: A little too soft?
BAVISHI: But it's OK. We'll work with it. And then I'm going to dip it in the melted butter. Ideally, it's melted ghee. It just, like, has this, like, really distinct taste.
FADEL: And so now you're rolling it in the spices.
BAVISHI: Rolling it in the cookie crumbs and spices. And you're going to get it coated all over.
FADEL: I mean, I feel like you can't really go wrong here - butter, ice cream, you know, spices.
BAVISHI: Right. I mean, it's just going to be great. It's going to be great. That looks good, right?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
BAVISHI: Should I grab you guys some spoons?
FADEL: Yes. Let's taste.
By the way, we were recording this during Ramadan, so I hadn't eaten all day, and I was surrounded by ice cream. So, of course, I broke my fast on the creamy, crunchy deliciousness we'd just made.
FADEL: That is so good. Also, I think breaking your fast on ice cream is the way to go.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Really? Why?
FADEL: It's delicious.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Laughter).
FADEL: 'Cause, like, when you break on something, it's not satisfying. You know, this is what I'm going to do from now on.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: OK.
FADEL: Ice cream first.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah. And then everything else.
FADEL: And then everything else.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY'S "CLIMBING BEAR")
FADEL: Ice cream first - that's what I learned with Pooja Bavishi, the owner of Malai. Her cookbook, named for her store, is out now.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY'S "CLIMBING BEAR")
FADEL: And, Michel, because I'm a very committed journalist, I tried every single flavor, and I can report that they are surprising and delicious.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
OK, I'm just trying to understand why I was not invited to this shindig. I kind of - I'm not angry, Leila. I'm just very hurt. I'm just hurt.
FADEL: Well, we'll just go back. We'll just go back. And we may have some Malai pints in the freezer because...
MARTIN: What...
FADEL: ...I bought many on the way out.
FADEL: Many of them.
FADEL: (Laughter).
MARTIN: OK. What was your favorite?
FADEL: I liked Shahi toast.
MARTIN: Shahi toast?
FADEL: I just - yeah, I just like little bits of surprises inside the creaminess. It was delicious.
MARTIN: Toast?
FADEL: I think you'll like coffee cardamom, maybe.
MARTIN: Yes, and?
FADEL: And all the other ones (laughter).
MARTIN: Yeah, exactly (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY'S "CLIMBING BEAR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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