How Padma Lakshmi Instantly Upgrades A Grilled Cheese

A grilled cheese is anear-perfect food. Buttery, crisp, and gooey, it has almost everything I want in a three-minute meal, but it can occasionally seem a little one-note.

I love adding just one ingredient to my grilled cheese to quickly take it to another level. Mustard is an easy option for quickly introducing a touch of tanginess, or I love Ina Garten’s choice of mango chutney for bringing a layer of tart, sweet flavor to this sandwich.

The latest addition to my repertoire of grilled cheese tricks — and one that happens to rely on a shelf-stable ingredient — comes courtesy of one of my favorite culinary role models: Padma Lakshmi.

The cookbook author, activist, and host ofTop Cheffor 19 seasons recently shared her instant upgrade for grilled cheese on social media, and it accomplishes a lot, bringing spicy, savory, nutty notes and a little bit texture to the sandwich with just one spice powder: milagai podi.

What is milagai podi?

This South Indian condiment — also known as idli podi or simply “gunpowder” — is than just a spice blend. It includes spices like dried chilis, asafoetida, curry leaf, black pepper, and salt, but it also features legumes and seeds or nuts. Inside, you’ll usually find chana dal (split chickpeas), urad dal (split lentils), sesame seeds, and sometimes peanuts.

While these elements are finely ground, they still provide a touch of texture and crunch, along with nutty, earthy flavors. Milagai podi is often combined with ghee or oil and used as a condiment for dosas or idli, and if you stock this flavor-packed powder in your pantry, you can put it on just about anything that could use a hit of umami and heat.

Roasted vegetables, marinades, or other dishes that need seasoning would benefit from it. Or, you can follow Padma’s lead and sprinkle a generous amount inside your next grilled cheese.

How does Padma Lakshmi make a grilled cheese?

Besides cheese, bread, and milagai podi, there’s one other ingredient you’ll need to make a grilled cheese like Lakshmi: butter or ghee. (She’s

that she’s not a fan of using mayo on the exterior of a grilled cheese.)

Lakshmi notes that you can use any melty cheese you prefer for your sandwich, but she opts for cheddar and pepper jack. She places a generous amount of cheese on a slice of bread — we’re talking about four or five slices, not just two — then sprinkles the milagai podi on top of the cheese.

TheTaste the Nationhost is using her own gunpowder blend (made in collaboration with Diaspora Spice Co.), which you can order online, and some major grocery chains will also sell milagai podi. You can alternatively purchase it at any Indian grocery store or learn to make your own.

After adding a fairly thick layer of the gunpowder onto the sandwich, Lakshmi places her second piece of bread on top and toasts the grilled cheese in a pan of ghee. Need one tip to achieve grilled cheese perfection? She puts a lid on the sandwich as it cooks, helping the cheese get gooey in the middle at the same rate the bread becomes golden brown.

Once it’s toasted and melty in the center, enjoy a bite of a grilled cheese that will change your standards for this sandwich for good.