photo vaidy krishnan days jason made chicken masala dinner recipe calls ingredients eventually worked separate steps roasting grinding spices making pastes cashews ginger recipes takes time effort prepare tastes goodness bother bite detect layers complexity balance sweet spicy surprises initial taste surprises lingering flavor dinner jason wondered aloud cultures prizing complexity flavor stumble combinations spices textures cook easy hand freeing form painstaking science rolled imagine envision experiment tweak pour soul india countries thailand morocco process valued prized benefit experimentation recipes celebrating curry life black white brought lunch friends american pointed polytheistic nature cultures they're comfortable complexity expect things black white find fascinating tendency americans love bible clear answers dangerous territory stereotyping work americans tend love meat potatoes vegetables delineated plate distinct flavor texture question you're putting mouth you're tasting salt fine meat wrong love fine meat bite bite you're control draw lines mixing eating curry makes feel deliciously control you're tasting sneaks confuses curry celebration complexity chaos thing people fear complexity curry demonstrates completely control form completely adventurous space midwestern ying yang broad scope things embracing complexity define narrowly pretend bible filled clear answers spouse partner relationship jason clear boundaries divorced enjoys daily complexities blended family including ex-spouses partners understand marriage family love simplicity living small town midwest house garden kids church neighborhood school favorite bars life midwest normal typical bland kids grow thinking things black white easily parsed categorized understood luckily possibly case community friends we've gathered saturday evening celebrating birthday house wonderful people considers family jason celebrate birthday good friend marlah gathered table celebration considered white rest african american native american mexican cuban afro-carribean combination kindly pointed evening olive complexion dark hair white sunday invited feast chengdu hotpot meal home friends church spent fair amount time region china hotpot represents kind complexity curry twenty bowls individual foods shrimp greens foods kids ribbon tofu rice cakes lotus root enoki mushrooms crowd table ying yang pots spicy mild hotpot broth boil furiously burners table's center chopsticks pick items choice separate bowls drop boiling liquid cook manage pull pull mixed things people table dropped feel control what's happening surprise joyous confusion cooking sharing eating things separate textures flavors unfamiliar tied complex flavors broth life 