Sohla El-Waylly

Only slightly more involved than cracking open a jar from the grocery store.

This potato salad is inspired by the flavors of Spanish papas bravas, with an extra fried crunch courtesy of crushed potato chips.

Gunpowder spice, also known as idli podi or milagai podi, is not a spice blend but instead a dry chutney found in South India that’s eaten with dosa and idli.

These grown-up moon pies are made with shortbread cookies loaded with blitzed-up pretzels and salty potato chips—the perfect contrast to the sticky-sweet marshmallows and bitter dark chocolate.

Pakistani haleem is a warmly spiced, satisfyingly thick stew made from long-simmered lentils, barley, and bone-in chunks of lamb or goat.

This cheesecake has a vanilla pound cake base, because why the hell not? You bake the cheesecake first, then the pound cake on top, and flip the whole thing over before decorating and serving. Room temperature eggs, cream cheese, and butter are vital to an evenly mixed cheesecake and fluffy pound cake. If you’re in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of hot tap water and zap the butter and cream cheese in the microwave in 10-second increments to quickly warm them up.

A creamy custard pie with an extra-milky flavored meringue.

Bharta is a Bangladeshi style of seasoned meat or mashed vegetables usually served at room temperature alongside hot steamed rice.

These make-ahead green beans soak up a bright lemon and sumac dressing overnight.

This tahdig is dressed up with cranberries and woody herbs for a Thanksgiving-y, festive feel.

Flaky, nutty, buttery paratha you can prep ahead.

Ginger and orange juice give this raita a holiday feel. Treat it like cranberry sauce–it goes with everything.

This roast is cooked in the style of American barbecue and has a spice-coated crust, like bark on a brisket.

This refreshing drink Sohla El-Waylly often uses to break fast during Ramadan gives all kinds of holiday vibes.

In Korean, ssam literally means “wrapped”—set the fish in the center of the table and pull the meat off the bones, using chopsticks to fill lettuce wraps along with radish salad, ssamjang, kimchi, and rice. Roasting a whole fish—skin, bones, and all—is surprisingly easy, and the flesh stays moist and flavorful even if you overcook it a touch. 

This dish of seared paneer channels flavors traditionally found in matar paneer—coriander, cumin, chile, and ginger—by incorporating them into a quick-cooking cherry tomato sauce.

This super-flavorful dish spins the flavors of shish barak—lamb and pine nut dumplings from the Levant—in a pasta direction.

These crispy zucchini fritters take inspiration from the Bengali onion snack piyaju. Soaked and blended red lentils make up the batter, which is spiked with turmeric and chile powder.