Chef Vijay Kumar Wins James Beard Award for Best Chef: New York State
In 2025, Vijay Kumar won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: New York State for his work at Semma, becoming prominent champions of regional South Indian cuisine in the United States. His menu featured deeply rooted Tamil dishes rarely seen in American fine dining, including preparations drawn from rural culinary traditions. Rather than adapting […]
A Wave of Chefs and Writers Prove Regional Indian Cuisines Need No Compromise
A new generation of chefs and food writers demonstrated that regional Indian cuisines could succeed in America without being simplified or adapted for mainstream expectations. Asha Gomez introduced Kerala cuisine to Southern audiences, Niloufer Ichaporia King documented Parsi culinary traditions for English-language readers, and Chintan Pandya and Roni Mazumdar brought unapologetically regional flavors to New […]
Padma Lakshmi Becomes Host of Top Chef, Reshaping American Food Culture
When Padma Lakshmi became host of Top Chef in 2006, she assumed one of the most influential roles in American food media. Over seventeen seasons, she helped shape national conversations about cooking, taste, and culinary excellence while introducing audiences to a wider range of global and immigrant food traditions. Her visibility challenged narrow definitions of […]
Maya Kaimal Moves South Indian Flavors into Mainstream Grocery Stores
When Maya Kaimal launched her line of fresh Indian simmer sauces in 2003, she brought regional Indian flavors into mainstream American grocery stores in a new way. By positioning her products in the premium refrigerated section alongside established international brands, she introduced Indian cuisine to consumers who may never have visited an Indian restaurant or […]
Indian-American Food Writers Bring the Diaspora Kitchen to the Mainstream
Indian-American food writers helped bring diaspora cooking into the mainstream by expanding how Americans understood Indian food and identity. In 2001, Raghavan Iyer’s Indian Home Cooking introduced Indian recipes through the familiar platform of Betty Crocker, making the cuisine approachable for a broad audience. Nearly two decades later, Priya Krishna’s Indian-ish celebrated the hybrid cooking […]
The Synthesis of Faith and Activism
After years documenting hate violence as a civil rights lawyer, filmmaker, and activist, Valarie Kaur came to believe that bearing witness to suffering had to be paired with a sustained spiritual practice for confronting injustice. Around 2018, she launched the Revolutionary Love Project, giving organizational form to ideas she had been developing through her advocacy, […]
Faith Finds Its Place in American Civic Life
Indian Americans increasingly brought their faith traditions into the nation’s highest civic institutions. In 2007, Rajan Zed became the first Hindu to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Pramila Jayapal were among the first members of Congress to take their oaths of office on the Bhagavad Gita. These public expressions […]
Indian Muslims Build Bridges Across Race and Religion in America
Mufti Muhammad Sadiq broadened the reach of Islam in America by founding The Moslem Sunrise in Chicago in 1921 and preaching to racially diverse audiences, welcoming hundreds of African Americans into the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Eight decades later, Eboo Patel extended that legacy by founding Interfaith America, creating a national framework for interfaith cooperation on […]
A New Era for American Energy: The Launch of ARPA-E
In October 2009, the United States fundamentally revolutionized its approach to the climate crisis when brilliant engineer Dr. Arun Majumdar became the founding Director of ARPA-E. Tasked by President Obama to build a new federal agency from scratch, Majumdar established a hyper-agile engine for high-risk, high-reward clean energy breakthroughs. By bridging the notorious gap between […]
Ani Dasgupta Appointed President of the World Resources Institute
Ani Dasgupta became President and CEO of the World Resources Institute in 2021, placing an Indian American at the helm of one of the world’s leading environmental research and policy organizations. Under his leadership, WRI continued to shape US climate legislation, international climate negotiations, and sustainability policy through research and partnerships spanning more than 60 […]