I speak to Sapna Punjabi as the clock ticks way past midnight in her Texas home. After donning the hats of a dietitian, Ayurvedic practitioner, and founder of culinary wellness-spice brand beSPICED, Sapna wears a new one, that of a cookbook author.
Sapna Punjabi
| Photo Credit:
Jill Broussard
As we sit down to chat about the recently-launched Dal Chawal (published by Hardie Grant Books), Sapna says the idea to pen a cookbook was brewing for a while. “I wanted to create something that I can share with others in a tangible form. A project that brought together my vegetarian lifestyle, Ayurvedic learnings, and my experience as a neo-natal dietician,” she says.With Dal Chawal, the author has put together 85 vegetarian recipes blending two simple ingredients: dal (lentils) and chawal (rice). With chapters dedicated to dals such as moong, masoor, chana, toor, urad, rice preparations, and another with classic combinations such as handvo and chakkara pongal, Sapna also highlights each dish’s Ayurvedic properties. Now, Dal Chawal has been nominated for the 2026 James Beard Foundation Book Award in the Vegetable-Focussed Cooking category that includes titles on ‘vegetable cookery with recipes that are meatless, vegetarian, or vegan’. The Awards ceremony will take place on June 13 at the Art Institute of Chicago.
