Radhika Acharya, who was born in Bhutan and raised in a refugee camp in Nepal, grew up eating and cooking the traditional foods of her parents and grandparents.

The rich blend of history and flavors she experienced as a child continue to reflect her cultural identity as an adult in a new country.

Now a stay-at-home mother of three in Pennsylvania, she regularly prepares the flavorful Nepali chow mein, roti, potato curry and fried samosas of her youth for her own family. That they love it goes without saying.

“In our culture, our parents teach us to cook,” Acharya says.

She learned to make the rice- and dal-based dishes alongside her mother, Tila, and maternal grandmother, Madhu, using deceptively simple techniques and lots (and lots) of fresh vegetables before immigrating to Pittsburgh

See Full Page