I love what I do. I can’t seem to say it enough. Hosting the GotToBeNC Cooking Stage each year at the NC State Fair ranks high on my list of favorite things. It’s right up there with tasting, teaching, and talking about all things local. This year’s lineup of chefs on the stage with me has been so much fun. Like the audience, I’ve learned so much in each and every demo. I’m here, excited to share all the tips and tricks and recipes with you – my readers. At the NC State Fair this year, each chef brought their own story and spin to the stage. Together we cooked everything from seafood and sweets; soups and curries, all using products from our on-stage pantry of local goods. Spicewalla spices and spice blends are among the go-to’s in our onstage pantry this year.
The center shot above is Chef Preeti Waas’ spice box. It holds everything she needed to make the sambar spice blend for this cooking demo.
Spicewalla is an Asheville-based company known for its small-batch, chef-driven spices and beautifully balanced blends. Every one of our chefs has reached for those colorful tins, proof that when you start with great flavor, good things follow. You will be inspired by the time you finish this article and will want to try your hand at this delicious good-for-you recipe. You can order from Spicewalla, online, here.
Recipes from the 2025 GotToBeNC Cooking Stage
Chefs from across North Carolina joined me on stage inside the GotToBeNC Pavilion, celebrating our state’s farmers, producers, and the ingredients that make cooking local such a joy. The fun kicked off Friday, October 16, and continues through Sunday, October 26, with live demos at 1, 3, and 5 p.m. most every day. Recipe from each of the demos will appear on these pages by the end of October 2025.
You can find John Mallette’s Fried Chicken and Dirty Rice recipes here.
First, A Quick Curry Clarification
Let’s start by getting one thing straight: “Curry” isn’t one spice, it’s a blend. And just like North Carolina barbecue has regional styles, curry blends vary around the world, each one telling a story of local ingredients, traditions, and taste.
Two of our guest chefs at the cooking stage this year, Preeti Waas of Cheeni in Durham, NC and Lemar Farrington of Amalieä Private Dining in Raleigh both showcased just how different and delicious curry can be.
Recipes for chicken curry, a shrimp curry appetizer and a curry ice cream from Chef Lemar Farrington’s Caribbean Curry demo will follow – stay tuned.
First, this post focuses on Preeti Waas’ demo and her recipe for Sambar, a delicious lentil curry.
Our chef’s table guests for Preeti’s demo, loved it all! Joining me and Preeti onstage to talk more about the spicy side of things, was Nathan Lowery from Spicewalla.
Chef Preeti Waas: Sambar Magic
Preeti took us on a trip to her homeland of South India with her take on Sambar. This is a comforting vegetarian stew made with toor dal (lentils) and Preeti’s own blend of Spicewalla spices.
Her approach started with whole spices like cumin, turmeric, fenugeek, black peppercorns & coriander. Then, she mixed in some fresh chilies and a few fresh curry leaves. The vibrant mix was toasted before being ground into an aromatic powder that perfumed the whole stage. All with delicious results – along with the Chefs’ Table guests, I enjoyed every bite!
How to Toast Whole Spices
Set a small, heavy skillet over medium-low heat — no oil needed. Add your whole spices in a single layer and stir often. Within a minute or two, they’ll start to pop and release their fragrance. When they’re slightly darker and smell irresistible, pull them off the heat and pour onto a plate to cool before grinding. That’s it: quick, simple, and guaranteed to elevate whatever you’re cooking.
It is Important to note that the curry leaves here are fresh, not dried. They grow quite easily in the Carolina’s and southern regions of the US. Next Spring add a curry plant to your kitchen herb garden. But know, curry leaves are not related to the spice blends we call curry, at all. They are their own separate thing and a delicious addition to this dish.
No Spice Grinder, No Problem.
If you don’t have a grinder at all, you can mash the whole toasted spices on your cutting board with the bottom of a cast iron skillet or heavy saucepan.
If you only have a coffee grinder, it can easily double as a spice grinder – you don’t need two separate gadgets.
Simply grind your toasted whole spices as driected in this recipe in your electric coffee grinder. Then, to clean the grinder, follow the mix of whole spices and chilies with a tablespoon of coffee beans.
That’s it. Here is all you have to do: once you have ground spice blend to the consistency that you like it, take it out of the grinder, and set it aside for your recipe or future use.
Once all of the ground spice blend is out of the grinder, add in a tablespoon of any whole bean or ground coffee. Let the grinder run for a minute or so and then discard that batch of ground coffee. Here is how it works: the coffee acts like a filter and will clean the taste and aroma of the whole spices from the grinder. No need for a separate spice grinder at all!
Classic Sambar from Chef Preeti Waas Cheeni Restaurant in Durham, NC
Ingredients
To make the dal or lentils
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/4 cup Whole cumin seeds
- 1 qt. onions chopped
- 1/3 cup minced garlic
- 4.5 lbs. toor dal (lentils)
- 2 Tbsp. ground dry Turmeric
- 2 gallons water
To make the Sambar spice blend
- 4 Tbsp toor dal (lentils)
- 2-3 whole red chilies
- 1/4 cup whole coriander seeds
- 3/4 tsp whole fenugeek or methi seeds
- 2 tsp. cumin seeds
- 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
- 4-5 fresh curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp. dry powdered turmeric
For the vegetable mix
- 1 large bag frozen chopped okra
- 5 potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 qt frozen pea and carrot mix
- 2 1/2 qt fresh chopped tomatoes or an equivalent amount of canned tomatoes
- 1/2 cup sambar
- 1/8 tsp "Hing" also known has asafoetida this is available at Indian food stores
- 1/2 cup tamarind pulp
For the Tadka
- oil or ghee ( Preeti prefers the ghee)
- 6 dried red chilies
- 1 Tbsp. Whole Mustard Seeds
Instructions
To start the dal or lentils
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Over medium hgih heat; warm the oil in the bottom of a large stock pot.
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Add the cumin seed and toast in the oil until fragrant
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Add the onions and cook until they are translucent
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Add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, until the raw garlic aroma begins to go away
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Add the toor dal and the ground turmeric and water mix to combine
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Bring to a boil; reduce heat; stir occasionally and allow to simmer until the dal is tender.
While the dal is cooking , make the Sambar spiced blend
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Place all of the lentils, chilies, coriander, fenugeek, coriander and peppercorms into a dry skillet.
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Add the curry leaves and dried chilies. Toast the spices, shaking the pan frequently until the curry leaves begin to curl and dry.
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Remove the pan from the heat and remoce the toasted spices from the pan
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Add the turmeric to the toasted spices and allow the mix to cool
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Place in a coffee or spice grinder and grind the mix to a fine powder.
Adding the Vegetables
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In a separate pan, heat a bit more oil and add potatoes, beans, okra, peas and carrots toss together until warmed through.
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Add in tomatoes, Sambar blend, and the hing
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Cook until the mix begins to get dry, remove from the heat.
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Add the cooked dal to the pan with the potatoes and vegetables. Stir to cook together until thick and heated through
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Add the hing and the tamarind pulp. Hold over a warm burner
Make the Tadka
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Heat the ghee in a separate skillet.
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Add the fresh red chilies and mustard seeds. Cook until the seeds pop and the chilies blister slightly and add this mix to the sambar pot, reserving the chilies to individually top each serving.
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Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly; adding more sambar or tamarind as needed.
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Serve in bowls; top each serving with one of the blistered chilies
Because We Cannot Live on Sambar Alone; there is delicious North Carolina Mead
Pictured above, Stardust Cellar’s Country Peach Mead paired with Preeti Waas’ Classic Sambar. In the center photo: From L: Spicewalla’s Nathan Lowery, NC Wine’s Nicole Chesney and Chef Preeti Waas.
Delighted to have Nicole Chesney, Executive Director of the NC Wine and Grape Council, with us onstage for almost all of our demos this year. Nicole paired a NC wine, cider or mead with each of our onstage chef’s dishes. For this slightly spicy Sambar, Nicole selected a NC Mead. The Stardust Cellars “Peachy Keen” mead comes in a can with a fun label. This is a delicious sour semisweet session mead, with flavors reminiscent of candied sour peach rings.
The sweet/sour taste of the mead is fun and a little funky (in the very best way possible); the chefs table guests loved the flavor it brought to the pairing.
At the 2025 NC Wine competition this year, Stardust Cellars took home silver metal honors for this mead, a classic honey-based wine with a peachy punch of fruit. All of Stardust Cellars meads are light, naturally carbonated, and brewed with raw Appalachian honey and real fruit. For us, the sour peach notes in this pour worked beautifully with the slightly spicy Sambar.
Go, Visit and Taste for Yourself #TellThemHeidiSentYou
Stardust Cellars is North Carolina’s first Biodynamic Winery and is located at 4780 Statesville Road, North Wilkesboro, NC. They produce both wines and meads. In addition to the accolades at this year’s NC wine competition, their tasty Honey Buzzed Session Mead took top gold metal honors at the 2024 National Meadcrafters Competition.
You can shop with Stardust online here. Or better yet, learn and taste more at this year’s Harvest Mead Fest at Stardust Cellars on Nov 8, 2025, from noon to 6 pm. Sip and sample a variety of NC meads from local and regional artisans and shop for local crafts, goods and great gifts, as well.
Go visit Chef Preeti Waas at Cheeni and Bar Beej in Durham, North Carolina at 202 Corcoran St ( directly across from The Durham hotel) in Durham, NC and at Nanny Goat Bodega in the Research Triangle Park (better known as RTP.)
Shop for Spicewalla Spices online here or visit their homebase in Asheville at 1 Page Avenue in downtown Asheville.