Mother-daughter duo create Desi Taste
Homemade ghee to spruce up meals
Shamole Ahmed picked up on her mother Runa Chowdhury’s knack for cooking when she was away for undergrad and grad school. Now the mother-daughter duo combined their skills to create Desi Taste, a place to shop for homemade ghee, clarified butter, and made-to-order products.
“I used to bake on my own as a stress reliever. Once I got married I had to cook all the time and enjoy cooking Bengali dishes,” said Ahmed.
In grad school, Ahmed was a Graduate Resident Assistant for Training and Development who overlooked 30 students and 50 resident assistants. Sometimes on the weekends Ahmed would bake a batch of brownies, prop open her apartment door located inside the dorm, and shout, “I made brownies.” People would come swarming in to grab a few brownies.
People would ask her why she’s not selling her products.
She considered doing just that but didn’t have the time. She was pursuing a Masters in Public Health with a double major in Health Policy and Management, and Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health in Boston.
When she returned to Michigan she got married, did a fellowship, was working full-time, and recently had a baby.
She has been chewing on the idea of opening her own business for about five years. With the downtime during the pandemic, Ahmed revisited the idea of selling products she loved to make and share with others.
“A few months ago I was telling my mom I really wanted her to be included in it [now that] she’s not taking care of little kids. She also loves cooking and making things. She came up with the idea of making ghee and selling it.”
Since beginning with the ghee, Desi Taste has added homemade products like naga achaar, pickled spiced habanero pepper, brownies, and hot chocolate bombs.
The name “Desi Taste” is a mix between “desi,” referring to the South Asian diaspora, and “shaad” meaning taste or tasty in Bangla. They wanted the name to reflect Bangladeshi American culture and foods.
“We decided to start with a few items and see where it goes,” said Ahmed.
Ahmed was born in New York, where she lived with her family until she was five. They moved to Hamtramck and then Warren before she headed to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor to complete her undergrad studies. Now she lives in Sterling Heights with her mother-in-law, husband, and son.
Besides baking brownies, Ahmed said she enjoys cooking Bangladeshi foods like tandoori chicken, butter chicken, veggie baazis, or vegetable curries and stir frys.
“When I cook [Bengali food] it's because I have a lot of time. I try to make meals [like] shaag (spinach or leafy greens), baazis, and curries last for about 4-5 days. I always eat it with rice or roti.”
She also makes different kinds of pasta and fried rice for quick weekday lunches.
“I think for me it is the feeling of satisfaction that I made this myself, a home-cooked meal for my family.”
Ahmed says she likes experimenting with spices and coming up with something new. “I like to explore with my cooking and add in different spices and ingredients to a dish and enjoy put something together from scratch and just see how it turns out!”
Visit her blog
https://shamoleahmed.wordpress.com/
for recipes. Follow her on Instagram @shamolea and @desitasters. (Note: Desi Taste is doing a giveaway. Enter by Jan. 9 by 11:49 p.m. for your chance to win!)
To order a jar of homemade ghee or purchase other products, fill out this form here.
Baath Biran Recipe (Bangladeshi style fried rice)
Courtesy of Shamole Ahmed
This is probably one of my favorite dishes. My mom used to make this for breakfast all the time growing up and still does. (Yeah I know… Bengali’s eat rice for breakfast too sometimes lol). Once I lived on my own, this was my go-to dish. It’s super easy to make and I always have these ingredients in my kitchen. It’s one of my husband’s favorite dishes too, so now I love making it on weekends as a treat. I use the ghee that my mom and I make, Desi Taste’s Homemade Ghee, and that really adds a nice touch to it!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Desi Taste homemade ghee
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or corn oil
1 large onion (chopped)
About 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or 3-4 dried red chili pepper
2 potatoes (peeled and chopped into small cubes)
3 cups white rice (cooked)
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
2 eggs
Recipe:
Wash the rice and then cook the rice in a rice cooker or start cooking the rice on the stovetop (1-day old rice works best)
In a large frying pan heat the Ghee and then add the vegetable oil
Add the chopped onions and salt and sauté
Add red pepper flakes or dried whole red chili pepper and turmeric
Chop the potatoes and once the onions are golden brown add to the pan
Saute everything for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are done
(the rice should be done by now) Slowly add the cooked rice into the pan and mix well. You want all the rice to turn yellow so you’ll need to mix well for a few minutes making sure all the potatoes and onions are evenly distributed
Cook for another 10-15 minutes mixing every few minutes and then add the eggs and scramble into the rice.
Add the cilantro. Taste for salt and add more if needed and then you’re done!
Community News
Thru The Lens Productions is hosting a Fall Fest Sunday, October 3, 2021, from 3-10 p.m. at their new studio. Other vendors will be showcases