No food hits home like Hispanic food. The heavy influence of cumin and coriander remind me of Pakistan because this particular spice and herb are added in every traditional Pakistani dish. At times when I walk down the streets of LA past food carts selling tacos and burritos, I imagine I’m in Karachi. The familiar smells wafting in the air punctuated by the occasional traffic and honking of cars (it is downtown after all ) are enough to wake up nostalgia.
Sure, there are differences between the cuisines but at the base of it all is cumin and coriander. I almost wonder why Hispanics don’t make curry.
I went to Porto’s Cafe in Burbank about a year ago with my best friend. It’s a very popular Cuban cafe in LA. I love to Yelp for popular items, and the stuffed potato balls at Porto’s was something that we needed to try. It’s called Papas Rellenas, which are deep-fried balls of mashed potatoes stuffed with a meat filling. Both my friend and I spent a good ten minutes talking about how they tasted so Pakistani and that we had to go home and make these. It was a long while before I actually did make them. But they’re actually very simple to prepare because the flavor combinations don’t need any guessing.
Watch how to make Cuban Potato Balls
