Cumin

Time.That's what you don't have much of this busy season of the year. Including not much time to cook. Here's an idea: Prepare hearty, easy, one-dish meals.And make enough for leftovers, so you get two meals out of one cooking session.Fast black-bean chiliMakes 4 servings1 tablespoon olive oil1 cup finely chopped onion1 medium clove garlic, peeled and minced1/2 cup finely chopped carrot1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped1 tablespoon chili powder1 teaspoon ground cumin1 (14 1/2 -ounce)

Mangoes & Curry Leaves Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent Ajanta: Regional Feasts of India By Lachu Moorjani Gibbs Smith / 2005 / $34.95 Well-organized and illustrated, this book breaks down recipes into simple steps. Author Lachu Moorjani makes dishes that I never would have attempted, such as Gulab Jamun (deep-fried milk-powder balls in rose-scented syrup), look almost easy to prepare. Moorjani, owner of a restaurant named Ajanta in Berkeley, Calif., also aids novice Indian-food cooks by providing a shopping list for each dish.

Tom Spicer's relationship with his sister Susan hasn't changed much since they were kids. "She made the mud pies," he says. "I sourced the mud."Today, Susan Spicer is a nationally known New Orleans chef. She formerly cooked at Maison de Ville Bistro and now has her own restaurant, Bayona.Tom Spicer is a manager of Golden Circle Farms in Rice, Texas, which grows exotic baby lettuces and more than 100 fresh herbs for restaurants and specialty foods stores. When he comes pTC across a new product, he sends Susan a sample.

At first glance, The World of Spice (Kyle Books, 2004, $29.95) seems almost as mysterious as its title subject. Like a display of spices, colorful and full of secret potential, the book teases with beautiful pictures, detailed food histories and exotically named recipes. But as with a tantalizing item on the spice rack, it is not quite clear at first what to do with it. When I first flipped through the index and skimmed some of the book's 200 recipes, organized by world region, few jumped out as realistic cooking projects.

Traditional Indian food usually has twice the spice of what local Indian restaurants offer. To get the eye-watering effect some Indians love, you'll have to ask for your order to bemade extra-spicy. Here are some not-so-fiery but still delicious choices in the Mount Vernon area: AKBAR RESTAURANT 823 N. Charles St. 410-539-0944 HOURS // 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.Monday to Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday; noon to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday; noon to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday For something a little heavier, order the lamb biryani, $13.95.

Most of us so-called grown-ups are just like the kids. As much as we moan about going back to school, we're pretty much over our free-form summer hours and want to get back to some sort of routine. One of the things we look forward to is seeing friends and family we've missed during the hot months due to varying vacation schedules. A dinner party is a fun way to catch up. But just because we're getting back to our routines doesn't mean our festive moments have to be the same old same old. Ergo, our culinary exercise du mois is to fix a dinner for eight that's a bit on the exotic side.

Anyone with a passing interest in the practice of deep-frying, saucing and consuming chicken wings with celery and blue cheese knows the dish was created in Buffalo, N.Y. Pinpointing how the Super Bowl and chicken wings have become inextricably linked in the public's mind is another story. Maybe when Super Bowl M (1,000 for those who can't remember their Roman numerals) rolls around, watching it while munching chicken wings will seem as traditional and patriotic as turkey at Thanksgiving.

Cold and creamy, a lassi is a perfect treat for a summer day, especially when it's flavored with fresh, ripe fruit. Lassis, as fans of Indian food will know, are similar to milkshakes, except they're made with yogurt rather than ice cream. And like a good milkshake, a lassi is versatile enough to carry a wide variety of flavors. If you're like me, you tasted your first lassi in an adventurous moment at an Indian restaurant. Chances are the flavor was mango, which is always a good choice but especially now when fresh mangoes are abundant.

A shipment of Indian cumin seed contaminated with the larvae of a dead Khapra beetle, an invasive insect, never made it to McCormick & Co.'s Hunt Valley facility and was to be sent back to India, the spice maker said Tuesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists discovered the larvae and other seed contaminants during a search of the shipment at the port of Baltimore on April 17. The next day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that the insect was a Khapra beetle, considered one of the most destructive pests, damaging grain, cereals and stored food.

Elaine Slupe of Winchester, Va., writes that she would like to find a recipe for corn salad "like the one served on the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's Restaurant. It appears to have corn, tomatoes, onion, and red, green and yellow peppers, plus something that tastes like cilantro and perhaps some cumin. It is always delicious and fresh. If any of your readers have this recipe, I would be most grateful for it." Beth Edelstein of Timonium responded. She wrote: "I think I have the recipe for corn salad Elaine Slupe needed.