In the vice president’s kitchen: What Usha Vance cooks in her Ohio home

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's wife, Usha Vance has Indian roots and this also seems to reflect in the atmosphere and dining culture of her home. In an interview given to a leading news website sometime back, Usha Vance talks about her family's love for Indian cuisine and how it is an integral part of her kitchen. Usha Vance, in an exclusive interaction with NDTV spoke with unusual warmth about food, memory, and the quiet ways heritage lives on. She recalled her children’s delight in forts and puppet shows during their trip to India, but it was in her descriptions of meals that the deepest ties emerged. From her grandmother’s chutneys to her father’s dosa, Usha’s words painted a portrait of a home where food is not just sustenance but connection; a bridge between Andhra Pradesh and Ohio, tradition and experiment.

Scroll down to find some of her favourites...

Chana masala on the stovetop

Usha shared that the Vice President himself has been adventurous in the kitchen, even attempting chana masala. In many Indian households, this chickpea curry is the ultimate comfort food - hearty, spiced just right, and equally at ease with rice or roti. Simple to learn yet endlessly nuanced, it’s a dish that allows a beginner to feel accomplished while still carrying the complexity of memory.

For Usha, it becomes the thread linking her mother’s kitchen to her own.

Lamb curries that travel

Among his experiments, lamb has become a favorite. In India, lamb transforms with geography: Kashmiri Rogan Josh steeped in warm spices, Hyderabadi curry enriched with coconut and chilli, or the bold, fiery laal maas of Rajasthan. Each demands patience, slow cooking, and a willingness to embrace intensity; qualities mirrored in J.D. Vance’s forays at the stove.

Sweet experiments

Desserts have also entered their family repertoire. From halwas to laddoos, Indian sweets rely on the alchemy of milk, ghee, and sugar. Usha didn’t list recipes, but her children’s delight was evident. Whether it’s a humble suji halwa or a pot of cardamom-laced kheer, these sweets serve as markers of celebration; small moments made festive.

Dosa and pesarattu

For Usha, food memory begins with her father’s dosa and pesarattu. Both are crepes, but with subtle differences: dosa, made from fermented rice and lentils; pesarattu, from moong dal with no fermentation required.

Crisp edges, soft centers, and a side of chutney or sambar - these dishes carry the taste of Andhra mornings, handed down from father to daughter.

Sambar, rice, and kura

When asked what an everyday Indian meal looks like in her home, Usha described simplicity itself: sambar with rice, sometimes paired with kura, Andhra’s vegetable curries. Whether dry stir-fries or tamarind gravies, these dishes are quiet anchors of family life; unshowy yet deeply nourishing.

The magic of Andhra chutneys

No Andhra table is complete without chutneys. Usha spoke with particular fondness of her grandmother’s skill: fiery tomato pachadi, nutty peanut chutney, or the sour-scorch of gongura. Even abroad, her grandmother insists on finding the right ingredients, proving that taste, like memory, can cross continents.

Food as inheritance

What emerged most clearly in Usha’s interview is the role of food as inheritance. A grandmother’s chutneys, a father’s dosa, a husband’s chana masala, each recipe becomes a story, a piece of family history passed to her children. In their Ohio kitchen, these dishes carry the taste of Andhra, proof that food does more than nourish. It roots, it remembers, and it reminds, that home is never too far, even when oceans lie in between.