RALEIGH, N.C. — As a child growing up in Chandigarh, India, the chef Cheetie Kumar knew that Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, was approaching by the aromas emanating from the kitchen. She remembers catching the scent of whole milk simmered with freshly cracked cardamom and carrots in the air as she ran outside to play.

“I cannot tell you what I was playing or whom I was playing with,” Ms. Kumar said. “But those smells are with me to this day.”

At Garland, the restaurant in downtown Raleigh she opened with her husband, Paul Siler, in 2013 , Ms. Kumar makes Indian and pan-Asian food with a vibrant North Carolina slant . A self-taught cook, she thrives by uniting global flavors and erasing the geographic boundaries of ingredients and techniques.

Her food is nuanced and edgy , and so is she: Ms. Kumar moonlights as the lead guitarist for a rock band, Birds of Avalon. “It’s a creative outlet as well as a source of creativity,” she said.