Pujo has always meant deep-fried food to me. In our family, Shosti and Ashtami are vegetarian days. We mainly make khichuri, and lots of batter-fired veggies or pulao on these two days. Eating vegetarian deep-fried meals on these two puja days has become a habit for me. Of all the things Mom makes, the palong…
This chingri maach bata recipe is my mom’s grandma’s, who I have heard was the most amazing cook that ever lived. My mom tells me that boro dida would take so much care to make each and every dish that her presence in the kitchen had a very calming effect. She fried red chilies, ground…
2020 (Every year) has taught me that 1. At the end of the year no one remembers who won which argument. All people remember is the dignity with which you walk away from a petty situation. 2. No matter what you achieve in life, there will always be some people who will say mean and…
Traditionally, Shukto (Bengali) requires a long list of ingredients. An authentic shukto has potatoes, sweet potatoes, bitter gourd, drumsticks, eggplant, papaya, plantains, snow peas, white radish, and bori (recipe on the blog). This means that it is impossible to make shukto just for 2 people. Shukto seems like an unreasonable choice for everyday cooking. Which…
Banana is one of the few ingredients that I prefer to eat when it goes bad (in banana bread). Every week I buy a dozen bananas, at least half of which inevitably go bad. And every week I make banana bread. Sometimes with nuts, sometimes with berries, sometimes with chocolate chips. Sometimes I add sugar,…
Grapes chutney with coconut milk Writing a food blog is a complicated and difficult business because it’s hard to find new inspirations and invent new recipes every day. But on some days magic makes itself and genius happen. Also, on these very days, words are elusive and hard, apparently. Anyway, long story short, I was…
Conserving food is the norm where I come from. It doesn’t matter how abundant food may be, using up every ounce of ingredients––even vegetable peels and fish bones––is the practice back home. This fish curry with cauliflower and eggplant is a recipe that I grew up eating. My mom would make a different fish recipe…
What is Kolkata style fish fry? For those of you who are not from Kolkata, fish fry is not the typical Bengali maach bhaja (fried fish steak) that has become a marker of authentic Bengali cuisine. This is rather the anglicized version of maach bhaja— thick fillets of fish marinated with flavorful herbs, breaded with bread crumbs…