Best authentic Indian recipes
As an Indian living in the US you are indoctrinated into certain things. You learn to appreciate beer, its subtleties, and the fact that it is completely okay to drink (just) beer at high-end wine bars. You learn that apple and cinnamon must always go together. You learn that pumpkins can go in desserts, even exclusively so….
While all my other friends are singing praises of the beautiful fall colors and posting pictures of beautiful skies and meadows all over facebook, Texas (at least College Station) decides to be a rebel, confusing October with unusually high temperatures and uncharacteristically long rainy days. I love rain, of course, but this whimsical, unsympathetic, and…
I asked my friend, Kate, what her favorite meal of the day is. She replied, “breakfast, because that’s what you want to eat when you are still half asleep”. Both I and the husband agree. Breakfast is our favorite meal of the day too. There is nothing more comforting than a table set with fresh flowers,…
Kolkata is crowded with pavement stalls of street food-nameless, squalid, obscure, food stalls made conspicuous only by the clank of metal spatulas and the smell of warm spices. The stalls typically have tarpaulin covers protecting the wooden benches that delineate the stalls. If you are a Calcuttan, you know not to care about the appearances…
It is sharat kal in Bengal now–a fleeting season after spring and before fall. A season of receding rains with the tranquil sun, blue skies speckled with nonchalant white clouds, air heavy with pollens, sideways sprinkled with shiulis and dried flower petals, and lakes and ponds encircled by kans grass–all of this occasionally ruined by begrudged…
For as long as I was in Kolkata (26 years), Durga Pujo had meant something completely different to me. While the rest of city worshipped, hopped pandals, sang, danced, dressed in the most colorful apparels, ate at seasonally proliferating eateries, and photographed the resplendent city, I spent (although I did all these too), willingly and cheerfully,…
This baked salmon recipe that I am sharing today is remarkable for several reasons. It uses a handful of ingredients, mostly things that are already available in the pantry. It is super easy and takes less than 30 minutes to make. It is super healthy AND tasty while being tremendously filling. And it is great for entertaining too!…
Narkel naru is a 3 ingredient Bengali sweet. It is like a laddo, except it’s made with grated coconut. They can be made richer with kheer or milk solids, which is what I have done in this recipe, but a simple vegan narkel naru made with just sugar and water keeps for weeks and is…
What’s the need to add another samosa recipe to the plethora of samosa recipes already out there? Well, because: a) this is an Indian food blog, b) this is a Bengali samosa recipe, which is considerably different from the samosas that you get in Indian restaurants here, c) you can never have too many samosa…
I discovered this beautiful farmers’ market on a casual stroll on a sunny morning in Berkeley (where I am visiting my husband). It was gorgeous! At least, that’s what any person who has only known a tiny stretch of road with makeshift carts flaunting humble supplies of essential vegetables would tell you. Fascinated by the smell…