Texas has decided to flaunt Indian monsoon this summer. Apparently, dazzling orange and yellow cover laced with sun-scorched grass and barren branch embroidery are no longer fashionable; gossamer rain colored fabric with lush green undertone is. What’s best is that it comes with the right kind of accessories too–great lychees and very good mangoes. I…
Kolkata’s famous chicken chaap recipe Bengal, especially Kolkata, has a vibrant food scene marked by an assortment of complex food cultures and practices, a site where complex rhetorical struggles between the national and the colonial are played out. Here, cooking and eating transcend their functionality and become a site where the differences between cultures are…
“One lives and survives only if one has the ability to swallow and digest bitter and unpalatable things. We, you and I, and our people shall live because there are only a few among us who do not love raw onions”–The Wandering Falcon. I hadn’t given it much thought before, but this sentence made me…
I don’t know if you have noticed, but I have been away for sometime. End of semester, exams, travels, etc. kept me away for a while, forcefully. Meanwhile, Not A Curry turned one year! Exactly one year ago (actually 13 months) I published my first post–Calcutta Mutton biriyani. What started as a way to distract myself…
England and India are still engaged in a (tug-of-)war over a very important and interesting question. The internet is also divided on this issue. There are forums after forums devoted to its discussion, and to the analyses of the various possible answers. The question that has generated so much interest and disagreement among its commentators–even more so…
Malpua with Rabri recipe It’s Holi today! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the awesomest festival ever invented, here is a little context. Holi is an Indian festival of colors. Basically, on this national holiday, we dress in whites and throw colors at family, friends, and random strangers–essentially anyone but uniformed officials….
For those of you who are not familiar with the history, Bangladesh and the current state of West Bengal, together, used to be one state in pre-independent India–Bengal. The state was split into West Bengal and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1947 based on religious differences, leading to the largest forced migration of people in history. The…
For weeks I have been putting this recipe off, being completely at a loss for an appropriate story. I have no recollection of how or when I came across this recipe, when I made it first, or where I ate it first. All I could string together in the last couple of weeks are the three…
The ICC World Cup 2015 Cricket tournament is on. For us, Indians, this is the most important sporting event every four years of our lives. And since a one-day cricket match is about 6 hours of play (okay, Americans, do not overreact; that’s approximately how long it takes to WATCH an average NFL game!!!), it…
How to make the best baked rosogolla? Let me tell you a story about love. About Bengali love. About Bengali’s love for sweets. The fact is, Bengalis can die for sweets. Like, seriously. Their love for sweets is so intense that they will die from diabetes. In addition to the endless varieties of Bengali sweets…