For a very long time now I have had this image in my mind. The image of a slice of creamy cheesecake with a buttery and almost crunchy crust, suspended in a background of soft blue, its edges freckled with fine dusted sugar that resemble snow flakes; almost as if it were hanging from the sky. This…
It’s 10:15 a.m on what appears to be a rather uneventful day. Â The sky is gloomy, uncharacteristic for an April Texas, and my house is empty (Husband is away for a few days). On days such as this I like to spend my time around the kitchen. There’s something about the aroma of warm spices,…
For eleven months you hear no mention of fruitcake in Kolkata, but suddenly in December it becomes the talk of the town as the whole city starts smelling like a giant oven. Suddenly in December the display counters of all confectionaries and groceries are lined with loaves of fruitcakes wrapped in parchment papers secured with golden decorative strings. In fact,…
Calcutta Mutton Biryani Recipe Two of my friends from school visited us last weekend. I saw them after thirteen years!!! The plan for the weekend was to immerse ourselves in the nostalgic retelling of old stories, reliving old school days, drinking bottles of old wines, and celebrating traditional Calcutta recipes (that’s where we went to…
Planning a hearty, wholesome, healthy, tasty and interesting breakfast can be difficult. No one, not even a kitchen junkie like me, likes to spend extra time in the kitchen on a busy morning. The inevitable and sad result is a bowlful of boring, sugar laden, cereals, or bland toast with characterless eggs. Yet, we all know…
Remember those big, round, gingery cookies that you get at the roadside tea-stalls in India? The ones that you dunk in tea and hold until they almost break? The ones that you get for a rupee each? These masala molasses cookies that my dear friend Kate made for me are exactly like that. Do try the…
Eggplant Fritters It has been raining all day today. I have been sitting in my appartment trying to finish some long overdue readings, intermittently sipping from a cup of once steaming tea and looking out the misty window. It is rather usual for these parts to be raining all day. While all my American friends…
Chicken Tandoori is undoubtedly the most popular Indian delicacy across the world. Yet, the history of Chicken Tandoori recipe dates back only to 1920. It is first known to have been prepared in a Peshwari restaurant named Moti Mahal (now in Pakistan) by an experimental chef Mr. Gurjal. The popularity of chicken tandoori is largely…
Tiramisù Tiramisù is my husband’s and my favorite dessert in the world! We don’t discriminate between different styles of Tiramisù (or at least we didn’t until this happened). Be it classic Tiramisù, cheesecake Tiramisù, orange Tiramisù, Tiramisù ice cream, tiramisu cake, Tiramisù at a five-star bakery, or the dry sugary Tiramisù at railway stations, we wallow in Tiramisù every chance we get. So,…
The weather here has been really great these past couple of weeks–sunny, cool, and breezy. Novembers in Texas are always the best. My friends and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and do a Texan style pre-Thanksgiving barbecue at the lake. The plan was to make a simple dinner of potato salad, smoked…