When I think of childhood summers, I can still smell and taste the distinct flavors of my grandma’s mango pickle: pickle oil slathered on a roti rolled into an afternoon snack, pickle oil mashed with potatoes and onions to go with rice and dal, pickle straight up. My grandma, who wasn’t fond of cooking and…
As I write this post, the global coronavirus case count is 3,635,483 with 251,577 recorded deaths and steadily climbing. The total number of cases just in NY and NJ, where I live, has crossed 500,000. Things are starting to look grim in India, too, after some initial optimism that heat might slow down the spread…
Any Bengali with a teeny bit of sunlit space has a potted lime plant. We brighten up our dals with gondhoraj lime, we juice up a boring meal with a wedge of lime, and no bier bari (wedding) is complete without a side serving of nun lebu (salt and lime wedge). So, it’s a shame that lime…
Believe me when I say that this lebu pata die bhetki macher paturi recipe is so damn good that I couldn’t even wait to take pictures of the finished product. They were all gone within 15 minutes of cooking. And that’s saying a lot because I am a food blogger; prioritizing photography over eating is…
I frequently get asked how to cook pulao, specifically, how to cook the Bengali style basanti pulao. I will be honest with you. I don’t cook pulao very often. Pulao, I think, is haughty and temperamental. It looks at the cook with disdain and judges them. If it doesn’t like what it sees, it sweats and…
Did you know that organic eggplants are highly sustainable with low water and carbon footprints? And as long as no pesticides are used, they cause no significant damage to air, water, land, soil, forests, etc. If you are trying to go vegan or eat and cook more consciously, this is a great vegetable to incorporate…
Aamsotto tetul die maach This is not the recipe I set out to make. I had some coconut sitting in the fridge, which I wanted to use before it went bad. So I thought I will make Goan fish curry with lots of red chilies and tamarind. But as I started prepping, I realized I…
Sausage and jalapeño mac and cheese This is by far the most requested recipe on my blog. This is also the recipe that I make almost every alternate day because my son LOVES mac and cheese. And what’s there not to love? It’s just pasta, lots of cheese and a good white sauce. The best…
When you are trying to keep overwhelming emotions at bay and trying not to crumble under the pressure of a burdened heart, the only thing that really seems to help is lots and lots of comfort food. That is if the bottles of wine and tub of chocolate ice cream are not doing their usual…
I have been getting so many messages from friends asking “what to cook”. It is difficult to plan a meal when you cannot find all the ingredients you need. So, the best strategy, under the circumstances, is to use whatever you have in your fridge/pantry, or, better yet, to repurpose leftover food. Allowing food waste…