Early summer is when the cashew trees bear fruit. And nut. All along the rich, fertile coastline of India, cashew trees are laden with a flaming orange colored, papaya-like fruit, at the bottom of which, a single cashew nut hangs. This is what makes the nut expensive–one large fruit yields only one nut! The fruit …
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Every Thursday, when the family would fast for the family deity, my great grandma would make naralachi vadi or coconut fudge squares for prasad or the offering to god. She would labor over a panful of freshly grated coconuts, often plucked from the tree in the backyard, stirring in clotted cream, milk and sugar and …
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When my brother and I decided to start our recipe video channel, we were greatly influenced by food shows from abroad–the extreme close ups showing off the colors and textures of the food, the perspective into which an episode or recipe was placed. Back home, food shows were (and in most part, still are) highly …
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Come spring, Radha kaku would try and find out if her sister, Auntie Evie had any plans of coming down to Mumbai. Radha kaku had family roots up North in Delhi and Bathinda. She would pine for the kale gaajar ki kaanji every season, and somehow, through this one or that, she’d get her quota …
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It’s been breads, breads, and breads for a while now. Let me start with the highlights: 1. I did a feature for BBC Good Food India–the March issue carries six of my favorite bread recipes (focaccia, multigrain loaf, Nutella pull-apart rolls, dinner rolls, everyday white loaf, and pita) and a small article on the science …
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This is something I first made a year ago, at least and have been making and teaching a lot ever since. It’s a simple bread recipe that got perked up with the addition of my friend Megha of i2cook‘s fantastic basil pesto. Megha makes a cashew nut and soy oil pesto that is fresh and …
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It has been “winter” in Mumbai and after the long and seafood-deprived monsoons and unbearably hot October, good quality seafood is finally back in the markets since November. My fisherwoman comes knocking every other day with glistening pomfrets, pink prawns, and slimy Bombay ducks. Avanee and I are tempted (and usually yield to temptation) at …
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