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 …
[ Continue Reading... ]
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 …
[ Continue Reading... ]
The original, Marathi version of this article appeared in Loksatta on November 10, 2012 and can be read here. I got married on Dassera, and by the time I came back from my honeymoon, it was time for Diwali. I had always been fond of everyday cooking and baking and could manage a decent job …
[ Continue Reading... ]
My current favorite snack is a couple of crackers dipped into or topped with something. Non fussy, easy to put together, enjoyable, and filling. That’s what I need on a mad day of writing, juggling excel sheets, planning classes and meetings. I always carry a pack of diabetic-friendly biscuits in my bag when I go …
[ Continue Reading... ]
It would be incorrect for me to say that some of the traditional Indian recipes I have here are of tremendous archival value. They’re not–they’re what every family makes across the country and has versions of their own. What I do try to do here is, preserve some of my family favorites for posterity. Some …
[ Continue Reading... ]
Ghee. That quintessential Indian fat that must make an appearance as a cooking medium or condiment at every authentic Indian meal. I don’t know what arguments I should make in order to prove that it is a healthy fat, but what I can tell you is what a tremendous difference a mere half teaspoonful of …
[ Continue Reading... ]
Apart from the fact that Naarali Poornima is the day Coastal Maharashtra celebrates the coconut and that fisherfolk offer coconuts to the sea on this day to ask it give them plenty and keep them safe from calamities, I know little about its significance. What I do know is that on this day, every year, …
[ Continue Reading... ]
