Most people read the Mahabharata for ancient wisdom. When Salma Hussain reads the age-old text, she uncovers recipes for kebabs. Kunduazizi, according to her research, is a kebab which predates the Mughal period by millennia. Its recipe? The meat of a fowl, citrus fruit for marinade, crushed black pepper for seasoning, and spit grilling as…
In the days before Google burst upon the scene, I used to have a Dutch friend who was the second violinist in the National Philharmonic Orchestra in The Hague. He once recounted a hilarious story of an elderly Russian conductor who came to conduct a concert with the Dutch orchestra and needed to rehearse for…
In Part 1 of this series, Food Expert Marryam H Reshii took us on a delicious journey across South India as well as the Eastern part of the country. From Buns stuffed with bananas to puttu or dosas. from Kochuri to Ghugni, it was a glimpse into how our country breakfasts. This is in continuation…
Try walking past a mithai shop anywhere in North India at Diwali time. You will be pushed and jostled by milling crowds who may never buy or even consume mithai the rest of the year, but Diwali is inextricably linked with the sweet stuff. Of recent years, chocolates and macarons are threatening to unseat mithai…
When Chef Vijay Nagpal from ITC Hotels returned to Delhi from a ten year stint in Chennai, he was aghast. “What kind of a city is this where you can’t get breakfast?” he fulminated. I pointed out that you could, quite easily. And proceeded to enumerate a list of all the cafes that opened early…
I married my Kashmiri husband twenty-five years ago. When our entire family settles down to talk about the ‘old days’, meaning around 45 years ago when my husband and his siblings were children, it is almost as if they refer to a different place. For one, our daily meals at home revolve around rice, the…
Walk around in the Old City of Srinagar and if you are lucky, you might hear the strains of wanvun – a rhythmic tune sung by a group of women. Listen closely. You just may hear the rhythmic thwack of wood hitting meat. It’s a sure sign that there’s a wedding being held in the…
“With the advent of Coca Cola into Indonesia, the entire population began calling it Chocha Chola” chortled my guide in Bali a few years ago. In Bahasa, the national language of Indonesia that has 8844 named islands and over 10,000 more that have not been dignified with a name, the letter C is pronounced as…
The infamous cuisine known variously as Indian-Chinese or Sino-Ludhianvi is not alone in the world. It is but part of a continuum that extends all over the world, except in China itself. Chinese cuisine is not only the most popular choice worldwide, but has the inbuilt capacity to adapt itself to local tastes. Don’t believe…
It´s the norm that most hotels have expatriate chefs that arrive on two-year contracts. Some contracts are renewed once, which means that the chef stays with the hotel for four years. So, what would you say about a chef who has been with one hotel for an astonishing 15 years? That chef is Raymond Sim…