Afghani restaurants abound in pockets of Delhi. They tend to occupy very specific locations like Bhogal, Jangpura, Lajpat Nagar on one axis, and the lane opposite Max Hospital, Saket on another. They are family eateries that offer a small variety of kebabs, a couple of biryanis and mantu: a momo-like preparation that is doused in…
A few days ago we had visitors to dinner. Nothing exceptional about that, except that rather a lot of mince was left over – an unusual occurrence in the Reshii household where, over the years, I’ve learnt to cook just enough because of an irrational dislike for eating stale food. As a consequence, I have…
Everywhere I travel, I like to see the fruit and vegetable markets, the motor spare parts shops, the back streets where printers have their presses and the second-hand clothes and books bazars. For, much more than the manicured centre of town, it is these areas, with their hair let down, that you will get the…
Have you ever gnashed your teeth, wondering why we in India cannot get great chocolate? Luscious, dark chocolate, made of real couverture with no compound (vegetable oil), wrapped beautifully. For years, it has been but a dream. Until a couple of bars landed up at my door last Christmas. At first, I assumed it to…
If you are a member of one of Delhi’s Facebook food groups, you will have seen a question sooner or later in one or all of them: “Where is the best place to find Kashmiri food in Delhi?” The good news is that there are plenty of places, on an axis from Jama Masjid, South…
Most trips to Kashmir are three or four days long: much too short to sift through a jumble of poor choices. This list is a recommendation of various possibilities in Srinagar, all in the realm of eating and drinking. Do bear in mind that meals in most restaurants are likely to be tailored to tourists…
Delhi’s best-loved restaurants are not merely those that have stood the test of time; they are the ones that have broken new ground at the time they opened their doors. More importantly, they should have kept up their relevance to the present time. For the last ten years, restaurants have been opening and closing at…
The best part about Paradise is that you can carry it around in your head. I was delighted when a shopkeeper in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul called me Hema Malini. Not, I hasten to add, because I am a fan of that actress, nor indeed because I have any pretensions of looking like a…
It was my very first meal at the family homestead in Srinagar. We were all seated on the thickly carpeted floor, with copper bowls in front of us covered entirely with a fine layer of tin. The soft, warm glow of copper was lost, alas, but the gleam of tin in the family kitchen made…
Goa with its unique assortment of spices and veggies opens up a whole new world of indigenous cuisine It was hot and overcrowded in the Friday market at Mapusa. On tiny squares of gunny sacks that lined the pavements and roads, hundreds of village ladies had staked out their space to sell a bewildering assortment…