

A postscript - the view from India
"an 'elsewhereness' that is aspirational but not imitative." Sharanya Deepak/Vittles When looking for ideas for today I found a reference to a Vittles Magazine article by Sharanya Deepak - A brown people's version of white people's lives - it's long but worth reading if you are at all interested in the fusion of cuisines in general, and the fusion of South Asian and Italian cuisines in particular. She is Indian and so writes from the inside as it were and quite puts to sha
Jul 4


Italian/Indian or Indian/Italian?
"Arguably, two of the most loved foods of all time, combined." Devinder/East West Pizza" If you think about it, Italian and Indian cuisines are more similar than expected: rich comfort foods with generous use of tomato, garlic, and onion." clicksngiggles/reddit The photograph is of pizzas on offer from the East West Pizza cafe in East London that Devinder with his wife Manpreet run. In 2021 in a competition run by the BBC for the best pizza takeaway in Britain it was voted
Jul 3


First to clear out - a no-brainer
"Just as a turkey is not just for Christmas – why should a curry simply sleep on a bed of rice?" Saptarshi Ray/The Guardian Inspired by my post about all the jars, packets, tins, etc that lurk somewhere in my kitchen I decided to make a start with this opened jar of tikka masala paste. Its first use was in a leftovers stir-fry last night - leftover stir-fry as the base, leftover chicken and leftover slaw. In some ways a real Nigel fry up. I decided there would only be a t
Jul 2


Vadouvan - will 2026 be its time?
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." [not] Oscar Wilde I'll begin with an aside - the quote above. First I just used the first half of it which I had a feeling was by Oscar Wilde, then I found Terence Eden's Blog which first reminded me that there was a second part of it and then told me in great detail why it wasn't Oscar Wilde who said it - the conclusion being it might have been a now defunct magazine - My Family Magazine
Jan 30


Indian cookbooks - then and now
"Books, even cookbooks, are written for a diversity of reasons and it is often more profitable to enquire why they have been written than analyse their contents in an uncritical manner. " Shylashri Shankar/The Peepul Tree I guess this particular post stems from one of those books on my desk - The Food of India - a large beautiful book which I picked up from the op shop for a song. Like it's companions in this series from the Murdoch stable on various world cuisines, it feat
Nov 4, 2025


From the street to Michelin stars - first recipe
"there is no such thing as ‘traditional, authentic cuisine’ anywhere. It’s constantly evolving." Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn - Michelin star chef Bangkok Before I return yesterday's book to a shelf somewhere I thought I should do a first recipe thing on it, as it will be placed on a shelf that has already been given the first recipe treatment. I also decided retrospectively, having researched a bit, to cover two different dishes here - the first and third recipes in the book.
Oct 17, 2025


Matar paneer
The dish above is not matar paneer - it's paneer pasanda - which means favourite paneer. I was about to finish my 'research' on matar...
Aug 15, 2025


Fusion or confusion? - two dinners
"a twisted kind of sense" Jay Rayner This is last night's dinner - simply called Fried beef kerala from my other The Food of ... series...
Jul 27, 2025


BIR - British Indian restaurant food
I wanted not only to learn how to cook Indian food correctly, but also really get to know how all those spices and other ingredients...
May 5, 2025


Chaat
"anything – crisps, samosas, leftover chana masala – can be chaat" Diya Mukherjee/Vittles I have been increasingly aware of late of...
Apr 8, 2025


Punjab - five rivers, five spices
No I haven't jumped from the Caribbean to India on my world tour of food. This is a lucky dip recipe which has led me here and there,...
Mar 18, 2025


Busy, busy, busy, - doing nothing?
"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings." Jane Austen It's been just over a week since I wrote a post. I have been busy,...
Jul 11, 2024


Last of the butter chicken experiment
Last night was my fifth go at a different recipe for Chicken butter cream - sometimes described as Butter chicken. Above are my version...
Jun 14, 2024


Chicken butter cream - the real deal?
"Who invented the butter chicken? None of them did. It's like asking: Who discovered fire? Butter chicken was probably made at several...
May 6, 2024


Nik Sharma - a new Ottolenghi?
"The goal with recipe writing – and I think this rings true for anyone who works in the food world – is to drive people to try new...
Apr 2, 2024


Variations on a theme - Madhur Jaffrey's butter chicken
"Can someone please explain to me how in the world Madhur Jaffrey doesn't have an online recipe for Butter Chicken, the single most...
Mar 23, 2024


Butter chicken cheats
Spurred on by that article about Cooking as a game I have decided that this month I shall look at Chicken butter cream, or Butter chicken...
Mar 8, 2024


Questions arising - a cookbook present
"Emma Freud: Because you aren’t surrounded by an Indian community in the UK, has your cooking become more anglicised? Chetna Makan:...
Jan 10, 2024


From murgh ka soola to chicken tikka
"There are many variations of this particular dish. The one here happens to be the simplest. I have adapted it so the cooking can be...
Nov 28, 2023


India and potatoes
"Potatoes seem to have become the roots of Indian cuisine, but India's relationship with potatoes is a little over 300 years." Armaan...
Sep 4, 2023

