Turmeric Was Healing Long Before It Was a Latte
Somewhere around 2015, I walked into a café in Austin and saw a chalkboard sign that said, “Try our Golden…
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Ghee Is a Feeling, Not Just a Fat
There’s a certain sound that tells you something magical is about to happen in an Indian kitchen. Not the sizzle…
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The Spice That Knows Everything: A Life with Jeera
Some ingredients in the kitchen demand attention. They arrive with color, smell, and drama—cloves that punch, chilies that shout, mustard…
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Lunchbox Diplomacy: When Office Dabbas Become Icebreakers
My first real job wasn’t glamorous. It involved spreadsheets, shared desks, and air-conditioning that was either absent or arctic. But…
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The Secret Compartment in My Mom’s Tiffin
My mother’s tiffin was a stainless-steel totem pole. Four-tiered. Clasped tighter than my childhood secrets. Each dabba had a designated…
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Refilling the Dabba: Food as a Loop, Not a Line
In my childhood kitchen in Mumbai, there were no empty containers. Only ones waiting to be refilled. The rice tin,…
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The Jar That Holds Only Diwali Sweets
There’s a jar in my mother’s kitchen that sits untouched for 358 days a year. Round, dented at the edges,…
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Temple Coconuts and Leaf Bowls: Edible, Compostable, Devotional
In a world racing toward biodegradable everything, India has been quietly eating, praying, and composting its way through life for…
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The Plastic Box Era: When Moms Switched from Steel to Tupperware
There was a time when our kitchen shelves gleamed with steel. Rows of dabbas—round, sturdy, stackable. You could drop them,…
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Don’t Touch the Pickle Jar
In every Indian kitchen—usually on the highest shelf, in a sunlit corner or behind an intimidating steel mesh—sits a jar…