A Cookbook, A Memoir, A Novel

A COOKBOOK...

The best gifts

When I met up with my blog friend H in Chennai this summer, she brought me sweet gifts- a bar of trendy Dubai chocolate (it was delicious, the tiny piece that my kids let me eat) and a wonderful cookbook called Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens by Saee Koranne-Khandekar, published in 2019. 

There is a paucity of Marathi cookbooks written in English and this book fills the niche beautifully. I don't know Saee personally but I think she was a food blogger before (or while?) she started writing cookbooks and launching a full-fledged culinary career. 

This is way more than a cookbook and I'm delighted to have it on my shelf. Along with dozens of recipes, Saee has written well-researched and informative sections on regions of Maharashtra and cuisines of different communities in this state. I haven't even read all of the book yet- I will savor it slowly- but I'll mention a couple of sections that caught my eye that explain aspects of food and culture in this part of India. One is called "Food for widows" with a touching story from the author's distant relative. The other is "Taste Crafts" which describes traditions around edible crafting- I have my own memories of these. Do seek out this book- it is a gem! 

I wanted to try out a recipe from Pangat and the kothimbir vadi (savory cilantro squares) caught my eye. I have a recipe for this but Saee's recipe calls for soaked and ground chana dal instead of using besan which I typically use for the batter.

You soak chana dal. Then grind it coarsely with cumin seeds and a bit of green chili. Add a little besan, rice flour, salt, a bit of baking soda, sugar and oil, and of course, minced cilantro. Steam until the batter is cooked through. Cool and cut squares and shallow-fry them.

My results were fair. I followed the recipe amounts exactly except for using far fewer green chilies. I should have used a food processor rather than the blender to make a coarse paste. It took me much longer than I expected to steam this in the instant pot. I thought the ratio of chana dal to cilantro was off- next time, I'll use half the dal specified because here I could barely taste the cilantro. I ended up air-frying the squares rather than pan-frying them. Even with these issues and adaptations, the vadis were tasty, with a nice texture, and we enjoyed them with some khichdi. 

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A MEMOIR

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs, published in 2007.

There was a time in the 2000s- 2010s when an experiential sort of memoir was trending, when people would spend some time doing some sort of life experiment and then write about it- books like The Happiness Project, No Impact Man, A Year in Provence, Julie & Julia. 

This author, AJ Jacobs, has made his career out of wacky life projects. I was at the library book sale on "bag day" (where you fill a big paper bag with gently used books for all of 10 bucks) and picked this book up because I recognized the title- it got a good bit of publicity back when it was released. The title and sub-title says it all- an agnostic decides to spend a whole year immersing himself in the teachings of a religious book. You just have to shake your head at the insanity of it all- a Manhattanite living out biblical rules, looking for adulterers to stone in Central Park while his wife goes through IVF treatment. I am laughing out loud just writing that sentence.

The book is hilarious in places, and definitely entertaining overall. It is also very informative to someone like me who is entirely not religious. The author wonders if his kid would be better behaved if he was subjected to a stricter religious upbringing (I have on occasion wondered about the very same thing.) He finds himself unable to take certain things seriously (creationism, for example) while finding beauty and peace in other traditions (the Sabbath, for example.) I will be looking for other books by this author when I need a dose of infotainment. 

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A NOVEL...

A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar, published in 2025. This book was recommended by my running buddy K and I borrowed it from the library. It is a fairly short novel, about 200 pages long, set in near-future Kolkota in a climate dystopia scenario, the genre sometimes called climate fiction or cli-fi. Alternating floods and famine ravage the city and people are getting increasingly desperate. 

The story takes place over the course of a single week. Ma is packing up her house and moving at the end of the week to the US as a climate refugee, along with her toddler daughter and elderly father. And then- their precious passports holding the coveted climate visas are stolen. The story follows her desperate attempts to find the lost passports and her story intertwines with that of the young thief who is fighting his own battle to survive.

The story is unrelentingly bleak. And there are many plot holes that irked me. However, I do recommend it- it is engrossing and thought-provoking. This novel brings up questions of morality- in desperate situations, people look out for themselves and their loved ones at any cost, ignoring their usual values. There are issues of social inequality- while the middle-class Ma is grappling with the desperate situation, a laborer reminds her that in his low-income life, there have always been shortages, always been a series of crises. Now that it is affecting the upper class, it is suddenly considered an emergency. 

Just as I was finishing this book, I came across the crossword clue "breakdown of moral rules"- the answer is the word "anomie". Described as "normlessness", anomie is a social condition defined by the breakdown or absence of social norms, values, and moral guidance for individuals. When I think of everything going on these days, it feels like this isn't fiction so much as a warning of things to come. I think we've started to unravel and signs of anomie are appearing already. (Sorry if I sound ominous, y'all. Read the book and tell me your reaction.)

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Since our return from the long India trip, we have been looking for a dog to welcome into our family. This weekend, we met a sweet 7 year old shelter dog who looks like he would be a good fit. He is currently safe and happy in a temporary foster home. We might be bringing a doggy home over Labor Day weekend- stay tuned!