Last time, we started our survey of the spring-summer Bengali meal, with a close look at the first course and the rice-dal duo. This time, we will explore the rest of the meal, starting with course the veggies, and one of my absolute favourite dishes. Aloo posto is an absolute delight. Cubes of potatoes are…
Author: Utsav
Part-time radiologist, full-time foodie
Rituranga : Basanta-Grishma (Part 1)
“Fragrantly scarlet on bare branches or covertly crimson amidst dark green foliage, the early flowers of spring arrive to signal an end to the mellow contentment of winter and to herald a brief, unsettling season……The variety of colours ranged on the trees and the fragrance of mango trees in blossom carried by the balmiest of…
Eggs 201 (Part 2)
Boiled, Scrambled, and Omelette Last time, we started our exploration of breakfast egg dishes by discussing the poached and fried eggs, delving deep into the level of controversy created by something as simple and ubiquitous as a fried egg. This week, we will explore three more egg classics, starting with the humble boiled egg. Thankfully,…
Eggs 201 (Part 1)
Poached and Fried “How d’ya like your eggs in the morning…”, sang Dean Martin and Helen O’Connell in a rather corny duet back in the 50s. Indeed, there are a lot of ways you can cook eggs. We’ve had a two-parter on eggs two and a half years back, the Eggs 101 series, which was…
Pastry 101 : Choux
So far in our French pastry odyssey, we have looked at shortcrust and puff pastries. This week, we complete the trilogy with what is perhaps the most enigmatic of the three. This week, let’s wrap things up with a look at choux (pronounced shoo) pastry or pâte à choux. A choux dough contains the usual…
Pastry 101 : Puff
Last time, we looked at shortcrust pastry and its varieties, along with an overview of French pastry creams. Let’s now move on to our second pastry, puff pastry or Pâte Feuilletée, the base for local favourites like chicken patties and projapoti biskoot. Puff pastry feels magical, almost alive. When baked, it increased to upto eight…
Pastry 101 : Shortcrust
The word “pastry” has a different meaning in India and the West, which confuses a lot of beginners. While we use the term pastry to refer to cakes filled and frosted with cream, the term is used differently in the West, and infact, has two meanings. Pastry in the West can refer to the final…
Happy 2022!
Nope, no article today. In fact, from this week, the articles will be uploaded on Sunday mornings instead of Saturdays, so stay tuned for that tomorrow. It is a New Year, and I want to start it on the right foot with some apologies and resolutions. 2021 wasn’t a good year in general, and for…
The Roast Dinner Equation (Part 3)
It’s Christmas day, and time for the final part of our series on the roast dinner, and the final article of the year. 2021 has been a difficult year, especially in the early months, and I haven’t been able to post regularly. Well, here’s to ending the year right, and hoping for a brighter one…
The Roast Dinner Equation (Part 2)
In Part 1 of our exploration of the Christmas roast dinner, we talked about the bird, the buying, and the brining. Now, it’s finally time to get cooking…… Utsav: Alright, flavours. What are some of the traditional flavours used when making a roast chicken? Nodee: The baseline has to be a fat with some aromats….
The Gourmet Glutton 