Humorous, quirky and clever, The Non-Serious Guide to Bengali Food by the author and creator of the immensely popular page and property, The Bong Sense, is your answer to everything you've ever wondered about Bengali cuisine. Inside this guide, you'll learn, among other things, "the ancient art of cooking a fish", find the answers to questions like "what is a full-blown bengali feast like?" and find out all you need to know about the "mighty roshogolla". From the obsession with fish to firm opinions on biryani, the book also delves into the historical and geographical background of popular Bengali cuisine.

The elaborate Sunday morning breakfasts, the seasonal delicacies, the preserves that made available non-seasonal flavours - this is the stuff of childhood memories. Tragically, given the sheer pace of life today, it has become harder and harder to follow in our mothers' footsteps, to recreate moments of bonding in the kitchen, to maintain family traditions, especially when it comes to food. Sandeepa Mukherjee Datta - blogger, foodie and mother of two - strives to make this possible in her own life, and yours. This delicious book travels from Sandeepa's grandmother's kitchen in north Calcutta to her home in a New York suburb through heart-warming anecdotes and quick-easy recipes. Find out how to cook the classic kosha mangsho, throw in a few mushrooms to improvise on the traditional posto, make your own paanch-phoron. The new woman's spin on old traditions, Bong Mom's Cookbook is a must-have kitchen supplement for Bongs and non-Bongs alike. 'Authentic and enjoyable, clear and personal, studded with anecdotes that warm the heart and stir up your own memories of your favourite family recipes, Bong Mo's Cookbook is a delight to read. The only problem ; you'll have to interrupt your reading many times to try out these mouth-watering recipes!' - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Sister of My Heart, One Amazing Thing and Oleander Girl

Bengalis have been compared to the French in terms of food-obsessed peoples, as dining and entertaining are such an integral part of the culture. The book begins with a thorough introduction to Bengali culture and cooking, including sections on spices, ingredients, and equipment. Following are recipe chapters (incorporating a balance of traditional and contemporary recipes) on Rice & Breads, Lentils, Fried Vegetables and Fritters, Vegetarian First Courses, Vegetarian Entrees, Eggs, Fish, Chicken & Poultry, Meat Dishes, Chutneys & Relishes, Drinks & Snacks, and Desserts. Includes 180 easy-to-follow recipes, plus sections on spice pastes, spice blends, and essential tools, and sidebars with family anecdotes and historical and cultural information.

Bengal is home to both Hindus and Muslims, and her people farm the fertile Gangetic delta for rice and vegetables as well as fishing the region's myriad rivers. As recipes for fish in yoghurt sauce, chicken with poppy seeds, aubergine with tamarind, duck with coconut milk and the many other delights in Bengali Cooking testify, Bengal has given the world some of its most delicious dishes. This highly original book takes the reader into kitchens in both West Bengal and Bangladesh by way of the seasons and religious and other festivals that shape the region's cooking. Bengali Cooking is much more than a cookbook: it is also a vivid and deeply-felt introduction to Bengal's diverse cultures and landscapes.

Bengalis love to eat and so food is very important to us. Every occasion in a Bengali family is celebrated with food. And each occasion demands a special kind of food. Whether it's a wedding or a family celebration, the most important item on the agenda is always the food and the menu. Hours are spent in preparing the best menu for every occasion. A Bengali get-together is never complete if there aren't many items on the menu. The dishes in this book include our favourites from my childhood growing up in Kolkata. My mother was an incredible cook with an astonishing repertoire, and she picked up recipes from all over the world. Her specialty, however, was traditional Bengali fare, whether every day food or dishes for every special occasion - weddings, festivals and traditional meals for occasions such as Jamai Shashti.This collection of nearly 100 recipes, ranging from beloved Bengali dishes to Continental, Anglo-Indian and Mughlai fare, is sure to be the go-to compendium for all those who wish to recreate the tastes of their childhood, or discover a wonderful new cuisine. Most of the recipes are easy enough for a novice cook; however, the flavours are sophisticated enough to delight any palate. This book also contains the stories behind the dishes, detailing how different dishes are combined for special menus, and what dishes go best together. Whether you are hoping to impress your guests with some new exotic recipes, or have a craving for your mom's home cooking, "Amader Barir Khawa Dawa: Bengali Recipes From My Mother's Kitchen," is sure to become a cookbook you return to time and again.

This first-ever comprehensive guide to regional food across India takes you on a mouth-watering journey through the homes, streets and restaurants of each state, exploring exotic and everyday fare in equal measure. Be it the lime-laced Moplah biryani, the Goan Galinha cafreal, the bhang ka raita of Uttarakhand, or the Singpho people’s Wu san tikye, India’s rich palette of flavours is sure to drum up an insatiable appetite in you. Laden with historical information, cultural insights and personalized recommendations, The Penguin Food Guide to India is your ideal companion to the delightful world of Indian cuisine.

The guide to India is a useful handbook to an extraordinary country. The introductory colour section includes photography of the country's many highlights in the 42 Things Not To Miss section, from boating on the backwaters of Kerala to taking in a cricket match at the Oval Maiden in Mumbai. It provides comprehensive accounts of every attraction from the vibrant cities and elaborate temples to Himalayan peaks and palm-fringed beaches. There is also practical advice on activities as diverse as camel trekking in the Rajasthan desert, rafting on the Indus and hiking through the lunar landscapes of Ladakh. The listings sections provide hundreds of insider reviews of the best hotels, hostels, restaurants, bars, shops and museums in every city and village. The authors also give an informed insight into India's history, politics, religion, music and cinema, providing a valuable context to the reader's trip.

This new study from Ben Highmore looks at the seemingly banal world of objects, work, daily media, and food, and finds there a scintillating array of passionate experience. Through a series of case studies, and building on his previous work on the everyday, Highmore examines our relationship to familiar objects (a favourite chair), repetitive work (housework, typing), media (distracted television viewing and radio listening) and food (specifically the food of multicultural Britain). A chair allows him to consider the history of flat-pack furniture as well as the lively presence of inorganic ‘stuff’ in our daily lives. Distracted television watching and radio listening becomes one of the preconditions for experiencing wonder through the media. Ordinary Lives links the concrete study of routine existence to theoretical reflection on everyday life. The book discusses philosophers such as Jacques Rancière, William James and David Hume and combines them with autobiographical testimonies, historical research and the analysis of popular culture to investigate the minutiae of day-to-day life. Highmore argues that aesthetic experience is embedded in the mundane sensory world of everyday life. He asks the reader to reconsider the negative associations of habit and routine, focusing specifically on the intrinsic ambiguity of habit (habit, we find out, is both rigid and adaptive). Rather than ask ‘what does everyday life mean?’ this book asks ‘what does everyday life feel like and how do our sensual, emotional and temporal experiences interconnect and intersect?’ Ordinary Lives is an accessible, animated and engaging book that is ideally suited to both students and researchers working in cultural studies, media and communication and sociology.