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“The bowl was warm, and I inhaled the comforting aroma. It was kesari bhath, a dessert Mom had learned to make from her mom, who'd learned it from hers in India, and on and on and on for who knew how many generations. It was made with semolina, sugar, milk, and ghee, flavored with saffron and cardamom, and studded with raisins and cashews. I tasted a spoonful of the thick, golden pudding. It was perfect.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Midsummer's Mayhem

“I let the sweetness of the sugar and ghee, the sunniness of the saffron, and the gently grainy texture of the semolina play in my mouth. It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory, smooth and gritty, fragrant and the tiniest bit bitter.
It tasted like home.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Midsummer's Mayhem

“My mouth watered as she laid a serving bowl full of steaming kothu chapati on the table. It was a delicious dish made from sliced and shredded Indian flatbreads, or chapatis, garlic, ginger, vegetables, spices, and tonight, Mom's famous chicken curry. The shredded bread resembled noodles- crispy on the edges and full of flavor from the sauce soaked into them. "Can someone help me bring out the rest?"
Henry and I went into the kitchen with Mom and returned with green beans with coconut, lemon rice, and a salad called kosambari, made with cucumbers, tomatoes, and soaked dal. Riya and Jules continued bickering, but they quieted down once Mom came in with a bowl of creamy homemade yogurt.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Midsummer's Mayhem

“What have you been eating?"
"Jalebis." Anika held up a bright orange, pretzel-shaped sweet similar to a funnel cake.
"Yesterday, we helped Dadi make chocolate peda," Zaina informed her, using the Urdu term for "paternal grandmother."
"And the day before that we made burfi, and before that we made-"
"Peanut brittle." Anika grinned.
Layla bit back a laugh. Her mother had a sweet tooth, so it wasn't surprising that she'd made treats with her granddaughters in the kitchen.”
― Sara Desai, The Marriage Game

“His stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and the aromas drifting up from the kitchen below reminded him of his mother's masala box, filled with all the spices she used to make their meals- zesty cumin, sweet cinnamon, fragrant bay leaves, savory mustard seeds, rich peppercorn, pungent garam masala, and spicy chilies- they were all tied up in a sense of home.”
― Sara Desai, The Marriage Game

“Domestic hearth (kitchen) in a Hindu home was considered an area of high purity, even of sanctity. It had to be located far away from waste-disposal areas of all kinds, and demarcated from sitting, sleeping and visitor-receiving areas. Nor could pure and impure areas face each other. Before entering the cooking area, the cook was obliged to take a bath.”
― K.T. Achaya, INDIAN FOOD

“The desire not to distress the giver of food, and to avoid the extreme austerities of certain brahmanas and shramanas, led to Buddha to turn down suggestions that meat and fish consumption be prohibited for Buddhist monks.”
― K.T. Achaya, INDIAN FOOD

“Daisy nibbled the jalebi. Fragrant with rose water and spices and dripping with heavy, sweet syrup, the spiral-shaped orange treats were her favorite Indian dessert.”
― Sara Desai, The Dating Plan

“On the basis of an offhand comment Aida made about curry, I spent weeks reconstructing a recipe by the world's best Indian chef, twenty-two spices compressed into a thumb-sized cookie that liquefied against the roof of the mouth. I candied summer's last fruits and presented them, tourn¨¦ed to jewel-like facets, on a length of velvet. I was all night tinkering with a pad thai, wanting Aida to experience, as I had in an alley of old Bangkok, this precise magic of sugar and lime, that species of anchovy.”
― C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey

“Separate pots of simmering French and Italian soup stocks...
Bowls of various Chinese spice blends...
Trimmed and marinating lamb shanks, a common ingredient in Turkish cooking...
And the foundation of all Indian cuisine- toasting the starter spices!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, ʳꪤΥ½©`¥Þ 35 [Shokugeki no Souma 35]

“Have you eaten dinner? I made some varan bhaat."
Now she felt stupid. Boiled rice and dal was the only thing she knew how to cook. But like her, Ashna had loved the simple comfort food as a child.
Maybe it was Shobi's imagination, but a sparkle broke through the weariness in Ashna's eyes. "Varan bhaat?" But she got a hold of herself. "I didn't have ghee in the house."
Shobi went to the kitchen and Ashna followed her with her usual tentativeness.
"I made some." Shobi popped the two bowls she had mixed into the microwave. "Ghee, now that I know how to make. I used to love the smell when our cook made it when I was little. So she showed me how to. Of course, she used to churn the butter from the cream first; I just walked down to the store and bought butter." Shobi put the bowl of rice and lentils mixed in with ghee and fresh lemon juice in front of Ashi.
For the next few minutes- the first peaceful minutes she'd shared with her daughter since she'd arrived- the two of them ate, letting the sticky, wholesome goodness melt on their tongues and stick to their palates and fill their mouths with that internal hug of a cherished comfort food.”
― Sonali Dev, Recipe for Persuasion

“Like everything else we'd eaten tonight, it took the ordinary to an extraordinary place- I tasted a thousand fluttering roses and a rain of sugar and the soft, spongy texture of the dumpling itself.”
― Barbara O'Neal, The Art of Inheriting Secrets

“Drawings on caves dealt with one of man's major concerns, that of finding food. Hunting with spears, trapping deer, stalking game with bows and arrows, and spearing fish or catching them in nets are all portrayed with an energy.”
― K.T. Achaya, INDIAN FOOD

“Modern practices, like fasting on a Friday, or missing the night meal on one day of the week, may tend to be dietetic in intention, but do have a ritualistic origin.”
― K.T. Achaya, INDIAN FOOD

“Dinner?"
"No."
"Jalebi ice cream sandwich?" he called out, referring to one of her favorite childhood treats.
Her betraying lips quivered at the corners. "No."
"How about a snack? French toast crunch? Scooby Snacks? Trix with extra sugar? Pakoras and pretzels? Roast beef on rye with mustard and three thinly sliced pickles with a side of chocolate milk?"
Laughter bubbled up inside her. He had done this almost every day to guess the after-school snack even though she had always taped the weekly family meal plan to the refrigerator door.
"Pav bhaji, chaat, panipuri...?" Liam had loved her father's Indian dishes.
"I'm not listening." But of course, she was.
"Two grilled cheese sandwiches with ketchup and zucchini fries? Masala dosa...?" His voice grew faint as she neared the end of the block.
"Cinnamon sugar soft pretzels, tomato basil mozzarella toasts...”
― Sara Desai, The Dating Plan

“I'll have the pork vindaloo. Extra hot." He puffed out his chest. He'd acquired a taste for Indian food after the years he'd spent sharing meals at the Patel home, although he hadn't had food as good in many years.
"It's too hot for me the way they make it," Daisy said. "I wouldn't even consider asking them to raise the heat."
"I ate at your house every night and your dad made his curry extra hot. I miss that burn."
Daisy's lips quirked at the corners. "He said it was extra hot so he didn't crush your ego, but in fact he kept the heat down when you were around. What he called 'extra hot' is actually a restaurant mild. His real extra hot would blow your mind."
"You don't scare me," Liam said. "I'm not changing my mind."
"Stubborn and ungrateful." Daisy smirked. "I'm going to enjoy listening to your screams of pain."
"Is that your idea of a good date? Screams of pain?"
She smiled, amused. "I don't date often. I usually just hook up with someone for the night.”
― Sara Desai, The Dating Plan

“Their food arrived and Daisy tucked in to her dosas. Liam studied his plate and frowned at the unfamiliar presentation. "Is this---"
"Pork vindaloo. Extra hot. Just the way you wanted it."
Liam scooped up a mouthful of pork, taking a moment to savor the rich, delicate flavors on his tongue.
"Delicious," he said. "And not too hot at all. I might even ask for some extra cayenne."
Daisy stared at him, her lips quivering at the corners. "Wait for it..."
Liam lifted his fork for another bite, but even after the warning, he was totally unprepared for the flaming inferno in his mouth.
He gasped, sweat beading on his forehead, pain screaming across his tongue. "Water!"
"Water won't help you." Daisy pushed her raita across the table, clearly trying to contain her laughter. "You need yogurt."
Liam grabbed the bowl and gulped down the yogurt in frantic slurps.
"It's a dip. Not a drink." Laughing now, she snapped a picture of him. "How's the asbestos tongue now?”
― Sara Desai, The Dating Plan

“Avocado and hummus quesadillas."
Liam chuckled. "What about baked tofu fries?"
"Batata vada." Jana Auntie's potato fritters, coated with chickpea flour and served with chutney, were one of her favorite snacks.”
― Sara Desai, The Dating Plan

“As always, the dosas were perfect, crisp and lacy, and the unusual chef's addition of the habanero chutney made Naina's mouth burn in the best way. She'd inherited her ability to tolerate spice from her mother. Dr. Kohli was something of a wimp in this department, and so naturally Naina and her mother only ever ate the truly hot stuff when he wasn't around.
"Never make people feel bad when you're better at something than they are," her mother had said with an unfamiliar amount of glee one night at dinner when her husband had been on call and she'd made the potato bhujia with enough red chili powder to make even Naina and her break into a sweat.”
― Sonali Dev, The Emma Project

“But you'll have to make it up to Chloe. She likes your dal tadka, paneer masala, methi saag, lamb biryani, and chicken coconut curry."
My dad's face softened. He had a sweet spot for Chloe and her daughter, Olivia. "I'll cook on Saturday, and they can have it for Sunday dinner.”
― Sara Desai, To Have and to Heist