journal - On Eating

Of biscuits, broken and whole <br>Volume 3 | Issue 10 [February 2024]

Of biscuits, broken and whole
Volume 3 | Issue 10 [February 2024]

At the window of a ground floor flat in Calcutta (this was 1966), a very small child with big eyes sits, biting into a thin arrowroot biscuit. She is engrossed in the life bustling right outside the window. When the crow alights onto the window sill, she freezes. The crow is as large as she is. In a blink, the bird has grabbed the biscuit through the window grille and has made its ... — Manjari Chakravarti

Onam Sadhya <br>Volume 3 | Issue 9 [January 2024]

Onam Sadhya
Volume 3 | Issue 9 [January 2024]

What can a Malayali writer think about when asked to write about food and eating? The answer is, inevitably, the Onam festival and its famous feast, the sadhya. A typical image the advent of Onam evokes is that of the sumptuous Malayali sadhya spread out over fresh green plantain leaves, packed with colours as vivid as the shades on a Kathakali actor’s elaborate costume and ... — Shashi Tharoor

ഓണം സദ്യ <br>Volume 3 | Issue 9 [January 2024]

ഓണം സദ്യ
Volume 3 | Issue 9 [January 2024]

ആഹാരത്തെക്കുറിച്ച്, ശാപ്പാടിനെക്കുറിച്ച് എഴുതണമെന്നു പറഞ്ഞാൽ മലയാളിയായ ഒരു എഴുത്തുകാരന് എന്താണ് ഓർമ്മവരിക? ഒരു സംശയവുമില്ല, ഓണവും അതോടൊപ്പമുള്ള ഓണസ്സദ്യയുടെ പെരുമയും എന്നുതന്നെയാണ് ... — ശശി തരൂർ

ओणम सद्या <br>वर्ष 3 | अंक 9 [ जनवरी 2024 ]

ओणम सद्या
वर्ष 3 | अंक 9 [ जनवरी 2024 ]

अगर किसी मलयाली लेखक से कहा जाए कि वह खान-पान के बारे में लिखे, तो वह क्या सोचेगा? अनिवार्यतः इसका उत्तर है, ओणम का त्योहार और उसका सबसे प्रसिद्ध भोज- सद्या ! ओणम आने वाला है, यह अहसास होते ही मन में जो सबसे ख़ास छवि बनती है, वह है केले के ताज़ा पत्ते पर बिछा हुआ शानदार मलयाली सद्या, जिसमें इतने विविध रंग होते हैं, ... — शशि थरूर

Ambedkar and Food <br>Volume 3 | Issue 8 [December 2023]

Ambedkar and Food
Volume 3 | Issue 8 [December 2023]

A deep interest in food is not something one would immediately associate with B.R. Ambedkar, but from accounts of people who were close to him, we know that he liked to eat well. From his Marathi biographer, C.B. Khairmode, we know that he loved bombil chutney—dried Bombay Duck, roasted ... — Ashok Gopal

आंबेडकर आणि अन्न <br>वर्ष 3 | अंक 8 [दिसम्बर 2023 ]

आंबेडकर आणि अन्न
वर्ष 3 | अंक 8 [दिसम्बर 2023 ]

डॉ. बाबासाहेब आंबेडकरांना अन्नपदार्थांमध्ये विशेष रूची होती, असं बहुधा अनेकांना पटकन वाटणार नाही. पण आंबेडकरांच्या निकटवर्तीयांनी नोंदवलेल्या माहितीनुसार त्यांना चांगलं खायला आवडत असे. आंबेडकरांना त्यांची पहिली पत्नी रमाबाई यांच्या हातची ‘बोंबील चटणी’ अत्यंत प्रिय होती, असं त्यांचे चरित्रकार चांगदेव भवानराव खैरमोडे यांनी नमूद केलं आहे. आंबेडकरांना परदेशात शिकत ... — अशोक गोपाळ

अंबेडकर और अन्न <br>वर्ष 3 | अंक 8 [दिसम्बर 2023 ]

अंबेडकर और अन्न
वर्ष 3 | अंक 8 [दिसम्बर 2023 ]

बाबासाहेब अंबेडकर को याद करते हुए ऐसा अनुमान नहीं लगाया जा सकता है कि उनकी बहुत रुचि खाने में कभी रही होगी । लेकिन जिन लोगों का अंबेडकर के साथ नज़दीक का संग साथ रहा था , उनके अनुसार, अंबेडकर को अच्छी तरह से खाना पसंद था। उनके मराठी बायोग्राफर सी. बी. खैरमोडे की मार्फत हम यह जानते हैं कि उन्हें अपनी पहली पत्नी ... — अशोक गोपाल

Bekang Um: All Wrapped Up in Banana Leaves<br>Volume 3 | Issue 7 [November 2023]

Bekang Um: All Wrapped Up in Banana Leaves
Volume 3 | Issue 7 [November 2023]

I watch my mother scrape off bits of sticky, pungent bekang um from a spoon onto a lush banana leaf and then pass it to me to wrap up with a piece of string. No verbal communication necessary, our hands move in silent synchrony. The ritual of preparing bekang um, or fermented soybean, has cemented itself as part of my upbringing, ... — Lalhriatzuali Bungsut

The Jitiya Fast <br>Volume 3 | Issue 7 [November 2023]

The Jitiya Fast
Volume 3 | Issue 7 [November 2023]

In Hinduism, fasts fall into three categories that overlap – phalahar, a fruit-based diet, nirahari, without food and sometimes even water, or alpahari, eating prescribed food with an intermittent fasting period; I have tried all three but it is the feasts that follow them, that keeps me more interested.... — Priti Saxena

Kasheer-e- Dastarkhawn <br>Volume 3 | Issue 7 [November 2023]

Kasheer-e- Dastarkhawn
Volume 3 | Issue 7 [November 2023]

I was about ten years old when we heard a knock on the door. A few men stood near the gate, asking for food. We were not rich. The coming of such strangers was a common thing in Kashmir at that time. Mostly they were bearded men with weapons. I remember their demand: Kokur (chicken), Maaz (mutton), Rogan Josh and Zumroo Thool (egg curry)... — Takbeer Salati