You have read about our Bengali Food Bloggers Interview. We did a set of 6 interviews with various stars of the Bengali Food arena. Its been almost eighteen months and so we just thought of adding some more new names to the club. So,  to  start with here’s Kalyan Karmakar from Finely Chopped.

About Kalyan

He is a Bengali who moved to Mumbai more than a decade back.

Grew up largely at Calcutta and was at UK and Iran before that. Just like most Bengali he loves food, loves to write, loves to chat, loves to pontificate and all of these came together in his blog. His blog is almost a personal diary where he writes about the places he eats at or travel to, the dishes he cook,s folks whom he eat with and people he meet as he eats.

The blog is now three and a half years old.

Do you taste-test everything you make? Who is your guinea pig?

Yes I do eat everything I cook.

Guinea pig? Well my wife. My friends whom I call over to our house.

Most of them, including my wife, have returned for seconds

Tell us about your most loved food discovery

Asian Food. I just love the food of the Orient. The colours, the freshness, the textures, the flavours.

Specifically the discovery of the food of Malaysia. I had written Malaysia off after my first trip there. I saw it with a tourist’s and business traveller’s eyes.

Having read this a Bengali couple settled there then, whom I didn’t know, invited me over to stay with them. I returned to Malaysia and as promised, Arindam and Sasha  opened my eyes to the culinary wonders of Malaysia.

Travelling to different places and seeing them through the world of food gives me the greatest highs.

That’s as Bengali as you can get eh?

With your prolific food activities, how do you balance work, blog and personal life?

I guess you always find out time to do things that you are passionate about. I write about things which are a part of my life. I look for food stories when I am out. Write about them the  moment I get some time. Often at night. It happens. I have not given it much thought.

Your favourite kitchen equipment/appliance

My mortar and pestle. I was looking for this for a while but couldn’t find the right one.

Then I went to Chiang Mai where I attended a cooking class. There were these most astounding mortar and pestles there. Asked the instructors on where I could get it. Went to the market they pointed me to. Haggled with a sweet chubby little Chinese girl and walked back to the hotel with my prized possession.

This mortar and pestle was made with stone from Kanchanaburi close to where the River Kwai (from the movie) is. I got it back to India after paying for excess baggage. Is the pride of the kitchen and I use it very frequently for making things as diverse as Thai curry pastes to fresh Italian basil pesto mixes

One ingredient that frightens you the most? Why?

Vegetables! My sense of confidence just deserts me when I am at Lallu’s, the local vegetable shop, and I often have to ask them to identify things for me

No red blooded Bengali man really digs vegetables so it is always a bit of a challenge for me to find out more about vegetables and play with them. In fact I have recently started a vegetarian recipe section on the blog.

My wife, a Parsi, is even worse than me when it comes to vegetables

10 must haves in your fridge

1. Good cheese 2. Asian sauces – soy, fish, chilli, sriracha 3. Cold cuts 4. Fresh water fish 5. Milk 6. Desserts (not there as often as I’d like) 7. Juices

Look honestly I can’t think of ten because I live in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra where I get everything at my arm’s reach so I don’t bother to stock up

What would you eat for your last supper?

Bengali food I guess – Rice, rui machher mudo daal (daal with fish head), alu bhaaja – thick potato fries the way my mom makes them, doi posto ilish (Hilsa cooked in curd and poppy seeds), kosha mangsho (slow cooked mutton). Loads of mishti for desserts and a chocolate cake

Which celeb chef would you invite for dinner? Why?

Anthony Bourdain. He has hung up his chef’s gloves and is a writer and TV show host now but he is my biggest inspiration. Would love to just be in the same room as him forget cooking for him.

Hope this doesn’t get me a restraining order

List your 5 favourite posts from your blog. Which one of these you like the most, why?

This is the point in the interview which reminds me of seedy interviews on Doordarshan and film mags of Hollywood playback singers or actor. Of the “yeh sab hi mere bachche hain “types

Well honestly the ones I enjoy the most are around experiences I enjoy the most. Good food of course. Great discoveries. Some fantastic people that I met.

I’ll try to choose 5 which are top of mind:

1. Baara Haandi – Mumbai
2. The phuchkawallahs outside South City Mall, Calcutta
3. The markets of Chiang Mai
4. My first day at Penang and losing my Durian virginity
5. With the Hendricks at Sydney, Sydney fish market

I am going to add a sixth because I just love this guy – Ustad the Jalebi- Wallah

Tell us about some of the people you’ve met while working on your blog

Well to start with I have made some of best friends in recent years through the blog.

I assume you are talking more about folks who are in the ‘business’ in which case you have Vikram Doctor, food writer from Mumbai, Rushina Munshaw Ghildayal , blogger and writer from Mumbai, Xanthe Clay and Maunika Gowardhan who are food journalists, bloggers and chefs from the UK and Anjan Chatterjee of the Speciality Restaurant Group whom I met at a book launch.

Then there are some very kind folks whom I have not ‘met’ but I have interacted with quite a bit  virtually – blogger turned author turned TV personality Simon Majumdar, blogger and journalist Robyn Eckhardt of Eating Asia, Marryam Reshii and blogger  food writer Pamella Timms, both from delhi.

Gosh that’s quite a bit of name dropping.

Other than Bengali Cuisine, what cuisine interests you the most?

Asian or Oriental

1. Recommend 5 food blogs (some Bengali, if possible) to our readers

Well here are 4 Indian Bengali blogs I follow. Ironically none written out of Calcutta

1. Bong Mom’s Cook Book
2. Kichhu Khon
3. Preeoccupies
4. Cook like a Bong (no really!)

Which leaves number 5 and that  goes to Eating Asia. This is actually my favourite blog. Has everything I like – travel, food, the Orient, great pictures, the personal touch, going beyond the usual…

 And finally, 5 fav festive dishes

Ei re, am not a very ‘festive’ person nowadays. Mutton pulao daal of Parsi weddings, Luchi chholar daal of Bengali weddings, sorpatel from Goan and East Indian Christmas celebrations, biryani from my Muslim neighbours post Bakhri Eid, birthday cakes?… can’t think of any other.Possibly because I don’t really look for special occasions when I eat.

 If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Sharmistha is one of the Top 7 Bengali Food Bloggers in the blogging arena. Sharmistha is an engineer by profession and of coursehas a lot to do to maintain her career and personal life. She started writing a cookery blog to keep track of all the lovely recipes she prepares at home. Today we bring to you the other side of Sharmistha, the lady behind Cook-a-doodle-do.

To know more about the authors of the other Top 7 Bengali food blogs, click on the links below:

1. Jayashree Mandal of Spice and Curry
2. Bong Mom of Bong Mom’s CookBook
3. Indrani of Appayan
4. Sharmila of Kichukhon

What inspires you to write a food blog?

Initially I started a food blog to keep track of the various recipes I follow. Gradually I realized I enjoyed the process of sharing recipes, exchanging ideas, participating in the various events. The whole process of cooking, photographing the process and receiving feedback from people I have never met was/is really exciting…though I am off blogging for the past month or so, I know I’ll be back sooon….

Who had been your inspiration for cooking?

My Mom has been my guru in cooking….though when I actually started cooking, I have been away from home. So it’s been more of telephonic tutorials and instructions that I had to be content with. I call myself a reluctant cook…my love for good food is stronger than my lack of passion for cooking!

Who was and is your greatest support(s) for this blog?

My husband Saptarsi. Not only is he extremely supportive and encouraging, he tolerates his hunger pangs and humours me and indulges me while I go click, click click…..

What was the first dish that you prepared and when?

First dish I prepared?…mmmm…..I guess it was a cake I’d baked. During the long break before joining college and after Higher Secondary exam . Of course Maggi, Omelette and tea were stuff I could do a couple of years prior to that!!

What are the 3 food blogs that you would recommend our readers to read?

• Sharmila’s ‘Kichu Khon’ – I like the stories and incidents she weaves around each recipe….and of course the recipes themselves!!
• Navita’s Zaayeka- Again it’s her anecdotes and style of writing…and the way she adds her personal twist to seemingly simple dishes!
• ‘Soma’s ‘eCurry – The Recipe Blog’- Her blend of traditional Indian (Bengali) and world cuisine is something I love. And the photographs of her culinary creations are a feast to the eyes!

There are many more I really enjoy reading….but since I have been asked to name three, I am reluctantly restricting myself!

How many cook books do you have?

5-6 I guess….i’m not good at following instructions to the T. And hence dont use them too often

What’s your favorite cookbook?

I normally jot down ingredients and procedure from my Mom and use them later.And whenever I eat something delicious at friends & relatives’ places, I ask them for the recipes (or ingredients/procedure) and try them out myself

Tell us something about food from your part of the world?

I have a blogpost on that……http://cookadoodledo.blogspot.com/2009/03/bengali-cuisinea-closer-look.html

What would you eat for your last supper?

Oh dear ….that’s a tough one….my favourite keeps changing all the time.

Which other food blogs do you read regularly?

That’s my blogroll copied and pasted and hence not in any preferential sequence

• ‘Soma’s ‘eCurry – The Recipe Blog’
• Sunanda’s ‘Delicious and mouth watering Indian recipes, cuisines from Sunanda’s Kitchen’
• Indrani’s ‘APPYAYAN’
• Sophie’s ‘The Back Burner’
• Srivalli’s ‘Cooking 4 all Seasons’
• Simple Indian Food- An Easy Cooking Blog
• Ashwini’s Spicy Cuisine
• Viki’s Kitchen.
• HALO’s ‘Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once’
• Sharmila’s ‘Kichu Khon’
• KHANA MASALA
• Dibs/Chitra’s ‘Chitra Amma’s Kitchen’
• Sudeshna’s ‘Here I Cook’
• Rinku’s ‘Cooking in Westchester’
• Health Nut
• Creative saga…
• jugalbandi-CLICK!
• The Well-Seasoned Cook
• Divya’s ‘Dil Se..’
• Spicy chicken burgers
• Cooking For Engineers
• Zaayeka
• Indira Mukherjee’s ‘Krishnokolee র Kitchen’
• # Tasty Recipes
• Mahimaa’s ‘Indian Vegetarian Kitchen’
• Kalpana’s ‘Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth’
• Sri’s ‘Me and My Kitchen’
• Arundhati’s ‘Gourmet Affair’

Your fondest food memory?

Oh several…..sitting on the terrace with my sister and eating kawth bel makha/kaancha aam/tetuler achaar.….

The suspense while opening my tiffin box during school days….to find out what ma had packed for my lunch box

Sunday afternoon lunch during childhood ….when each item would be a special treat

Your most trusty kitchen companion?

My kadai (wok), microwave & blender

What made you call your blog “Cook-a-doodle-do”?

When I was on the verge of starting a cooking blog, much much before I actually started posting, my daughter’s favourite nursery rhyme was Cock-a-doodle-do. At that point of time, whenever I would think of naming my blog, Cook-a-doodle-do would come to mind….then the poem (read it here) came to mind and COOK-A-DOODLE-DO was the name I zeroed as my blog name!!

Name three dishes (along with their links) from your blog that you like preparing often

• Roshogolla
• Bread Pudding
• Sausages with bell peppers and corn kernel/baby corn

Which cookbook can you not do without and which chef is your hero/heroine?

As I said I dont follow any cookbook regularly. And I love the way my Ma cooks….fast and finger licking good.

After an wonderful response to the Top 7 Bengali Food Blogs post, we decided on interviewing the authors of these very popular blogs. This post is the fourth in Blogger Interview Series. If you have missed the first three interviews, click on the following links:

1. Jayashree Mandal of Spice and Curry
2. Bong Mom of Bong Mom’s CookBook
3. Indrani of Appayan

About Sharmila

Sharmila started her blog, Kichukhon in December 2006, though she started blogging regularly since 2008. Her blog is an ode to her father, who as she says in her own words “loves good food”. In her blog, Sharmila writes about recipes without sticking to any particular type of cuisine, but also blogs about traditional Bengali food. Here’s an insight of the maker of the wonderful Bengali food blog, Kichukhon.

What inspires you to write a food blog?

Initially it was all those wonderful food blogs on the web.

Later I started to get requests for particular recipes or guidance regarding a recipe, from sincere readers.
That inspires me to keep going.

Who had been your inspiration for cooking?

Actually nobody.
Cooking, for me, was a necessity after I got married. It is only after a lot of disasters that I can say I enjoy cooking today.

Who was and is your greatest support(s) for this blog?

This blog is entirely my effort … with a lot of trials and errors. Of course am grateful to a few blogger friends who encouraged me during my early days of blogging.

What was the first dish that you prepared and when?

I really don’t remember, maybe some chicken preparation. Back home, during Sundays, I would sometimes try my hand at making a dish with chicken.

CLB Note: Her blog has 10+ chicken recipes. Check them out. And if you need more, here’re our bengali chicken recipes.

What are the 3 food blogs that you would recommend our readers to read?

1. http://aht.seriouseats.com/
2. http://sutapa.com/
3. http://www.marthastewart.com/

How many cook books do you have?

None.

What’s your favorite cookbook?

I don’t read cookbooks.

What would you eat for your last supper?

Steaming hot dal, plain rice and aloo bhaaja with a little ghee and lemon.

Which other food blogs do you read regularly?

There are some very good food blogs out there … naming all of them is going to be difficult.

Your fondest food memory?

That would be of the food cooked in open air improvised chulhas when we used to go for ‘choruibhati’s or picnics.
The khichuri (rice and lentils cooked together)  or mangsho (mutton or chicken curry) cooked that way used to be so flavourful.

Your most trusty kitchen companion?

My pair of kitchen scissors.

What made you to call your blog “Kichu Khon”?

“Kichu Khon” in Bengali means “A Few Moments”.

Like my blog description says, since I was logging about the few moments I spend in my kitchen, I decided on the name “Kichu Khon”.

Name three dishes (along with their links) from your blog that you like preparing often.

The Coffee Cake
Chingri Malai Rice :
Jhaal Muri / Masala Muri

Which cookbook can you not do without and which chef is your hero/heroine?

I do not follow any cook books. But I like Kylie Kwong‘s recipes, very similar to my way of cooking – quick, flavourful yet simple.

Well, thank you Sharmila, for taking out time to share your personal side for our readers. We wish you good luck with your food blogging experience. Cheers!

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]]> http://bengalicuisine.net/2010/blogger-interview-series-part-4-sharmila/feed/ 4 http://bengalicuisine.net/2010/bengali-food-blogger-interview-part-3-indrani/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bengali-food-blogger-interview-part-3-indrani http://bengalicuisine.net/2010/bengali-food-blogger-interview-part-3-indrani/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:40:23 +0000 Sudeshna Banerjee http://bengalicuisine.net/?p=2072

Bengali Food Bloggers Interview

This series tries to bring the personal side of the blogger in the list of Top 7 Bengali Food Blogs. This is Part 3 and features Indrani of Appyayan. Earlier interviews:

1. Jayashree Mandal of Spice and Curry
2. Bong Mom of Bong Mom’s CookBook

About Indrani

Indrani started the blog in Apr 2008, and till date, it has around 130 posts in several categories. Indrani is based out of Singapore and calls herself a – busy full-time mom of a 10 year old girl and a set of twin boys (2 years old). The blog predominantly features Bengali recipes, and sometimes, other regional Indian and western recipes too. Samples - Patishapta Pitha, Badhakopir Tak Dom, Narkel Shorshe Patol, Bhapa Ilish, and Broccoli Brinjal fry. Incidentally, the blog started at same time as bengalicuisine and has the same number of recipes as of this date. Call it coincidence, huh. She maintained a recipe index of the blog till August 2009.

Without further ado, we give you Indrani.

What inspires you to write a food blog?

Food is an important part of our life. I absolutely love cooking. So my love of cooking and learning new recipes inspire me to write a food blog, so that I can share my love with the world.

Who had been your inspiration for cooking?

My mom had been my true inspiration, who is a great cook. She can create a good food out of anything.

Who was and is your greatest support(s) for this blog?

My husband

What was the first dish that you prepared and when?

The first dish I learnt to cook is Dharosh Posto (Okra / bhindi in poppy seed sauce), because this is my favorite Bengali dish. I learnt this at the age of 13.

What are the 3 food blogs that you would recommend our readers to read?

There are many good food blogs which I visit regularly, but if you ask me specifically, other than Cook Like a Bong, I would recommend, (a) Sailu’s Kitchen, as she has a collection of great recipes (b) eCurry, as she has introduced me with so many new food and I learned so much from her blog, (c) Foodie’s Hope, I just love to visit her blog.

How many cook books do you have?

I have 4 cookbooks – one Bengali cookbook, one on Indian Cuisine, one on baking and one on Chinese cuisine (my fav, just after Bengali cuisine).

What’s your favorite cookbook?

I have a collection of bookmarked recipes from cooking sites and other food blogs, if I put all of them together and make a book, that’ll be my most favorite cookbook.

Tell us something about food from your part of the world?

For the quintessential Bengalis, food is one of the most important aspects of daily life. As it’s said, “Bengalis do not eat to live, but live to eat”. But don’t take Bengalis as an over-eater. Fish and rice, are the most staple food in Bengal, but hardly a day goes by without a Bengali eating some form of dal (lentil). Bengali daily meal has a good proportion of everything we need in our food. A typical daily meal will include rice, dal, some fries with dal, one vegetable dish and a fish or egg or chicken dish. Lastly a chutney, not daily but often. I think, Bengali cuisine is the most sophisticated cuisine in India.

What would you eat for your last supper?

For last supper, I would love to eat some comfort food like dal-bhat-bhaja (lentil-rice and some fry) or khichudi

Which other food blogs do you read regularly?

There are many good food blogs, I try to read as many of them in my little spare time

Your fondest food memory?

I don’t recollect any food memory, but I’ve fondest cooking memory which I absolutely cherish. When my mom used to get sick, bapi (my father) and me used to cook that day. My bapi only knows to cook dharosh aloo posto (okra-potato in poppy seed sauce) and dal (lentil soup), as those are his favorite dishes and easy to cook, too. I used to cut the vegetables and bapi used to cook. He used to show me every step very carefully. We had such nice time together. Whatever I learned about cooking so far, all credit goes to my mom. If she hasn’t pushed me to learn to cook, I couldn’t have survived after marriage, as I am living abroad since my marriage.

Your most trusted kitchen companion?

My mixer-grinder/blender.

What made you to call your blog “Appayan”?

“Appyayan” is a bengali word which means to serve your guests which I love to do. My intention to start this blog was to serve my visitors and readers with some authentic bengali recipes, which I learned from my mother, mil and grandmother and other healthy and tasty recipes I experiment in my kitchen daily and love. This is the reason behind the name of my blog.

Name three dishes (along with their links) from your blog that you like preparing often

1. Garlic Flavoured Masoor Dal (Lahsooni dal)
2. Paneer butter masala (my daughter’s favorite food)
3. Chatpata Chicken

Which cookbook can you not do without and which chef is your hero/heroine?

The above mentioned favorite cookbook of mine, my bookmarked recipe collection, that I can’t do without and my favorite chef is Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, I just love to try his recipes.

We had the first part of Food Blogger Interview series with Jayshree. It is the first part of a 6 interview series of the Top 7 Bengali Food Bloggers, which we came up with 6 months ago. This post is the second in line for the Blogger Interview Series and the lady this time is a very well known blogger, Bong Mom.

7 Top Bengali Food Blogs

What inspires you to write a food blog?

I’ve said it in my first post and I reiterate:

Growing up all over West Bengal, and some parts of Bihar, in a Bengali household I learnt one thing, Bengalis love to eat, feed others and cook (at least Bong women do).

So growing up amongst such a race it’s natural that I love to eat and to make my food dreams into reality have taken to loving cooking my food. I get solace in cooking, the comfort of the spices sputtering in the oil, the waft of the Jeera & Tejpata as they turn brown, the rich yellow of my musuri’r dal gives me peace, makes me calm and in this far off land makes me connect to my home.

I want to pass on my legacy of Bengali food to my two little daughters and all the other little ones out there who growing up in a foreign land will find a way to connect to their Bangla roots through the smell and taste of Bangla cuisine.

This is also for all others who are unaware of the Bengali Cuisine, to try out and sample the nuances of Bengali Cooking.

Who had been your inspiration for cooking?

Cooking was more of a necessity than inspiration. I didn’t really cook much when I was with my parents. I did love to eat and cooking back then was an occasional trial of the recipes in the magazines.

Cooking for survival happened when I started my first job far from home and it was pretty expensive to dine out every day.

Now I really love cooking, more so because I am so far away from home, that cooking gives me immense comfort. The smell of the spices, the sounds the smell brings back memories of home. It also lets me eat my food just the way I want. Most of the stuff I cook is Bangla Home food, things my Ma, grandma cooked at home

Who was and is your greatest support(s) for this blog?

Definitely my husband. He is the one who has to wait hungry, while I click. LOL

Sooner my Dad joined in. He even got me shaal pata’r utensils from Kolkata for shots. But then I shouldn’t leave out my dear S (my eldest daughter), she steers clear and is patient while I am trying to get the shot and of course my Ma, my most ardent reader.

What was the first dish that you prepared and when?

Don’t remember the first, maybe Maggi. But once I started cooking officially, I used to regularly make Dim er Dalna/Egg Curry. That is the only thing me and my room mate cooked and ate on most days

How many cook books do you have?

Very few. I like cook books with lots of stories

What’s your favorite cookbook?

I have been reading food memoirs recently and love them. I would recommend Ruth Reichl’s “Tender on the Bone”. I don’t think I would cook anything from there but the writing will definitely wonderful

Tell us something about food from your part of the world?

Go read my Blog. LOL

What would you eat for your last supper?

Bhaat(Rice), Musuri’r Dal, Alu-posto ar ekta pati lebu

Your most trusty kitchen companion?

My Magic Bullet processor, my dishwasher

What made you to call your blog  “Bong Mom CookBook”?

Coz I am a Bong, a Mom and I Cook and would love to write  a Book some day

Name three dishes (along with their links) from your blog that you like preparing often

Doi Maach, Musuri’r Dal and Kalakand

Well, that was Bong Mom for you.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Bengali Food Bloggers Interview

Almost 6 months back, we (Sudeshna and Kalyan) came up with a list of Top 7 Bengali Food Blogs. Of course, the list was with our personal experience and didn’t follow any standard procedure for ratings. Soon afterwards, we planned to interview each blogger in an attempt to bring their ‘other side’ to you.

6 of the Top 7 bloggers agreed to an interview and we emailed the same questionnaire to each. Now that we’ve received responses from all six, we’re starting Bengali Food Bloggers Interview series. You’ve known their recipes. Now you can know their personal side too.

The original answers have been tweaked a little to remove the typos etc, keeping the answers identical in spirit. The text is Italics is our own commentary. In Part 1, we’ll feature Jayashree Mandal of Spice and Curry.

About Jayashree Mandal

Jayashree Mandal started the blog in Oct 2006 with the first post on Alu Posto ar Amer Ambal. However, the posts became frequent and regular only from Nov 2007. With a pagerank of 4, the blog is fairly popular. Samples – Mochar Ghonto, Pomphreter Kalia, Pui Shager Cohorchori. The blog has a good blogroll list too. Also, most of the recent images have copyright notice. Good move to thwart rampant plagiarism on the web. Located in Kolkata, Jayashree also has a personal blog.

What inspires you to write a food blog?

I started my blog on a personal note to keep track of the recipes that I was trying out and making while staying far away from home. This was also a useful engagement for me as I am a stay-at-home mom.

Then of course there were few blogs like Cream Puffs in Venice and Tigers and Strawberries and our very own Mahanandi and Sailu’s Kitchen which are like true leaders to me who has also contributed to the fact of starting this blog.

Who had been your inspiration for cooking?

I do think it is my ma and ma-in-law who has greatly influenced me or rather inspired me to cook. [Well, a positive Saas Bahu chemistryJ]

Who was and is your greatest support(s) for this blog?

Support I do think is my ma-in-law as she has always helped me coming up with new recipes as I do think a food blog is all about good ,authentic recipes and food.

My hubby who is always there to taste a dish and give honest opinion about it, before I go ahead and publish it.

What was the first dish that you prepared and when?

If I can recall perfectly, my ma was quite ill for sometime. So the cooking has to be done by me . Hmm… May be when I was in 11th standard and I prepared simple Khichuri and dim bhaja (omellete)

What are the 3 food blogs that you would recommend our readers to read?

I do think this is very difficult, as there are many good food blogs, I would certainly emphasize to the food and clarity of recipe part, so my list will include:

• A Bengali girl in US
• Mahanandi
• Food Blog School ( a great source of food bloggers)

How many cook books do you have?

I generally don’t try to cook from cookbooks unless I am in a mood to try out something new. I have Veg Khana by Neeta Mehta, Non-Veg starters By Sanjeev Kapoor and last an old Bengali cookbook “Ranna Samagro” by Vincent Gomez and Bela Dey

What’s your favorite cookbook?

Nothing in particular.

Tell us something about food from your part of the world?

I have spent my childhood days in UP and then again I am a Bengali, so I have imbibed everything from both the parts, I like eating as much a Nimona with rice as much ilish macher Bhapa with garam bhaat. [Great variation, lady.]

What would you eat for your last supper?

This is definitely a light dessert like a flavoured yogurt or payesh or a slice of cake with a scoop of ice-cream on top

Which other food blogs do you read regularly?

I like to read

• Kichu-Khon by Sharmila
• Bongmom Cookbook by Sandeepa
• Ahaar By Mandira
• Mishmash By Shn
• When My Soup Came Alive by Sra
• Foodies Hope By Asha
• My Kitchen Treasure by Happycook
• Mysoorean By Vani
• Sailu’s Kitchen By Sailaja
• Enjoy Indian Food by Meera

And some International Food Blogs like

• Kopiaste to Greek Hospitality By Ivy
• Turkish food Passion
• Tastes Like Home By Cynthia
• What’s cooking By Ben

Your fondest food memory?

There are many interesting food memories, but then the hustle-bustle during Durga Puja and the entire way of spending the time with cooking, eating good food and enjoying with family is perhaps my fondest memory revolving around food and cooking.

Your most trusty kitchen companion?

This I am leaving it, as all are my companions.

What made you to call your blog “Spice and Curry”?

Don’t know, I was just looking to register at blogger and in a jiffy, it splashed and there I was working for my blog.

Name three dishes (along with their links) from your blog that you like preparing often

Think it will be Chingir Macher jhal, Kosha Mangsho and Apple cinnamon Cake

Which cookbook can you not do without and which chef is your hero/heroine?

Nothing in particular.

Anything you want to add which I missed out.

Just wanted to say, that one should enjoy cooking and serving the people who matter to us the most, instead of cooking things just for the sake of blogging. We are here, food blogging because our family has been cooperative and supportive of whatever we are doing.

I just wish we should not take things for granted. Blogging should be enjoyed and it is a sure way of de-stressing unless we cross the limit and it starts to give stress. Avoiding unnecessary competition and living in harmony is always a way better thing to do.

And last but not the least, it was a pleasure giving this interview. All the Best.

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