Prologue

Rising on Monday morning, the fragrance of last night’s dinner perfumes the air. Wafts of onions, tomatoes and spices are reminders of the adventures that took place in my kitchen last night. As I prepare for the day, I revisit the moment when, after the long cooking process, dinner was finally ready.

Opening the cover of the pot with anticipation, the gravy greeted me with red swirls. The Punjabi moth dal recipe had been so good the first time I made it. Was that a fluke? Or would I be able to replicate the recipe successfully? More importantly, had the dal completely cooked? A quick taste alleviated any fears. The gravy had a sharp bite to it and the dal possessed an earthy flavor that had grown on me. Most importantly, it was exquisitely tender!

The first time I made this recipe, nearly all the water had been absorbed into the dal resulting in a dry dish. This time I had added enough water to create a gravy. However, the extra water had diluted the unique flavor of moth dal a bit. A trade off. The red oil floating on top had more zing than I had thought it would. But that would mellow with time.

Time…yes, time. I have been doing this for years. Constantly trying interesting new recipes. Changing, experimenting, adjusting spices a quarter teaspoon at a time. In search of the balance. In search of a taste that I imagined to be perfection. Successes and spectacular failures have occurred on this journey. From early attempts while growing up through some pretty questionable efforts from college up until the present, this has been an continuing adventure. Even when the results of my efforts are wanting, the quest for that perfect blend of spices, the ideal curry remains lodged deep within me, constantly pushing me towards my next attempt at attaining culinary Nirvana.

Most of the pages of this site are extracts from a book that I was writing from 2012 to 2021. The early entries were typically no more than a few paragraphs written after a good day in the kitchen. But those days were far and few between in the beginning. It wasn’t until 2019 that I started writing more often and in more detail. Sometime during 2020, with little else to do, I considered self-publishing a book and worked hard to get it to the stage where I was able to have a few friends read it. However after my own critical review and the major edits it would entail, I changed course. Self publish? Yes. Book? Mmmmm…no.

This site is the solution to my conundrum. It offers me a way to self-publish that will be much less intensive than preparing a large document for print, reproducing it on paper and then trying to sell it! I plan to limit additions to one story a month which will give me time to consolidate, edit and rewrite parts of the book as needed. I also hope to do some more writing and add a few recipes.

I hope you’re hungry!