If you have been following my blog for a while now, you should know that I share different kinds of dishes, not restricting to any particular kind of cuisine. However, with my cookbook, I have gone back to my roots and filled it with Bengali Food. It’s the food that I grew up eating, food that I learnt to cook from Ma and the food that always takes me back home. There would be vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, street foods, snacks, drinks, comfort hearty food, deserts and some long-lost dishes. Almost all the dishes will be accompanied with a photo of the dish. I spent hours discussing these dishes with Ma, jotting down notes and then of course, testing those recipes several times. I always knew that if I ever write a cookbook, it will be a Bengali cookbook and it’s finally happening. The journey so far has been an absolute thrill and a sheer joy.
A FEW DETAIL
I signed the contract earlier this year with Page Street Publishing. They are distributed by one of the “Big Five” publishers, Macmillan. A good half an hour chat with Will and my editor Marissa gave me a huge confident boost because they liked my idea of the book even though it was not a direct extension of my blog. And so, the work began. And boy oh boy, it is a lot of work! The shopping list was never getting over, props everywhere and my kid’s room wall was getting covered with the photos. Some weeks, we would eat the same dish again and again. Arvind never complained and he only became a much tougher critic to help me do better. None of this would have been possible without his constant support. We are yet to finalize on the name of the book, the cover of the book and few other details. But I will keep you posted as it progresses. I just submitted the manuscript and felt it’s the time to share the news with you. It was not easy keeping it a secret.
Now, to my all-time favorite Bengali seafood dish, Chringri Malai Curry (Shrimps or Prawns Cooked in Spiced Coconut Milk). This is one of those dishes that I ask Ma to prepare every time I visit home. She always picks the jumbo prawn/shrimp for this dish with head on! The tiny frozen prawn/shrimp will work too but the major amount of flavor comes from fresh jumbo ones. Of course, if the head grosses you out, you can discard it.
