ABCD\'s of Cooking

Speaking @ New York Travel Fest This Sat

April 17, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

This Saturday at 2:30 PM, I’ll be speaking on a panel at the NY Trav Fest. The NY Trav Fest is a two day affair (April 20-21) held at the Bohemian National Hall and features tons of great panels & speakers in the travel and food worlds from places like National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Edible Magazine, Travel+Leisure, etc.

The panel I’ll be on is moderated by Editor-in-Chief of Brooklyn Based, Annaliese Griffin and called The Art of the Day Trip: Exploring New York Neighborhoods. I’ll be talking about what spots to visit on a day trip to the Indian neighborhood of Edison, NJ and also discuss some of what New York has to offer with regards to Indian foods and shopping. Joining me on the panel will be writer Allison Meier who will be taking the audience through a historical tour of Brooklyn.

You can view the complete NY Trav Fest schedule. There are also options to attend tours and cooking classes! To purchase your tickets for 1 or both days, go here.

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Posted in Events & Classes, Special Events | Tagged Alison Meier, Annaliese Griffin, Brooklyn Based, Indian day trips, NY Trav Fest | Comments Off

My Interview w/ Asia Society on South Indian Food

April 13, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

I was super flattered when Asia Society recently contacted me for an interview to talk about South Indian foods. I have been doing a lot of work to preserve my family’s recipes from Bangalore on this blog, in cooking classes and in writing for other publications so was very excited to hear that there has been a growing interest in South Indian cooking.

As a bonus, my interview was also featured on the New York Times Dining Journal blog under their “What We’re Reading” segment and in Bon Appetit, and the noted Indian chef, Sanjeev Kapoor apparently liked what I had to say and shared the interview with his community too!

All in all, I’m happy when I hear that people are becoming more aware of regional styles of Indian cooking and going beyond conversations having to do with just chicken tikka masala and naan;)

You can visit Asia Society to read my interview with writer Farisa Khalid.

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Posted in Press & Features | Tagged Asia Society, Bon Appetit, Farisa Khalid, New York Times Dining Journal, Sanjeev Kapoor, south indian cooking | 1 Comment

Chili Fig Jam

March 26, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

Chili fig jam was a recipe I came up with on a whim for the color-themed dinner I was invited to by friends Erin & Clara. They’ve hosted several of these special events and each time the color assigned to the meal is different. Guests then have to get creative and bring food that is the specified color. This time the color was brown. You can check out Clara’s site & Pinterest board to see the colors of past meals.

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Posted in Autumn, Chutneys & Pickles, Easy, Gluten-Free, Popular, Recipes Index, Vegan, Vegetarian, Winter | Tagged chili fig jam, fig jam, how to make jam, jam, spicy jam | 1 Comment

Speaking at Plovgh / Global Kitchen Event

March 21, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

This Saturday in Manhattan, I’ll be speaking at a Plovgh event in partnership with the Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture exhibit now at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and Jimmy’s No. 43. The event is about the history, development and current state of agriculture, from farm to table.

I’m happy to be involved with Plovgh and Jimmy’s on this event. Plovgh is an online farmer’s market run by my friend Lizzy McVay Greene and I have worked with them in the past for sourcing local ingredients for some of my cooking classes. Jimmy’s No. 43 is where I hosted my South Indian Harvest & Cider Dinner last year.

The event starts uptown with a tour of the AMNH Global Kitchen exhibit, which looks really cool. Here’s a video on it and you can visit the site to learn more about it.

The second part of the event is in the East Village at Jimmy’s No. 43, where a discussion will take place between farmers, distributors and people who prepare food (me!). We’ll be talking about the AMNH exhibit and how we see our part playing out with the current state of agriculture. In the work that I’ve been doing, I think a lot about the history of Indian cooking traditions and in my everyday am considering what types of agriculture I have available to me so I’m looking forward to sharing my perspective and learning about what others think on the topic. VipDubai

The third part of the event is an opportunity to try out some craft beers!

The event will take place Saturday, March 23 from 10AM to 2:30PM. Hope to see some of you there!

To buy tickets for part or the whole event you can go here.

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Posted in Events & Classes, Special Events | Tagged AMerican Museum of Natural History, Culture, food traditions, Jimmy's No. 43, local agriculture, Nature, Our Global Kitchen: Food, Plovgh | Comments Off

Cabbage & Paneer Stir-Fry

March 6, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

This cabbage & paneer stir-fry is my play on the popular palak paneer (spinach & cheese) or saag paneer (mustard greens & cheese), but made with cabbage, which is in season now, instead of with spinach or greens. When I teach my cooking classes, I always stress that Indian recipes are super flexible, meaning that you don’t have to get into a rut by using the same ingredients over and over again for one recipe. This curry is an example of that, and the cabbage actually adds a totally different texture, giving the dish a good crunch.
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Posted in Autumn, Curry, Dinner, Easy, Gluten-Free, Lunch, North Indian, Popular, Recipes Index, Sides, Stir-Fry, Summer, Vegetarian, Winter | Tagged cabbage, cabbage and paneer curry, cabbage and paneer stir-fry, cabbage curry, curry, gluten-free, palak paneer, paneer, saag paneer, stir fry, vegetarian | 1 Comment

My Guide to Local Bangalore Foods in Serious Eats

February 27, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

This last winter, I made a trip back to India to visit family. I was in Bangalore to see my mom’s relatives and in Delhi to see my Dad’s. This trip was a fun one because I was documenting some of the best vegetarian places to eat in both cities for Serious Eats

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Posted in Food Writing & Photography | Tagged Bangalore eats, best local eats in Bangalore, best vegetarian food in Bangalore, India, Serious Eats, vegetarian Indian food, where to eat in Bangalore | 5 Comments

Marbled Tea Eggs from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook + Cookbook Giveaway

February 21, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

Chinese marbled tea eggs from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook

The Chinese Takeout Cookbook is written by my friend and talented chef Diana Kuan and is where I got the recipe for these beautiful marbled tea eggs. I have been inspired by Diana’s work for sometime on her site, Appetite for China, where she is helping to preserve Chinese cooking traditions through her recipes.

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