Monsoon Diary: Reveries and Recipes from India

In MONSOON DIARY Narayan seamlessly interweaves stories of her life on both sides of the globe with the memorable meals that have punctuated it.Tantalising recipes for potato masala, coconut chutney, sweet idlis (juicy rice and lentil dumplings) and other culinary delights emerge from tales that are as varied as Indian spices: of her childhood in Madras, her college days in America, her arranged marriage to a man she grew to love, and visits to her New York home from her delightfully eccentric family. A loving homage to Indian culture and cuisine, as well as the power of food to break through any barrier, Narayan's memoir is populated with unforgettable characters like Narayan's irrepressible father, the milkman Raju (who names his beloved cows after his wives), a New York city taxi driver who insists his wife prepare a 'proper' Indian meal for a homesick Shoba and the iron-man who daily sets up shop in her front yard, picking up red hot coals in his bare hands. In fact MONSOON DIARY's extended family is so vividly and affectionately detailed that you feel you could drop in for idlis and coffee if you were ever in Madras, Kerala, New York or Florida.