Mukhwas: Indian Food Through the Ages

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Food in India has a long and glorious tradition, having been influenced by climate and geography, history and politics, religion and ritual, social customs and relationships. Mukhwas is a singular and personal attempt at untangling the various strands of this rich food culture and exploring the current state of Indian cuisine. While keeping in mind that the best food in India is most likely to be had in someone’s home, Mukhwas also delves into the theory that food is one of the great unifying topics in India. Despite its diversity, we Indians are remarkably intermingled when it comes to what we eat.

Rich with anecdotes, literary quotes and recipes, Mukhwas will kindle in the reader a romance with food and an appreciation of its flavor or ‘rasa’. The book also serves as a warning that we are as much in danger of becoming a puritanical nation obsessed with diet and with becoming the perfect Size Zero, as of falling prey to the lure and convenience of junk food. Simultaneously, however, a welcome process of rediscovery of indigenous food wisdom and wealth is underway in India, and this book will be a major contribution in that direction. As the interest in traditional recipes and ethnic foods increases, the time is ripe for an appreciation of the dynamic and multilayered marvel that is Indian food.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alka Pande

Dr. Alka Pande has specialized in the history of art and in critical art theory. She was Head of the Department of Fine Arts in Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her published works include From Mustard Fields to Disco Lights, a book that studied the folk music and performers of Punjab, and Indian Erotica, a serious purview of a genre often trivialized in art studies. Presently an art consultant with India Habitat Centre, Delhi, and curator of their Visual Arts Gallery, Dr. Pande also works as an independent curator and has curated a number of important exhibitions in India and abroad. She was born in Calcutta, but later acquired her academic experience from the universities of London, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chandigarh. Dr. Pande combines her study of the arts with an interest in music and dance, yoga and cooking. She lives in New Delhi with her husband and daughter.