Storyteller, Quizzer, Marcom Pro.
Storyteller, Quizzer, Marcom Pro.
Did you know the term “happy hour” as used today for late-afternoon or early-evening discounted drinks and snacks in bars and restaurants traces its roots back to an unexpected source: the U.S. Navy? Around 1913–1914, the U.S. Navy began hosting…
Pani puri, known as gol gappe in North India, phuchka in Bengal, gupchup in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, is one of the most savored street foods in the Indian subcontinent. These small, crisp puris are filled with spicy water, tamarind chutney,…
Bombay duck is not a duck but a lizardfish (Harpadon nehereus) found in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, notably off Mumbai’s coast. Lizardfish are slender, soft-bodied predators with heads that resemble lizards and mouths lined with sharp teeth.…
The word bhujia (also spelled bhujiya) comes from the Hindi verb bhun-na, which means “to roast” or “to sauté.” In Indian culinary tradition, it refers to lightly roasted or fried mixtures. Bikaneri Bhujia is a legendary Indian snack that traces…
Jigarthanda is a chilled milk‑based beverage that originated in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The name comes from the Urdu/Persian word “jigar,” which literally means “liver” but is poetically and popularly used to mean “heart,” and “thanda” meaning cold, together suggesting “cool heart.”…
Kopi Luwak is one of the world’s most expensive and unusual coffees, originating mainly from Indonesia. Its uniqueness lies in the role of the Asian palm civet, a small nocturnal mammal that feeds on ripe coffee cherries. Civets are highly…
Cow’s milk contains several proteins, the most abundant of which is casein (which forms the structure of curds in cheese and supplies essential amino acids). One important type of casein is beta-casein – a protein that influences digestion and how…
Vada Pav is often described as Mumbai’s most iconic street snack. Ashok Vaidya is widely credited with creating it in 1966, when he ran a small tea stall outside Dadar railway station, where thousands of textile mill workers passed every day.…
Mysore Pak, one of India’s most iconic sweets, traces its origins to the royal kitchens of the Mysore Palace. The story goes back to the reign of Maharaja Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV (1902–1940). One day, the royal chef Kakasura Madappa…