Mistress of Spices

Nirmala Narine surveys the world for the flavors and spices that infuse people’s lives—all to bring the exotic to the homebound gourmand.

The Taste of Home

Chef Suvir Saran cooks up a feast.

From Rajasthan to the Red Carpet

Rosena Sammi’s jewels are a cut above the rest.

Jungli With Shaheen Sheik

Two singer/songwriters perform at fair trade cafe.

Ten Years Since Dr. Salam’s Death: Isn’t It Time for Pakistan to Recognize Him?

I was heartened to read these two editorials in leading Pakistani newspapers this past week: The Daily Times’ “The tragedy of our treatment of Dr. Abdus Salam” and DAWN’s “Lest we foget.” The Daily Times piece opens with these words:

Dr Abdus Salam (1926-1996) died ten years ago. He was the first Pakistani to get a […]

Celebrate Diversity: Celebrate Christmas

Anyone else amused by this ginormous ad on the op-ed page of today’s New York Times (courtesy of the Catholic League)?

Mumbai New Malibu?

She has reinvented herself more times than Madonna.
Over the past 40 years we’ve seen her become a doctor, a Malibu beach babe–even a Unicef ambassador.
But it’s her latest incarnation that has really got our attention.
We’re talking about Barbie, of course—Mattell’s plastic sensation that earns the company an astounding three billion dollars in sales each year. […]

Newly-elected Councilmember Anu Natarajan

Anu Natarajan (anu4fremont.com)
Role model C. J. Cregg
Earlier this month Anu Natarajan became the first Indian American elected to a city council in northern California’s Bay Area. Appointed two years ago to the city council of Fremont, the Bay Area’s fourth largest city, she received enough votes in the recent elections to finish out the rest […]

Tis the Season

Come fall, I eagerly hunt for huge, ripe pomegranates at my grocery store.

Happy Cranberry-Colored Holidays

Cranberry harvest. (British Columbia Cranberry Growers Association.)
As a fruit indigenous to North America, the cranberry was around long before Thanksgiving. It’s a berry that adds color and flavor to some of the holiday’s traditional foods. And to some not-so-traditional foods. My mother has been known to stockpile bags of the berries in the freezer this […]