You'll need a hammer for that!

Armed with my food Hindi, not a tool belt, I have ventured bravely into my Indian kitchen.  Shweta, in Gurgaon, inspired me with her North Indian home cooking.  Rima, in Naddi, convinced me I could translate my baking into my new home version.  Asha and Iendrani, my neighbours in Manipal, continue to mentor and encourage me, answering food questions, giving lessons in the ingredients, recipes and techniques they learned in their mothers’ South Indian kitchens.  My yoga friend, Shilpa, is my test kitchen taster and translator, plus she shares care packages from her mother’s kitchen with me.

The boy reckons food is my safe place, one of two topics I can always bring the conversation around to and find a way to connect with people, regardless of culture or culinary context.  Everywhere we travel I find my way to the kitchen, hotel kitchens and home kitchens alike, collecting not just recipes but a sense of community and purpose.

Now with a lot of trials and tribulations, the pressure cooker and I have come to an understanding, and the microwave convection oven has learned how to make my signature muffins, albeit with a local twist or two.

You’ll find my continuing cooking story at my new blog, Constans' Curry Culture  

As for the hammer ... it’s for cracking open the coconut.