To bite into a mango and get that sweet, sticky juice squirting all over your chin and clothes is to drift back into blissful childhood, into days that seemed to have no beginning and no end.

Chef Peter Beck of Benares Restaurant in New York shares his recipe for Sevai Tomato Kurma – mussels scallops, rock shrimp, fish and crab claws tossed in garlic tomato sauce over Iddi Appam, Indian-style rice noodles.

Zambar, a restaurant in Vasant Kunj in New Delhi, is an exploration into South Indian coastal cuisine, highlighting the catch of the seas – prawns, fish and crab with authentic recipes from the four southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. The dishes are a union between fresh seafood and pungent spices and ingredients including lime, tamarind, chilies, peppers and coconut milk. So till you can get to go and try Zambar yourself, here are two recipes for you from the chef to try at home.

New York’s own rock star of an Indian chef, Vikas Khanna, is certainly going places. India, to be precise!

He is the new host and judge of Star Plus TV’s popular show Master Chef India Season 2 and is going to get a lot of eyeballs with the show which can be seen in India and the diaspora. The second season showcases different cooking styles and presentation of food, using Vikas Khanna’s food philosophy of fresh ingredients juxtaposed in innovative ways.

A no-turkey Thanksgiving should make both vegetarians and the turkeys very happy!
As each successive wave of immigrants come to America, they introduce their own well-loved foods to the Thanksgiving table and in the process create new traditions.

Chef Hari Nayak, author of ‘My Indian Kitchen’ shares three delicacies from his book – two of them can be complete meals in themselves – one for the non-vegetarians – Coconut Shrimp Biryani, from Goa. The other is a rice dish much beloved by vegetarians – Black Eyed Peas and Rice or Lobiya Pullao. And what better ending to a meal than to top this satisfying meal with Pistachio Mango Ice Cream?

Indian cooking fans! Welcome to Lassi with Lavina’s brand new blog which flies you to quite another universe – Foodiesphere! The Internet has unleashed thousands and thousands of food blogs, all dedicated to good eats and good cooks. Each has a different agenda and different strengths so we thought we’d scout out the best ones for our readers and share some very special, personalized recipes with you. Each week a new blog – and a new passionate food blogger! Meet Alka Keswani of Sindhi Rasoi.

“This dish is one of the favorites on our appetizer list at Junoon. Its origins are in Goan cooking which evolved with considerable influence from the Portuguese who used Goa as a trading port for many years” Chef Vikas Khanna of Junoon

In ‘Ajanta – Regional Feasts of India’ cookbook author and restaurateur Lachu Moorjani explores the diverse foods of India, with regional feasts from different states. Here he shares some recipes from different regions of India. Come hungry!

This is the tale of The Three Chocolatiers. Once upon a time there was a hotshot financial wiz, a smart biochemist who loved to bake, and a savvy chef who had sailed the high seas on the Q E 2, each going their own way.

A steamy passion for chocolate brought the three together to create Co Co Sala, a foodie kingdom dripping in high-end chocolate, coffee and cocktails. This attracted legions of chocoholics, made the fortunes of the Three Chocolatiers, and they all lived happily ever after.

Now isn’t that a sweet ending?

The story, however, is fact and not fiction. Co Co Sala is a hot and happening chocolate lounge, bar, restaurant, pastry shop and boutique on F Street in Washington DC, and three young Indian-American entrepreneurs are behind its big success – Bharet Malhotra, Nisha Sidhu and Santosh Tiptur.