Diwali in America is all about innovation and creating new traditions and each family follows its past rituals but also adds in new ones. Indeed, Floyd Cardoz, the celebrated chef of Tabla in Manhattan, is a Catholic married to Barkha, a Hindu, and is an avid celebrator of Diwali.
“Even though Floyd and I come from different religious backgrounds, our kids are lucky and blessed to be able to celebrate both holidays,” says Barkha. “They absolutely love Diwali – we do Lakshmi puja in the evening and then it’s followed by the food that is a tradition from when I was a little girl – Pooris with aloo rassa, makhani dal, a paneer dish, gobi sabji, lots of mithai and then the all time favorite – sabudana kheer.”
(Barkha Cardoz with extended family at the Diwali table)

Diwali tradition mandates you indulge in the richest of mithais and halwas during the festivities – laddoos, chumchums and burfi – amongst a myriad of classic sweets. To that list you can now add Diwali truffles – with a traditional Indian twist!

Ten years down, who knows what we’ll find. Dosas being served in American schools and college campuses? Dosas in vending machines? Dosas-to-Go at fast food outlets?

Forget the Vedas, forget the Bible, now we are getting infinite wisdom from chocolate wrappers! When did we start consulting our chocolates for knowledge about life and living?

Two recipes from ‘Amrit: Luscious and Heart Healthy Indian Meals’ by Purnima Nandkishore with nutritional analysis by Karen Yee, MS, RD, LN. Read how the diet brought about dramatic changes in the health of Nanda Nandkishore who was at high risk for heart disease.

New York’s hot new veggie restaurant has a cool concept – eat out and save the earth. It’s the city’s first low-carbon restaurant chain. Opening nights usually mean a red carpet but it was a green carpet which was laid out for celebs like Mary-Kate Olsen, Mark Indelicato and Vanessa Williams for the opening of Radhika Oswal’s Otarian restaurant in Manhattan.
In fact, if Oswal, a billionaire environmentalist (yes, the two words do sound strange together!) has her way, you can enjoy life and yet preserve it. You can paint the town red while going green because Otarian in New York’s Greenwich Village is all about vegetarianism and sustainability, offering fun dishes with a low carbon footprint.

I always suspected Indian chili peppers were good for something more earth-shattering than merely spicing up our food. Well now the Indian military has discovered the true value of the formidable Bhut Jalokia pepper from Assam which is 100 times hotter than the Jalapeno. It will be used in smoke grenades to battle unruly mobs and nasty terrorists.

We know about halal chicken and kebabs but halal pasta and salad dressing? Halal Guacamole and halal Swedish Crab Canapés?

Meet some of the Big Apple’s hottest and happening Indian chefs…

They are the interpreters of Indian Cuisine, the innovators who aren’t afraid to experiment and create, adding new dimensions to the food they grew up with, giving an exciting buzz to the ho-hum chicken tikka masala and palak paneer which has become the norm of Indian restaurants around the world. Some of them are at the helm of New York’s most noted Indian restaurants and bring in the foodies.

Jehangir Mehta’s Graffiti Food and Wine Bar is probably one of the smallest restaurants and its kitchen is just 50 square feet, but Mehta produces some big tastes, using spices from many parts of the world, including India and Persia. Recently Zagat gave it a 26 for food which says a lot about the quality of Graffiti’s food. Mehta is indeed a fearless warrior who is not afraid of strong spices or of blending them in unconventional ways.