When ‘Halwa’ Meets biscuit
Do people still serve Monaco biscuit canapés? Well, there’s a Tarla Dalal recipe for Stuffed Monaco Biscuit Sev Puri! The only thing that works in favour of the biscuit is its size, you can pop it whole into your mouth, toppings included. I find Monaco too salty; it partners best with a sweet kulhad chai. I do have a thing for sweet-savoury notes. My go-to biscuit for all kinds of experiments is Britannia Cream Cracker. I have layered them with butter and jam; Lotus Biscoff spread; cheese and honey; even crumbled kalakand and sondesh—you get the drift. Once in a while, I do go overboard. Recently, I put some warm halwa on a Cream Cracker—trust me, it works. The crunchy biscuit takes the edge off the sweetness of the halwa. But it can get messy—keep a plate underneath if you plan on going down this road.—Nipa Charagi
Spicy notes
From the first time I tried it at a duty-free counter, the Le Labo Santal 33 perfume intrigued me—a mix of cardamom with citrusy, spicy, musky scents. It smelt of sophistication; the kind of perfume you buy when you feel confident and grown-up. Alas, it was always beyond my budget, till I came across Zara’s Energetically New York EDP while idly scrolling through the site—an impulse purchase that hit the mark at a tiny fraction of the price. The perfume is similar to Santal 33 note for note, and is a collaboration between Zara and perfumier Jo Malone under the Jo Loves collection. It lingers for a good while on skin and forever on clothes, so get ready for people asking what scent you are wearing. —Shrabonti Bagchi
Salt, fat, acid, beans
The last thing a hard-core non-vegetarian would order at Mumbai’s O Pedro—known for regional dishes from Goa—is mushroom ceviche with beans. But I had a vegetarian friend for company and it was offered with “compliments from the chef”. Pickled mushrooms, flecked with fresh haricot beans and garnished with crispy tempura, sat on a bed of white lima bean foam . We were busy enjoying our beers and the servers had to remind us twice to eat it. With zero expectations, each of us took a bite, and there it was—the feeling that we had discovered an exceptional dish. Pickling refined the umami flavour of the mushrooms with a hint of acid, and the fried tempura offset the creamy foam. It was polished off in spoonfuls. —Jahnabee Borah
Mango mania
Summer is here—almost—and everyone’s craving mangoes. Mumbai-based chef Saloni Kukreja, who recently introduced a line of ice creams and sorbets called Indu Ice Cream, runs a fun series on Instagram with delicious recipes inspired by mangoes. Her series, which follows another tasty series of recipes on strawberries, is aptly named All Things Mango. So far, in three episodes, Kukreja has shared a simple recipe for a healthy mango milkshake, a quick recipe for mango malai toast, a perfect summertime snack, and my favourite, a no-bake mango cheesecake tub—an easy-to-make dessert. She uses simple ingredients and the recipe videos are easy to follow. While you wait for more episodes, I would also recommend watching her recipe list Weekend Worthy Cocktails, which also features a frozen mango chilli margarita. —Nitin Sreedhar
