Koshur Saal

Book excerpt: Living as we do in a multi-cultural world, nowhere are the pleasures that it brings more obvious than at the table, when we enjoy a feast of complex flavors and simple preparations. The book in your hands exactly does that. It tells you about the tasty and aromatic cuisines of Kashmir, the northern-most State of India, famous for its incredible range of culinary delights, guaranteeing a veritable experience to the gourmet. It also gives alternatives to deep frying of some of the recipes. The preparation of Kashmiri food in an efficient, healthy way can be just fun. It would hardly take you 10 to 25 minutes to cook a delicious meal, whose tempting, hot, spicy taste lends it a peculiar quality of its own and distinguishes it from the culinary arts of rest of India and the world at large. In addition, the book delineates not only the health benefits of foods we eat everyday but also provides the religious and cultural significance associated with the traditional Kashmiri food. Over 175 gray scale photographic illustrations. About the Author: A lawyer by profession, Chandra Ganju moved to the United States in year 1993 and has been living in Florida ever since. Since she spent a good part of her life in Kashmir, her deep interest in things Kashmiri, be it culture, language or cuisine, developed with the passage of time. With her deep-rooted interest in spirituality, she is of the firm opinion that food we eat has long lasting influence on the thoughts we think. She fondly remembers that in Kashmir when she was growing up in a traditional Kashmiri Hindu home, kitchen occupied same sacred space as the place of worship. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chandra believes that it is the method of cooking that adds to the quality of the food. For her cooking is an art and feels the need to create a right atmosphere. Good vibrations are needed to pass into the food while cooking. This goes a long way in ensuring a healthy, happy and genuinely spiritual family. Although right amount of ingredients are critical for food to taste good, a good measure of love and devotion added to the food can even change human behavior. Of late, she has also taken up writing plays in Kashmiri language, highlighting the decline of Kashmiri language and cuisine with a view to reviving the interest of the young and the old in the rich Kashmiri language. She fondly hopes, her present work will revive the taste buds of younger generation and introduce Kashmiri cuisine to wider cross section of people.