Indian celebrities share their favourite meals from childhood in this food memoir

The idea of comfort food is reassuring. It has also possibly acquired a new meaning in our lives after the pandemic. As we sat at home for a longer period of time, away from our loved ones, whipping up our favourite dishes became something more than a hobby — it became a means to stay connected with our roots. Journalist and author Sudha Menon is in agreement. “My theory is that we cook when we want to feel secure and comfortable. Many of us were separated from our parents, children and friends, and cooking some family recipes allowed us to feel safe and secure, as though we were back with our mothers and the unconditional love they offer,” she says. “For me, food is all about something nice and comforting that we can cook with whatever ingredients we can find at home. Made mindfully and with love, even the simplest meal can sparkle.”

That ethos is at the heart of Menon’s new book Recipes For Life (published by Penguin Random House India), where she has not only interviewed over 30 public figures from different parts of India, but has also had a deeper conversation about how their relationship with food has evolved. The common strand emerging from all accounts is that food is about nostalgia, reliving a time in we hold close to our hearts. Comfort food is not about elaborate meals. Sometimes, it is also about what circumstances can afford us. Menon cites her interaction with former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan as a case in point. When she asked him what his most memorable meal was when growing up, Pathan paused. “He said that on most days, his family’s main meal was a simple dinner of rice and potato subzi because it was nutritious, filling and cheap.” He went on to add that mealtimes would become special when his Ammi (mother) had the money to buy dhania (coriander) with which she made tasty dhania chutney. Having three meals a day, the cricketer told her, was a big deal for the family back in the day. What about his favourite food memory? Sitting with his family in their humble home and eating Ammi’s roti that would be crisp and glistening with oil that would be dipped into the tea and eaten right before heading to school.

Menon says if you look at each of the recipes in the book closely, it is easy to spot that each celebrity is talking about comfort food that their mothers cooked, food they will still reach out for when they are stressed, ill or just want to feel happy. The idea for the book took root a few years ago when Menon spent some time with her mother in London. “I was trying desperately to get her out of depression following the death of my father. I had almost given up hope of ever getting through to my mother when, one day, I found she was actually responding to some conversation I was making with her about the food she grew up eating during her childhood in Kerala. And before I knew it, the old Amma was back, talking about delicious meals her trio of aunts cooked using fresh, seasonal produce from their land. And what heartwarming stories they were — stories of plucking drumsticks from the tree to make sambhar and plantains to make a quick thoran when unexpected guests dropped by or how the women spent entire afternoons preparing freshly plucked jackfruits and frying them into crisp, golden jackfruit chips to be served at tea time.” That summer, Menon adds, her notebook filled quickly with her mother’s recipes, as the latter rediscovered her “mojo and was soon cooking for me”.