Samar Halarnkar
Livemint
Bengaluru, KA, India
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Past articles by Samar:
Cooking with a master: Dum chicken and Jiggs Kalra
His seminal book introduced India to the wonders of slow, steamy Awadh cuisine and other regional food, at a time when most Indians limited themselves to home food → Read More
Luck and complexity in the lockdown
Relentless daily cooking has forced us to discard fancies and frills, and focus on the basics of cooking → Read More
Weed cookies, biryani and other forms of neighbourly love
Food from the neighbours, be it pickles or samosas, is a feature of life in Richards Town, Bengaluru → Read More
In 2020, why we must embrace culinary simplicity
The culinary theme for the year, should be simpler food that uses ingredients at hand or close to the land, not only because we need to reapportion our time, but to reaffirm our connection to our traditions and culture → Read More
’Tis the season to be jolly and fire up the oven
Wine meets the oven in this Christmas-appropriate recipe of mutton roast.Despite a world going to—in the writer’s estimation—pieces, it is a season to welcome some cheer → Read More
A culinary library of love, longing and life
To be obsessed with food as merely taste and flavour is to be ignorant of its relationship with the larger human condition.Here’s a culinary bookshelf of about 100 books that reflect the complexity of this relationship → Read More
The paradox of vegetarian Anglo-Indian food
Meat is the mainstay of Anglo-Indian cuisine; an amalgamation of British and Indian cooking .Vegetarian Anglo food is a bit of a contradiction and is, well, rudimentary. It’s a hat tip to simplicity; often an underrated aspect of making food → Read More
Give us this day our stale bread
What can one do with stale bread, apart from making french toast or bread pudding.Here’s a modern take on the Seyal double roti of Sindhi cuisine → Read More
Opinion: A man and his mountain of food
A holiday in an Austrian village is all about the outdoors life and local produce.Indians who try Austrian cuisine must learn to embrace unfamiliar and more subtle flavours → Read More
A coming of age over a breakfast of pancakes
A father watches his nine-year-old’s kitchen experiments with wonder and trepidation.This breakfast of healthy pancakes is a surprise in more ways than one → Read More
The happy consequences of abandoning comfort food
Transforming our food has lifted the family’s mood and made meal times more exciting → Read More
Opinion | The party at Bengaluru’s High Street Park
In a lush corner of Bengaluru, diverse communities and forbidden foods reveal a country as it was meant to be → Read More
Opinion | The deposed king regains his kingdom
I have never been good at sharing my kitchen. I prefer to be alone, I like my space and I like to work at my own pace → Read More
Opinion | The problem of the vegetarian lunch
Cooking vegetables is not a strong point in the columnist’s family, but there are moments of inspiration → Read More
Opinion | No excuse for not cooking: 2 minutes is all you need
Indian men do not believe a man’s place is in the kitchen. A microwave can help change his fossilized mind → Read More
Opinion | Steroids, antibiotics and a dose of spare ribs
Hospitals are not supposed to be about food, but a stint in one makes you appreciate what you eat → Read More
Opinion | Anatomy of a culinary disaster not foretold
Siberian ravioli in balmy Bangalore: What could go wrong? For starters the imprecise, Indian nature of this column → Read More
Curd rice with pork chops—and other strange things
There is a difference between eating something strange and eating strange combinations → Read More
The cupboard of thingamabobs and the birthday problem
When friends and family give you presents that you hoard, an occasional burst of enthusiasm can be rewarding → Read More
A chilly monsoon, local lore and minestrone
A slow-cooked minestrone soup is the best way to enjoy a chilly monsoon day in Bengaluru → Read More