The earliest food memory Karen Anand recalls is of the kebab carts that made rounds in the streets of Bandra, Mumbai, every evening. She was nearly four years old then. Today, the food writer and TV personality is well known around the globe. She has written around 20 books on food (the most recent being Masala Memsahib: Recipes and Stories from My Culinary Adventures in India) and has appeared in quite a few TV food shows. We speak to Karen to get a peek into her journey and more.
What is your favourite comfort food of all time?
I love dal chawal. I love very simple yellow dal and rice. And I think that’s my favourite comfort food. I love aloo matar and rice. I am more of a rice eater than a wheat eater.
What is the first dish that you remember making?
Probably, tandoori chicken. I remember buying a packet masala, mixing it with yogurt and marinating the chicken. I must have been about 18 at that time.
What is the one ingredient that you can’t cook without?
Good salt. I think salt and the quality of salt are very important. I get sea salt from Goa, from the market. I also get Himalayan pink salt for my everyday cooking.
What was the idea behind writing Masala Memsahib?
The idea was that I needed to write a book on Indian food, a book on my journey into Indian food. This book is about my journey from the time I came back to India, in 1984. Although I wrote the book quite quickly, in six months of 2020, the research had been going on for maybe 30 years.
What is the most common question you get?
People ask me ‘why the name Masala Memsahib?’. I get a lot of questions on the recipes too. I don’t get enough questions about the book as a culinary memoir. I think there are a lot of writers abroad who’ve done this, but in India, it is quite a new thing.
What are your favourite recipes from the book?
I can’t say that because there are so many. I think there are a lot of Maharashtrian recipes I might prepare as they are easy and quick. I like the dish with spring onion and corn, which is literally a five-minute recipe.