Meghana Chaudhary Joshi - Roomies/Foodies: Fun n Easy Cooking For Desi Students Abroad

By

Lakshmi Ashwin and Meghana Chaudhary Joshi
(aka Lux and Meg)

Published by Bloody Good Book, an imprint of Bushfire Publishers LLP.
Copyright Lakshmi Ashwin & Meghana Chaudhary Joshi
All rights reserved

Bushfire Publishers LLP

6th Floor Core House,
Near Parimal Garden, Off C. G. Road,
Ellisbridge,
Ahmedabad 380015.

978-81-931821-1-6

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Rashmi Bansal and Niyati Patel for making our dreams of publishing Roomies/Foodies real through the rocking idea that is Bloody Good Book. We appreciate the professionalism and efforts of our food photographer, Saloni Luktuke, who captured awesome natural shots of our dishes while giving the images a true Roomies/Foodies feel. We remain indebted to our readers for reading, rating and reviewing Roomies/Foodies on Bloody Good Book.

Meg:

Invasions of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.Victor Hugo

I remain grateful to Lux for the inception of Roomies/Foodies , that opened the floodgates of memory and put me on the path to writing a book (always had that on my bucket list).

I also acknowledge:

Mom, impeccable cook and graceful recipient of left-handed compliments from a teenage me: If you werent such a great cook, Id be skinnier. Dad, the original foodie with a flair for creating delicacies from scratch, and who has passed on to me his resourcefulness and love of food. My husband and culinary muse, Ashish, whose silent, practical support for this project in the form of a superb laptop as a surprise gift spoke volumes. My brother, Nikhil, critic numero uno, who still remembers a certain disastrous butter chicken experiment that Id rather forget, and expresses mock disbelief that his sister actually learned how to cook. My daughter, Aria, whose arrival inspired kid-friendly cooking explorations. The succession of housemaids and nannies, who literally gave me the gift of time to write this book, sometimes with attitude. My mother-in-law, who introduced me to amazingly easy South Indian breakfast foods and time-saving tips. My father-in-law, whose famous sweet tooth is the reason I occasionally venture into desserts. Legions of friends and cousins, who have always been a pleasure to cook for. My gorgeous golden retriever, Maya, who snoozed companionably by my side throughout the writing of this book.

Lux:

Roomies/Foodies is the result of relentless effort by Meg and I to thread together the nostalgic, humorous stories behind our culinary inventions during our graduate school days into a one-of-a-kind cookbook and guide for international students. I appreciate Megs persistence, insight, and flair for writing that helped materialise a nascent idea I had into a book. I am truly grateful to her for her support in writing, and efforts in publishing Roomies/Foodies .

I am also grateful to:

My better half, Ashwin, for his unwavering support and critical suggestions on improvising my recipes. My loving parents and brother for always being there. I became a foodie thanks to my moms exceptional cooking and dads love for food that helped us explore various cuisines from childhood Ashwins parents and brother for being my biggest support when I started writing this book. Special thanks to Ashwins mom who gifted me a handwritten collection of her awesome recipes, and for her tips, suggestions and motivating chats. My grandparents for their unconditional love, prayers and support especially when I was writing this book. The Almighty for gifting me Madhav, my older son, who brought in immense positivity in my life, which helped me start writing this book. My baby, Shiv, whose arrival coincided with the selection of our book as one Bloody Good Book.

Roomies/Foodies is the second book to be published by Bloody Good Book. It was also one of the earliest and most widely loved books on www.bloodygoodbook.com . Each and every reader and reviewer of Roomies/Foodies has contributed to its publication. So thank you for sharing your vote with us.

Hetika Sanghani Meenakshi Vartika Angel Gupta Ranjana Kamo Vinati Sukhdev Dipti Reena Rohit Anjana Shyamal DrKalpana Remesh Devashish Tarra Astha Agarwal Ankit Rajotia Larisa Bulavina Pujyee Bhairavi Aina Bindu Ganesh Damini Majumdar Vineeth Thamby Diana Kurup Margaret Fernandes Avanti Pushkar Joshi Abhinav Chandra Teresa Tan Titus Johnson Natasha Niloufer Commissariat Radhika Sangam

Ramesh Jayaraman Disha Shreevardhini Shreekanth Vandana Nauni Mayank Nauni Nirmala Kelkar Kithaab Sris Aarathi Mahesh Giridhar Pai Arun Rashmi Karthik Pillai Anuj Kundarap Subi Biju Nima Harris Lakshmi Anjana Sasidharan RavishankarRamachandran Sapna Bhattacharya Sureshbabu Hari Divya Minza Saifudeen Sucheta Kulkarni Alathady Maloor Ramachandra Radhika Anokhee Parikh Ketaki Kalgaonkar Apte Amit Shalini Srivastava Namita Sajid

Sanasi Uday Satpathy Jahnavi Chintakunta Dr. M. D. Nair Abhishake Nidhi Golyan Mahesh Rajagopal Indu Mahesh Basil Abraham Ritu Goyal Manasa Mimi Sarkar Roza Pritesh Ananth Krishnan Shilpa Prince Xavier Shambhavi Moini M K

Gaurav Thapar Aditi Deodhar Gayathri Ashwin Nair Juilee Anu Athalye Pisal Parag Usha Ramachandran Arjun Nair Glorina Menon Gauri Dhaygude Ozarkar Shyamsunder Reghunathan Madhu Inderjit Singh Paintal Ashish Joshi Niyati Shinde

Why Roomies/Foodies Is For You

Starting life abroad is never easy, and international students especially face a steep learning curve. Roomies/Foodies is a handbook as much as a cookbook, designed to spare students the painful trial and error part. Through it we bring to you the combined benefit of our experience as international students, been-there-done-that graduate school survivors, broke young job hunters, hip 20-something professionals, multi-tasking wives, and more recently, mothers.

Over the years, we have accumulated a treasure trove of practical tips that will help you cook and eat well without compromising your 4.0 GPA or perfect work record.

Some pointers:

• The Equipment Glossary gives you an alphabetised list of common kitchen items and explains their use. If you are planning to go solo, add these to your shopping list when youre setting up your new kitchen.
• If youve already identified your potential roommates, there is a convenient guide to plan ahead and split up the kitchen items you can carry in your individual luggage. This is especially significant considering the airlines stringent weight restrictions on baggage. The list also tells you what you can buy abroad, and where. It will give you a more-than-fair shot at a well-equipped kitchen, and leave more room in your suitcase (and more money in your pocket) for other must-have items.

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