I am currently spending my days at our busy Mumbai office and my seaside home in Mumbai, gladly soaking up the sun! Meanwhile, I know back home in the US, my family and friends (and you!) are largely huddled up indoors as the sun sets by 5pm!! Here are my recs aka your own little rays of sunshine to balance the cold, bleak weather outside (scroll to the end for a very fun 2026 Bingo card just for you!):
👩🍳 What to cook:
- This Tandoori Mac & Cheese, dreamed up by our Production Manager and in-house chef, Kartik, is the perfect combination of creamy, smoky and cheesy!
- I will always, always, recommend a big pot of biryani to start off the year.
- I know everyone loves butter chicken! Most butter chicken from restaurants or ready-to-cook boxes today tend to be overly sweet and packed with artificial colors, so I swear by Asha’s recipe which is slow, intentional, and genuinely so good!
☕ What to drink:
- Nothing beats a steaming cup of masala chai when it’s cold. For a super easy cup, try our Masala Chai tea and spice blend, and if you prefer to customize your ratios, this bundle with our Chai Spice, CTC black tea, and Madhur Jaggery is perfect for you!
- I will say, a warm cup of golden milk does come very close tho! The healing drinks of countless South Asian grandmothers!
- Last year, I made an iced cardamom coffee with a jaggery whipped cream and everyone absolutely loved it! I guarantee it would taste just as delicious warm!
🥧 What to bake:
- This Garam Masala Apple Galette is a great spiced dessert to try this month!
- I’m seeing sticky toffee cookies and cakes all over my Instagram and I have to say, they look fantastic! Justin Burke’s Brûléed Bread Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce that we have on our blog has a very similar vibe, and we also have THE most heavenly Spiced Date Cake with Coconut Caramel recipe in our upcoming cookbook (preorder here!)
- This is the season of fresh, sweet carrots in India, and all the families I know make gajar (carrot) halwa this time of year. Hetal Vasavada’s Gajar Ka Halwa Tarts are a great take on the classic and make for the perfect single-serve dessert!
📺 What to watch: I LOVED Heated Rivalry and think everyone absolutely should watch it right away! It is my whole personality right now! Also, I did a really fun spice class series with Bon Appétit that’s on their Instagram — I talk about how to know if your nutmeg and black pepper is good quality, and how to spot fake saffron — and I would very much love for you to watch it (sorry not sorry for the shameless self promo!)
📚 What to read: I’ve loved and been moved by Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall and The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary. For less heart-wrenching reading, I continue to love Nicola Lamb’s substack and read it religiously! And when it’s cold out, I always reach for the Donabe cookbook, and Japanese Home Cooking for all the soups and coziness.
🎧 What to listen to: I’ve been a fan of the Empire podcast hosted by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand for a while, and really enjoyed the recent episode on the history of cricket and how it spread across the world, even as a complete non-cricket person!
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