The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi

TAKING INSPIRATION FROM INDIAN FOOD

Aloo gobi. Parantha. Dal chawal. Gulab jamun. Palak paneer. Lassi. These were the foods of my childhood in Rajasthan. Long after my family left India and settled in America, my brothers and I continued to ask my mother—again and again—for those same dishes. Even now, when my family gets together, our meals include chapatti, subji and raita. When I first started writing this trilogy, I knew the intricate relationship that Indian people have with their food would be an important part of the story.

In the centuries before Marco Polo came to India in search of spices, Indians harvested black and green peppercorns, pressed oil from cloves, and ground mustard seeds to flavor foods, tantalize the senses, and heal the body. The flavors of cilantro, turmeric, garam masala and cumin are as much a part of my heritage, and my identity, as are the blue-green eyes I inherited from my mother, Sudha.

Even as I write this, I’m sipping chai infused with cardamom seeds, a stick of cinnamon and whole peppercorns. These overlapping flavors bring the India of my childhood alive again in my imagination, with all its chaotic, phantasmagoric glory.

Making Indian dishes takes time: multiple ingredients must be cut, peeled or diced; preparation must take place in stages; flavor is enhanced only by adding spices (as many as eight) at just the right time. Indian food is bold, colorful, bursting with aromas and flavors. What better way to enrich a plot and show character development than to infuse a story with one of the boldest, most beloved cuisines on earth?