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Highlights Reel

I have been spending the bulk of my days in Kolkata cooking traditional Bengali food to feed family and friends. The process involves going to the market with my father in the mornings and cooking for hours after that. This is no longer everyone's way of life. People who are not retirees like my parents don't have time in their day to lead this kind of life. Traditional Bengali fare is very time-intensive cooking. The meal is made of a large number of small sides. There is no prescribed number and it depends on how much time the person has to prep the meal. 

Seven or eight is not out of the norm if you have invited someone over. And then there is the main event - a big fish. It used to be baby goat but I see that less often. My cousin L came over from Mumbai during my stay and while cooking for her, I thought about my expat existence - what I have craved and missed over the decades. It would be impossible to serve the full wish-list in a few meals. I thought of a highlights reel of my assorted food cravings and that made the lunch menu for L. 

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