Tiffin

Rukmini Srinivas has lived a life less ordinary. From her early childhood in the era of British colonialism to her youth in the free India of the 1950s and ’60s, as well as her extensive travels across America with her husband, Srinivas carried her “home” in the vegetarian meals she served along the way. On a quest to cook traditional dishes, Srinivas once repurposed a Native American flat-stone from the anthropology museum at the University of California Berkeley (on loan, of course) to stone-grind a chutney. She recounts her life experiences with great joy in this memoir-cum-cookbook, and the recipes — like meals lovingly packed in a tiffin carrier — are loaded with innovative twists and affection.