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Showing posts with the label Indian Food

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Why Does Food Taste Better When Someone Else Cooks It? | Food Science

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on September 27, 2026

cooking Food and Memory Food Psychology Food Science Food Stories home cooking Indian Food Petpuja Taste and Flavour

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BRICS 2026: What Did the World Leaders Eat in Delhi?

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on September 15, 2026

BRICS 2026 BRICS Summit culinary diplomacy Delhi Delhi food food culture Indian cuisine Indian Food millet recipes regional Indian food

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Why Does Restaurant Paneer Taste Different From Homemade Paneer?

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on September 01, 2026

Food Science Indian Food Indian restaurants paneer paneer recipes Petpuja restaurant food restaurant paneer restaurant secrets The Restaurant Files

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The Restaurant Files: What Really Happens Before Your Food Reaches the Table

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on August 28, 2026

dining out food facts Food Psychology Food Science Indian Food Petpuja Restaurant Files restaurant food restaurant kitchen restaurant secrets

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Why Leftover Indian Food Often Tastes Better the Next Day

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on July 24, 2026

biryani chole cooking tips Food Science food storage Healthy Eating Indian Food Kitchen Science leftover food Petpuja rajma reheating food sambhar

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Why Comfort Food Works: The Science Behind Why Certain Foods Make Us Feel Better

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on July 18, 2026

Brain Science comfort food Emotional Eating food culture Food Psychology Food Science Healthy Eating Indian Food Nostalgia Petpuja Top post on indiblogger

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FOOD ITEMS FROM "Q"

"Q" is an alphabet, not many food items start with. I would like to recorrect this - not many Indian food items start from "Q". Anyway, now, as they say, the world is shrinking (literally and metaphorically too), so let us take food items from Q, irrespective of their origins. Before listing the other food items, I will share what comes to my mind with Q - this one is everybody's favourite - Quaker's oats. Quaker is a popular brand that produces many healthy(?) breakfast options. The other is Quesadilla is a Mexican Pic Wikipedia dish made with a tortilla filled with cheese and other fillings. There is a post in my blog about it. Please do check here . It has an Indian cousin invented by Indian mothers made with the available leftover roti and sabzi. :) Even Quinoa (pronounced as k iː n . w ɑ) is something we have recently introduced to. When I read about it and searched online, I found it very expensive. But to my Pic : Wikipedia surprise, I went to...

Why Do We Eat More When There Are More Choices?

AI Image Have you ever gone to a buffet telling yourself, “I won't eat much today” , only to return to your table carrying a plate that seems to have acquired a life of its own? A little salad. Some soup. A spoonful of paneer. A little pulao. One vegetable. Then something fried because, well, it is there. Perhaps some noodles, a piece of bread, a curry you don't usually eat, and finally that tiny portion of dessert that somehow becomes three different desserts. You weren't necessarily hungrier than usual. There was simply too much choice . And that is where things get interesting. A buffet does something rather clever to our appetite. When we are presented with many different foods, we tend to eat more than we might if we were offered just one or two dishes. It isn't simply a matter of greed or lack of willpower. Our brains are responding to variety, novelty, appearance, expectation and the opportunity to keep discovering something different . So why does a buffet mak...

Why Do We Have a Favourite Spoon, Cup or Plate?

AI Image Have you ever opened your kitchen cupboard, looked at a perfectly respectable collection of cups and still reached for one particular cup? Perhaps it is an old ceramic mug, a slightly chipped tea cup, or an ordinary steel glass that has been around for years. There may be ten other perfectly good cups sitting beside it, but somehow your morning tea tastes right only when it is served in that cup. The same thing happens with spoons, plates and bowls. We develop preferences that seem rather irrational when we stop to think about them. We may have beautiful new crockery, bought with great enthusiasm, yet continue using the same old plate for breakfast. A particular spoon somehow feels just right in the hand. A bowl that has lost its shine is still the one we reach for when we want our favourite dal or kheer. So what is going on here? Why do ordinary kitchen objects become so strangely important to us? The answer has less to do with the object itself and much more to do with fami...

Why Does Food Taste Better When Someone Else Cooks It? | Food Science

Have you ever noticed that? You can cook the same dal, using the same lentils, the same spices and almost the same amount of oil. Yet somehow, when your mother, friend or anyone else makes it, it tastes different. Perhaps even better. And it isn't necessarily because she has a secret ingredient hidden somewhere in the kitchen. Sometimes, food really does seem to taste better when someone else cooks it. But why? Is it the food? Is it the cook? Or is our brain playing a little trick on us? As it turns out, the answer lies somewhere between food science, our senses, memory and psychology. AI image We Don't Taste Food With Our Tongue Alone We often think taste happens on the tongue. Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami are detected by our taste receptors. But what we experience as "flavour" is much more complicated. Our brain combines information from: Taste, Smell, Texture, Temperature, Appearance, Sound, and expectations....

Why Does Milk Curdle? The Science Behind Paneer & Curd

AI Image Why Does Milk Curdle? The Science Behind Paneer, Curd and That Ruined Cup of Tea Have you ever poured milk into a hot cup of tea, only to watch it suddenly separate into tiny white lumps? Or added lemon juice to hot milk and watched it transform into curds and whey? The first reaction is usually: "Oh no! The milk has curdled." But here's the fascinating part: curdling isn't always a bad thing. In fact, some of India's most loved foods—including paneer and chhena—depend on this very process. So what actually happens when milk curdles? Why does lemon juice make paneer? Why does milk sometimes split in tea or tomato-based gravies? And how can we prevent unwanted curdling? Let's look at the food science behind this everyday kitchen mystery. What Is Milk Made Of? Milk may look simple, but chemically it is a remarkably complex food. It contains: Water Milk fat Lactose, the natural milk sugar Minerals Whey proteins Casein proteins Casein is particularly...

From Farm to Plate: The Invisible Labour Behind Every Meal We Eat

AI image Every plate of food carries a story — of effort, struggle, hope, and countless unseen hands. Have You Ever Wondered How Food Reaches Your Plate? Yesterday morning, while eating my usual bowl of oats with nuts and seeds, a simple thought crossed my mind: How did this food actually reach my table? We often talk about recipes, flavours, restaurants, and healthy eating. But very rarely do we pause to think about the long journey our food takes before becoming a meal on our plate. Behind every roti, every cup of tea, every bowl of dal, there exists an invisible network of farmers, labourers, transporters, vendors, and homemakers whose efforts quietly keep India fed. And honestly, once you begin noticing this journey, food starts feeling very different. It All Begins in the Fields A few years ago, during a visit to a village, I met an elderly farmer standing quietly in his wheat field early in the morning. His hands were rough from years of labour, but ...

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