Introduction: Why India?

To bā, Chandangauri Shukla, my paternal grandmother, for being my greatest source of inspiration for Indian cuisine and creativity within it.

To my parents, Dr. Sanjeev and Sonal Shukla, for providing me with the foundation to be who I am today.

Tuesday was my favorite day of the week when I was growing up, because my brother Shawn and I would come home from school to some of our favorite foods, lovingly prepared by our mom. On Tuesdays (for no particular reason) and weekends, we’d get a break from our usual Gujarāti fare, which certainly didn’t excite us as much as the non-Indian meals we imagined our friends having daily. Simple, semi-homemade, and very-Americanized meals, such as Mexican pizza, stir-fried noodles, and pasta with supermarket jarred tomato sauce were just some of the many dishes we looked forward to. Despite being vegetarian, my mom would even give into our pleas for the occasional fast-food chicken tender meal—perhaps because she had faced ridicule for her vegetarianism when she immigrated to the States. Looking back, I admire the love and care that my mom put into these meals, to go above and beyond to make us happy.