When my ex-girlfriend and I used to cook together, we’d joke that we were doing Indo-Cajun—her parents are from Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state in India, and I am from Opelousas, a small town on the northern edge of Cajun country in South Louisiana. Our ingredients and our techniques were comparable, our creations Southern. Comparing notes we realized our respective cultures both eat rice, cook vegetables to death, favor meat-heavy dishes, love okra, drink coffee, and set mouths on fire.

For the past year, I’ve continued to think about and practice Indo-Cajun, though I’ve more often turned to Indian than Cajun and sought more vegetarian dishes. Also, as evidenced by the ex- above, my partner in cuisine has changed: she’s now a homemaker in Andhra Pradesh.

So this blog will be about cooking and eating Indo-Cajun, alone and with friends. There will also be a fair amount about drinking while cooking and eating, and I wouldn’t be surprised if posts on music, books, writing, art, long walks, bike rides, house buying, working, traveling, and… Continue reading →