Ever wondered why your grandmother threw a teabag into the pressure cooker while boiling chickpeas, or why she measured using the knuckle of her index finger? Why does a counter-intuitive pinch of salt make your kheer more intensely flavourful? What is the Maillard reaction and what does it have to do with fenugreek? What does your high-school chemistry knowledge, or what you remember of it, have to do with perfectly browning your onions?Masala Lab by Krish Ashok is a scien...

This book is for the parent overwhelmed by conflicting advice. For the person newly diagnosed with diabetes who has been told six contradictory things about maida. And for the twenty-five-year-old who has developed a genuine fear of refined oils and leftover food.In Masala Lab, Krish Ashok used the principles of everyday science to explain how ingredients become delicious food, ending with a plate of biryani on your table. In Masala Body, he follows that same plat...

Ever wondered why your grandmother threw a teabag into the pressure cooker while boiling chickpeas, or why she measured using the knuckle of her index finger? Why does a counter-intuitive pinch of salt make your kheer more intensely flavourful? What is the Maillard reaction and what does it have to do with fenugreek? What does your high-school chemistry knowledge, or what you remember of it, have to do with perfectly browning your onions?Masala Lab by Krish Ashok is a science nerd's...

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly every day, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.Elatsoe l...