Local Chef Adds Spice to Seasonal Ingredients

Award winning cookbook author, teacher and Westchester resident Rinku Bhattacharya writes the blog, Spice Chronicles and is the author of two cookbooks, The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons, Simple, Sustainable Indian Flavors.

She lives in Westchester in a small and rather chaotic home surrounded by a leafy backyard where she shares her food capers with her gardener husband, two young children and a foodie cat named Benji. Rinku and her family lead a simple and sustainable lifestyle.

Rinku's practical approach to seasonal Indian cooking is showcased on her blog, "Spice Chronicles." As a working soccer mom, Rinku intimately understands the challenges of getting dinner on the table with limited time to do so: a scenario that inspires recipes that are practical, foolproof and healthy.

Since 2006, Rinku has taught culinary classes that focus on Indian food, seasonal living and the essentials of spices from her home-based cooking school. She offers courses at Westchester Community College; Hilltop Hannover Farm; and the Hudson Valley Hospital Center. During the summer, she is often found in farmers' markets, doing demonstrations and learning from local farmers.

If you're thinking about adding some Indian spice to your holiday table, check out her recipe for sweet potatoes with shallots, coriander and garam masala and her cranberry and clementine chutney.

Click here to see a video of Rinku making curried chick peas with bell peppers in a film made by Scarsdale's Amy Stern. 

The recipe can be found here.

Follow Rinku on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.