(Indian) Prajna Desai. The Indecisive Chicken: Stories and Recipes from Eight Dharave Cooks

Illus. in color. 11x8.25", pictorial wrappers. First Edition. Mumbai: Dharavi Biennale, 2015.

This is the first and only publication about urban India that blends food, art, and labor in Dharavi, itself a microcosm of modern Asia, also known as  Asia’s largest informal settlement. Eight homemakers reveal their lives in stories and recipes that resound with the accents of Dharavi’s cultural hotpot. Seared vegetables, slow-cooked meats, rich gravies, and desserts of subtle sweetness light up a menu of complex culinary traditions. This cookbook presents a colorful parade of unfamiliar Indian recipes, while exploring why and how homemakers cook, and what food means to them beyond its life in a meal. 

Fine.