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Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes
Shoba Narayan’s Monsoon Diary weaves a fascinating food narrative that combines delectable Indian recipes with tales from her life, stories of her delightfully eccentric family, and musings about Indian culture.
Narayan recounts her childhood in South India, her college days in America, her arranged marriage, and visits from her parents and in-laws to her home in New York City. Monsoon Diary is populated with characters like Raju, the milkman who named his cows after his wives; the iron-man who daily set up shop in Narayan’s front yard, picking up red-hot coals with his bare hands; her mercurial grandparents and inventive parents. Narayan illumines Indian customs while commenting on American culture from the vantage point of the sympathetic outsider. Her characters, like Narayan herself, have a thing or two to say about cooking and about life.
In this creative and intimate work, Narayan’s considerable vegetarian cooking talents are matched by stories as varied as Indian spices—at times pungent, mellow, piquant, and sweet. Tantalizing recipes for potato masala, dosa, and coconut chutney, among others, emerge from Narayan’s absorbing tales about food and the solemn and quirky customs that surround it.
Narayan recounts her childhood in South India, her college days in America, her arranged marriage, and visits from her parents and in-laws to her home in New York City. Monsoon Diary is populated with characters like Raju, the milkman who named his cows after his wives; the iron-man who daily set up shop in Narayan’s front yard, picking up red-hot coals with his bare hands; her mercurial grandparents and inventive parents. Narayan illumines Indian customs while commenting on American culture from the vantage point of the sympathetic outsider. Her characters, like Narayan herself, have a thing or two to say about cooking and about life.
In this creative and intimate work, Narayan’s considerable vegetarian cooking talents are matched by stories as varied as Indian spices—at times pungent, mellow, piquant, and sweet. Tantalizing recipes for potato masala, dosa, and coconut chutney, among others, emerge from Narayan’s absorbing tales about food and the solemn and quirky customs that surround it.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
October 16, 2011
It was a scrumptious feast. I gobbled up the book from cover to cover. It deals with the South Indian food culture of 70's and 80's. I could connect with most of the facts mentioned in the book as the author describes her South Indian Tamil Brahmin heritage well. The book starts with early childhood memories when she was in the care of her maternal grandparents in Coimbatore, then it moves on to her parents' place in Madras, with a few forays into her father's ancenstral house in Kerala. Later on she goes on as a scholarship art student to the US, gets married and the book ends where she settles as a young bride in the U.S. All these recollections are intensified by recipes and food memories. This is a book well worth being read by Indian foodies, especially South Indians. I am not sure whether others will be able to relate to the book as much as we do.
One grouse with this book is that most traditional South Indian recipes are Americanized, maybe this is to keep up with the diverse nature of the readers.
I am definitely planning to reread this in future.
One grouse with this book is that most traditional South Indian recipes are Americanized, maybe this is to keep up with the diverse nature of the readers.
I am definitely planning to reread this in future.
October 18, 2022
This was a delightful read. A memoir focusing on simple vegetarian food.
The recipes shared are very basic ones - staple breakfast items for most of the Indians - like Poha, Upma, Idli, Coffee, Curd Rice, Bhindi, Pav Bhaji… and there is a recipe for Ghee!
Felt like it was written for US non-Indian folks as audience. For almost all the recipes ingredients section had this - "available at Indian store" - for stuff like besan, poha, sooji, chaat masala!
What I loved:
- Nostalgia emanated in initial chapters which touched my heart.
- The famous prasad of each temple - Tirupati Laddus, Guruvayur payasam, Muruga temple's panchamritam, sweet pongal.
- Those train journeys, focusing on what regional specialties to indulge at which station - hot milk at Erode, Nagpur oranges, Allahabad's guavas, Agra's pethas (misspelled as pedas in book :P), Shimla apples, Delhi's kulhad curd, Kerala's banana appams, Lonavala Chikkis, Andhra biriyanis, Bombay's vada paavs.
- The US chronicles - fund raising dinner (hilarious!), picnic on a sailboat.
- That chapter with DeLonga is what I loved the most.
Overall:
Something which might not work for everyone due to simple recipes with simple life chunks.
I loved it for the same reasons! Especially the middle parts of this memoir.
P.S.: I was blessed to find a special copy to read from :)
The recipes shared are very basic ones - staple breakfast items for most of the Indians - like Poha, Upma, Idli, Coffee, Curd Rice, Bhindi, Pav Bhaji… and there is a recipe for Ghee!
Felt like it was written for US non-Indian folks as audience. For almost all the recipes ingredients section had this - "available at Indian store" - for stuff like besan, poha, sooji, chaat masala!
What I loved:
- Nostalgia emanated in initial chapters which touched my heart.
- The famous prasad of each temple - Tirupati Laddus, Guruvayur payasam, Muruga temple's panchamritam, sweet pongal.
- Those train journeys, focusing on what regional specialties to indulge at which station - hot milk at Erode, Nagpur oranges, Allahabad's guavas, Agra's pethas (misspelled as pedas in book :P), Shimla apples, Delhi's kulhad curd, Kerala's banana appams, Lonavala Chikkis, Andhra biriyanis, Bombay's vada paavs.
- The US chronicles - fund raising dinner (hilarious!), picnic on a sailboat.
- That chapter with DeLonga is what I loved the most.
Overall:
Something which might not work for everyone due to simple recipes with simple life chunks.
I loved it for the same reasons! Especially the middle parts of this memoir.
P.S.: I was blessed to find a special copy to read from :)
May 3, 2019
I had a hard time getting into this book. It took four different times for me to get through it. I don't think it was the writing per se but the subject matter. I wasn't the right reader for this one.
My Rating: 3 stars
My Rating: 3 stars
May 29, 2007
A really personal look at growing up in India and what it means to be an outsider living and studying in the United Sates, this book gives its readers a comic but movingly accurate version of things we can all relate to and choices we all have to make. Narayan gives us mouth-watering glimpses of Indian food (and how to make it) as she tells her tale, imprinted so deeply with the spices, smells, textures, and tastes of Indian cooking. With each recipe, Narayan provides a myth that relates to and/or explains the dishes. She also explains how each spice, each topping, each method of cooking has a special use- some of them are to be used when pregnant, some are good for colds, each have their own occasion, and some are even used not only in cooking, but as face cream (and a cure for all ills)- all according to her very ambitious and often overpowering mother. In her memoir, Shoba wishes to study abroad, to the objection of her large family. They make a deal with her that, if she is able to prepare a complete satisfactory Indian meal for the entire family, her wish will be granted. She cooks the meal and off she goes. Within the story she weaves about herself, Narayan contemplates the good and the bad of both the Indian society she has lived in and the American one she moves to. This is a truly entertaining and worthwhile book to read.
August 18, 2009
A sweetly hilarious account of cross-cultural cuisine and tradition as narrated by an upper-middle class Indian woman. While I enjoyed the cultural high lights, I couldn't help but notice the absolute lack of criticism regarding certain customs, right down to her author's refusal to even acknowledge the limitations of them. A quick, entertaining read-- it's really more 3.5.
January 4, 2024
First book of 2024! Loved this delightful memoir that explores South Indian culture and the experiences of moving to the states. Each section is tied to a mouthwatering recipe. I can’t wait to try them out!
December 21, 2014
I started browsing the book like any other recipe books. But found myself carried over by the simple style and narrative details. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Set in a South Indian family, I could relate to every bit of information Shoba had mentioned. Interesting read - Nostalgic:)
April 21, 2007
Basically a love story between author and her privileged upbringing.
Recipes at the end of each chapter.
Recipes at the end of each chapter.
July 26, 2021
I really enjoyed the first part of this book about the author growing up in India, her quirky extended family and her time at Mount Holeyoke college. The recipes are fun to read and easy to follow. But the book kind of declined in quality once she begins narrating about her married life. I am not questioning her life choices but I could sense she was privileged to be able to decline a graduate degree, return to India and marry a US based finance professional from a high-ranking Indian family. I wish she had spotlighted that privilege a bit more. Also I felt her description of her parents and nallama’s visit to the US was written with a tone of exasperation. However she displayed deep veneration for her mother and father in law. This felt to be flying in the face of the “feisty feminist” values Shoba claimed to be steeped in. Maybe it’s just because she’s a product of her time, but as an author who’s regular columns I really enjoyed, it felt sad to read this part.
A light read however.
A light read however.
January 15, 2020
2020 bk 19. This book is a series of flashbacks to important times and places in the author's early life. The time period spans the 1970's - 1980's, the years of her childhood through grad school. Interspersed are some of her favorite foods that play an important role in the flashbacks. If you want a travel guide to India, this is not it. If you want a span of 60-80 years of life time, this is not it. What it is, is a delightful look back at the innocence of youth, the memories of home (no matter the continent), a taste of India's culture, and a good basic collection of vegetarian recipes that sustained the author as a child and young adult. A joy to read.
November 30, 2017
Savored every page of this book. A memoir paying an ode to spices and everyday dishes whipped up in a South Indian's kitchen.
July 15, 2013
This book is a narrative memoir of Shoba Narayan’s nostalgic reminiscence of her childhood to adulthood. She writes the recipes of foods described in her book relating them to various stages of her life. She starts with the first meal of a six month old infant, her early childhood at her maternal grandparents’ house in a small town where her grandmother made vatrals and vadams with the help of her maid, Maariamma; the pets at her home and the effect of diet on the nature of an animal. She explains very diligently about the series of helps that came to their house in Madras every morning from the milkman, Ayyah, iron man, garbageman and the flower woman.
She describes her school friends, the lunch hour at school, lunch boxes shared/exchanged; her trip with her parents and brother to Adyar Woodlands; the train journeys for which they would carry food from home; her mother’s culinary classes; her vacations in Kerala; her cousins and her college days in Madras. She describes how desperate she was to study in America and how her uncle tells her that if she could impress the family with a vegetarian feast, she could go to America.
She talks about her college days in America, classes and her weekly comfort food at Mount Holyoke, “yogurt rice”. Though she goes to study psychology, she takes up sculpture later. She talks about her arranged marriage, excitement of everybody in her house when the boy’s family comes, her husband’s liking for Indian food, visits from her parents and in-laws to her home in New York City.
I really enjoyed the book and could not put it down. I also tried various recipes, upma being my favourite.
She describes her school friends, the lunch hour at school, lunch boxes shared/exchanged; her trip with her parents and brother to Adyar Woodlands; the train journeys for which they would carry food from home; her mother’s culinary classes; her vacations in Kerala; her cousins and her college days in Madras. She describes how desperate she was to study in America and how her uncle tells her that if she could impress the family with a vegetarian feast, she could go to America.
She talks about her college days in America, classes and her weekly comfort food at Mount Holyoke, “yogurt rice”. Though she goes to study psychology, she takes up sculpture later. She talks about her arranged marriage, excitement of everybody in her house when the boy’s family comes, her husband’s liking for Indian food, visits from her parents and in-laws to her home in New York City.
I really enjoyed the book and could not put it down. I also tried various recipes, upma being my favourite.
July 16, 2008
This is not the type of book I would normally pick up to read. However, I noticed a friend liked it and thought I'd try something different. I'm glad I did. I identify with the author in that many of my own memories are tied to food. The book made me want to try to make some of my grandma's recipes that we rely on her to make for holidays. That being said, I don't have great inspiration to try the recipes in the book but that's OK. The book wasn't so much about the recipes as how the food can bridge cultures and serves to illuminate aspects of Indian culture.
January 22, 2018
4.0***
Shoba writes a charming memoir of growing up in a multi-generational family life in Southern India and her closeness to nature that imbued her with an appreciation for the fruits and foods of her native land. In transplanting herself to America, via her food prowess Shoba carries the enthusiasm she saw in her parents approach to life and learning and you cannot but help to applaud her willingness to embrace a new culture. The beautifully described food preparation passages made my mouth water.
Shoba writes a charming memoir of growing up in a multi-generational family life in Southern India and her closeness to nature that imbued her with an appreciation for the fruits and foods of her native land. In transplanting herself to America, via her food prowess Shoba carries the enthusiasm she saw in her parents approach to life and learning and you cannot but help to applaud her willingness to embrace a new culture. The beautifully described food preparation passages made my mouth water.
June 10, 2018
I suppose this one can be read as the story of a person with immense potential who got bogged down by the traditions ruling her life. Readable in the voyeuristic sense of glimpsing into someone's life.
February 21, 2017
This lovely memoir/cookbook is a wonderful read-aloud book, full of the sensations, sounds and flavours of Narayan's memories of growing up in southern India. Each chapter ends with a recipe inspired by the memory.
Before reading the book, we had completely forgotten about flattened rice until reading Shoba Narayan's recipe for poha. As I read about the dish, there were sudden cries of, "Chura!! I love chura!!"
It turns out that poha is simply yet another name for flattened rice (aka pressed rice, pressed rice flakes, beaten rice, chura,...). Why am I surprised that there would be more than one name for this in a country where over 100 languages are spoken?
Narayan's recipe for poha (flattened rice), calling for lime juice, curry leaves and coconut, is quite different from the one that T had many times when he was living in northern India. He suspects that the one he ate is a Bengali recipe. Poha (or chura, as we call it) makes the best breakfast (or snack) for a brisk autumn morning - or indeed any morning. Or afternoon. Or evening....
Bookmarked recipes: ghee, Ginger Tamarind Pickle, panagam, okra curry, poha
Here are our takes on
flattened rice: Chura: flattened rice with peas and peanuts, inspired by Shoba Narayan’s recipe for poha in Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes
Puliyinji (tamarind-ginger chutney)
Before reading the book, we had completely forgotten about flattened rice until reading Shoba Narayan's recipe for poha. As I read about the dish, there were sudden cries of, "Chura!! I love chura!!"
It turns out that poha is simply yet another name for flattened rice (aka pressed rice, pressed rice flakes, beaten rice, chura,...). Why am I surprised that there would be more than one name for this in a country where over 100 languages are spoken?
Narayan's recipe for poha (flattened rice), calling for lime juice, curry leaves and coconut, is quite different from the one that T had many times when he was living in northern India. He suspects that the one he ate is a Bengali recipe. Poha (or chura, as we call it) makes the best breakfast (or snack) for a brisk autumn morning - or indeed any morning. Or afternoon. Or evening....
Bookmarked recipes: ghee, Ginger Tamarind Pickle, panagam, okra curry, poha
Ammu told us stories every night. Sometimes they were from ancient Indian epics, about virtuous kings and dutiful queens; sometimes they were animal tales for the Pancha Tantra; these always ended with a riddle. If we were really good, Ammu would tell us ghost stories.
Vaikom House was filled with ghosts. As a child, I was always tripping over them. I remember a sultry summer afternoon when I retreated into the cool folds of the great tamarind tree in one corner of the property. the afternoon breeze, the gentle swaying of the tree, all lulled me into somnolence. (p91)
Here are our takes on
flattened rice: Chura: flattened rice with peas and peanuts, inspired by Shoba Narayan’s recipe for poha in Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes
Puliyinji (tamarind-ginger chutney)
February 4, 2019
Last year I read The Milk Lady of Bangalore and it turned out to be one of my favorite books of 2018. Naturally, I wanted to read more of Narayan’s writings, and I started with her first book, this memoir with recipes. In it, she describes her growing up in India (she is Tamil), including all her favorite foods, going away to the US for college, and cooking here. She planned to be a journalist, but studied art along the way, returning to India after completing her work for her master’s degree, which was revoked after a ridiculous (imo) experience regarding her exhibit at Memphis State University. Back home, she was ready to give in to arranged marriage, but she makes it clear it wasn’t the process I imagined it to be. Her parents never wanted her to be unhappy in marriage, nor did they force this on her. The arrangement took and she married the man and now has children and what sounds like a happy marriage. The recipes add to the story in the way photographs sometimes do. There are several I have copied to try, and I’ve already found grocery stores where I will shop.
March 4, 2020
I enjoyed the Monsoon Diary immensely. We all have our stories of food- of how we made a particular dish- who ate it - and what was our emotional journey on it. It is like coming of age stories, and I enjoyed reading about her story as a south Indian woman - her closeness to her family - her journey to the USA and trying to prove herself. I loved her story on upma- how she worked hard on making so many different dishes for a fundraiser, and when she failed, she quickly cooked upma- that was hot, delicious, and appealed to all diets. Shoba is a great storyteller- she is funny, and in her stories, she touches that part of Indianess in you. I could relate to her experiences. I am sure her daughters will proudly cook some of her recipes as I have successfully done so.
December 31, 2019
I loved this book. I was a big fan of Milk Lady of Bangalore, so I just bought this in paperback. I love Shoba's writing. It is engrossing and fun. I enjoy getting to learn about parts of another culture I know nothing about and to get recipes in context that I can enjoy and appreciate even more. It's an easy read, and each story is beautiful in its own way. I've already cooked a few of the recipes, and this is the Indian food I've longed for, not the British stuff passed off as Indian food in restaurants.
December 1, 2019
This book drew me in. Part memoir, part cookbook, a fascinating read. Narayan shares stories of her childhood in India, about moving to the US for college (and the struggle it took her to get there), her journey in the US. Just a fantastic read and made me miss India dearly, and understand a bit more about her journey. Great read.
January 11, 2019
Enjoyable memoir. The interspersed recipes were fun, and I may try a few out.
February 13, 2019
A lovely but short memoir of growing up in India. Great recipes and stories included.
April 3, 2019
Nice read. I like how the recipes came after they were explained in her life. I'm looking forward to making the recipes in this, most of which I'm unfamiliar with, even though I am Indian.
November 21, 2019
It was interesting to read of life in another coulture and the adjustments to the American culture.
February 3, 2020
Lovely descriptions of a woman's grown-up in a very different culture. Loved the recipes and food slant!
December 14, 2020
I could not stop reading this book. Every scene and story was so vivid in my mind’s eye. A great memoir.
March 2, 2021
I love books with recipes.
August 3, 2021
Read it before the book hit the shelves (got to meet the author at an event). Read it in one sitting. Remember it as very sweet and sweetly satisfying.
October 22, 2023
Enjoyable, has some great simple recipes in it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews