The Sunday Haul (on 15-10-2017)

Last Sunday’s haul at Abids consisted of two cookbooks. Though I had spotted two good books I did not buy them because the prices were too high. But now I think I should have bought Anne Enright’s ‘The Green Road’ that I saw. The price of three hundred rupees that the seller quoted put me off and I did not even bargain with him and walked away. Anyway, it was the Sunday before Diwali so almost all the regular shops were open and the book sellers were scattered around. I was alone and it did not take me long to finish the round of all the booksellers and finding these two cookbooks. One of them was a hardcover and the other a paperback. Both were large sized books that any other seller would have asked for at least two hundred rupees but my favorite bookseller gave both to me for just a hundred rupees. I love this guy, really because he is so deferential and also gives me the books at whatever price I ask.

The popular chef Sanjeev Kapoor must have written scores of books on almost every cuisine one can think of. I see many of this cookbooks at Abids but I prefer only uncommon titles. When I saw his book on Konkan cuisine I picked it up. The other book I found at the same seller was ‘Meals & Menus’ by three authors one of whom turned out to be a Hyderabadi. I was surprised that the copy I found was signed by Anju Poddar, the Hyderabadi author, to someone. Anyway, it seemed interesting and so I picked it up along with the Konkani Cookbook by Sanjeev Kapoor.

A Happy Diwali to all of you.