Archive · 7 Nov 2025
Author finds multiverse in cooking Meenakshi Ammal's brinjal recipe
Imagine cooking is like a magic portal to another world!
The author, Samar Halarnkar, thinks cooking is similar to science fiction movies that show many different realities.
When he cooks, especially a special brinjal dish from an old cookbook, he feels like he enters a new universe.
Each step, like chopping or frying, takes him away from everyday worries.
He has to carefully prepare the ingredients and stuff the brinjals, which requires a lot of focus.
This cooking process helps him forget about the noise outside and enter a different mindset.
It's like creating a story with food.
Once the dish is ready, he comes back to reality with a tasty meal.
Cooking, for him, is a way to explore different possibilities and find peace.
Author Samar Halarnkar draws parallels between cooking and science fiction, viewing cooking as a gateway to alternate realities or 'multiverses'.
He explores this concept through the preparation of 'Ennai Kathrikai', a stuffed brinjal recipe from the classic 1951 Tamil cookbook 'Samaithu Paar' by S. Meenakshi Ammal.
Halarnkar describes the cooking process, from frying coconut to stuffing brinjals, as a meditative and absorbing experience that requires intense concentration.
He uses cooking as a form of mental transport, a refuge from the mundane, where each recipe creates its own distinct world.
The author highlights that Meenakshi Ammal's cookbook, initially facing patriarchal discouragement, became a culinary legacy and a staple for many, particularly young brides.
- Who
- Samar Halarnkar
- What
- Found a connection between cooking and science fiction, specifically exploring a multiverse through the process of cooking Meenakshi Ammal's stuffed brinjal recipe.
- When
- Recently
- Where
- In his kitchen
- Why
- To find a vegetarian recipe for his spouse and to explore the meditative and imaginative aspects of cooking.
- Author
- Samar Halarnkar
- Recipe
- Ennai Kathrikai (Stuffed Brinjal)
- Cookbook
- Samaithu Paar (Cook and See)
- Cookbook Author
- S. Meenakshi Ammal
- Cookbook Publication Year
- 1951
- Servings
- 4