Home Cooking of India

Home Cooking of India: Recipes from the Indian Cultural Society of Urbana-Champaign is a collection of recipes contributed by members of the Indian community and friends of India who reside or have resided in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. It is offered to the wider community as an introduction to local Indian home cooking. The book features a choice of foods, ranging from authentic regional dishes to the unabashedly fusion. This effort fulfills in part the mission of the Indian Cultural Society to promote awareness of India’s cultural and social heritage and to raise funds for charitable purposes, in this case, the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, Champaign. As a print publication, the book was received both by the Indian and non-Indian communities with unmitigated enthusiasm. Our original print run and subsequent reprints sold out, and all proceeds, save for production costs of reprints, went to the soup kitchen. From this current on-demand publication as well, all proceeds will continue to be donated to the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Champaign, Illinois. This second edition offers a few additional features. We have added a contributor list to the index. Additionally, we include a few personal “Kitchen Memories” from our contributors, which are scattered throughout the book-a feature that fits well with the home-cooking character of the cookbook. “Many of these recipes come from our mothers’ kitchens in India, and we have adapted them to our new homeland. Some were simply made up in a kitchen in Champaign-Urbana as we adjusted to our new environment. Whatever their evolution, these dishes represent our way of life in this diverse and welcoming community-one that has embraced us and one that we now call home. And that is something to celebrate.” —Zarina Hock, from the Preface

Author Biography

Zarina Hock came to the United States to pursue her graduate studies in literature. After an early career in college-level teaching both in India and the United States, she became a professional editor at the National Council of Teachers of English. Upon retirement from NCTE, she became actively involved in the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen of Champaign. She serves on the DBSK board and is a member of the Speaker’s Bureau, which raises awareness about the soup kitchen in the community. Zarina and her husband (professor emeritus at the University of Illinois) have spent most of their lives in Champaign-Urbana, which like many college towns, offers a rich multicultural and academic environment. Their son, who inherited his mother’s sense of the ridiculous, was brought up in a trilingual household (English, German, and Hindi) and learned early to develop a taste for international cuisines. Zarina has consistently been involved in local volunteer activities. Additionally, she likes to write comic verse, but also dabbles in other genres. She enjoys reading, word games, traveling, theatre, and music (Baroque music, Indian classical, American folk, and above all Mozart). She is a passionate dog-lover and is devoted to her beagle. She and her husband continue to travel widely both in the United States and internationally.