When it comes to eating and feasting, Indians go vocal for local

Regional tastes, local flavours and grandma's recipes draw food lovers to restaurants

Children’s book author Rajani LaRocca describes kesari bhath, Karnataka’s harvest festival dish, this way: “It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory, smooth and gritty, fragrant and the tiniest bit bitter. It tasted like home.”

"It was made with semolina, sugar, milk, and ghee, flavored with saffron and cardamom, and studded with raisins and cashews. I tasted a spoonful of the thick, golden pudding. It was perfect,” says a character in 'Midsummer's Mayhem', LaRocca’s book about a young Indian American girl’s discovery of food.

Like that child, Indians are returning to regional tastes, local flavours and grandma’s recipes. “One