My Mother's Kitchen

A Novel with Recipes

My Mother’s Kitchen A Novel with Recipes is an enchanting place filled with promise, change, and good food. If the weathered walls of this magical room could talk, they would tell the story of Meena and her childhood life. Meena’s story takes place in the fictional town of Mahagiri, nestled in the mountains of south India. Meena narrates the events of her life with humor, energy, and innocence. Each chapter is a slice of her young life and depicts her spunk and youthful spirit. A visit to the local Fruit and Flower Show becomes an adventure as told by Meena. Her distress at discovering her aunt’s dark secret or her joy of making a new friend are all told in her naïve and youthful voice. Her mother is a central character in her life, and it is no wonder that the kitchen is a special place of healing and rejuvenation for Meena and other characters like Kashi and Ayah.

“It makes perfect sense that recipes should slip into a story about life and its richness. They do so effortlessly, as it should be. I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely book about food, culture, and family in India. Adding the food element has the effect of making it somehow universal.” -Deborah Madison, author of Vegetable Literacy and The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

“Meera Ekkanath Klein brings the rich flavors and the sumptuous tastes of India to life in her first book, My Mother’s Kitchen. Part cookbook, part fiction, it introduces American readers to a world rarely glimpsed in the West. Klein offers easy-to-follow recipes and lifts the veil that has often concealed Indian life. Her memories of India, where she was born and raised, lifts this book far above the ordinary. A must-read for mothers and daughters eager to try new spices. My Mother’s Kitchen paints a portrait of an ancient culture of rare beauty and mouth-watering food.”-Jonah Raskin, author of Field Days, A Year of Farming, Eating and Drinking Wine in California.