Weekend Getaways
The best time to visit Jaipur, and what each season actually costs you
Jaipur is an outdoor city built largely in stone, so the weather does not just affect comfort. It decides how…
Articles
Recipes, travel, facts, stories and everyday knowledge, newest first.
Indian Recipes
Why rice goes sticky, and the two habits that fix it
Sticky rice is loose surface starch. Rinsing removes it, resting finishes the job, and the ratio matters less than either.
Indian Recipes
Aloo paratha: why the filling breaks out, and how to stop it
A paratha that splits and leaks is nearly always a wet filling or a stiff dough. Both are decided before…
Quick & Easy
Besan chilla: the batter is the whole recipe
A chilla that sticks, cracks or tastes raw is almost always a batter problem, and consistency matters more than any…
Indian Recipes
Vegetable poha, and why yours turns to mush
Soggy poha is almost always the wrong thickness of flake, or standing water. Neither is fixed by the recipe.
Science
Why the sky is blue, and why it is not violet
Rayleigh scattering separates sunlight on the way down. The same physics explains red sunsets, white clouds, and why Mars has…
Indian Recipes
The masala omelette, and why you should salt the eggs last
Two things separate a tender masala omelette from a rubbery one, and neither is the recipe: when you add the…
Short Stories
The lamp room
A lighthouse keeper has recorded the weather twice a day for thirty years. His granddaughter wants to know why he…
Weekend Getaways
Two days in Jaipur, and what actually needs the time
Two days in Jaipur works if you accept you cannot see all of it. Here is what actually needs the…
Animals
An octopus has three hearts, and that is why it would rather walk than swim
An octopus has three hearts because its blue blood carries oxygen poorly. The interesting consequence is that swimming stops one…