Snacktime

"Fusion or not, that sense of place and purpose is captured in the opening scene of Jhumpa Lahiri's best-selling immigrant novel, "The Namesake." In it, a pregnant Indian woman in Boston named Ashima longs for a specific snack from the old country. Lacking the right ingredients, she improvises using Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts to create a rough approximation of bhel puri, a popular Indian street food." (Aruna Jain)

Bhel puri makes a few guest appearances in Shiva's Arms, from the beach ...