I wish I had known about Pamela Timms' blog, Eat and Dust (eatanddust.wordpress.com), before taking my first (and so far, only) trip to India a few years ago - it would have shed some light on some of the exotic ingredients and produce I came across in the markets. The Briton, who blogs from her home in Delhi, has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian.
Timms demonstrates a fearless curiosity about the food of her adopted country - a place where visitors are advised to be extremely careful about what they eat and where they eat it. She blogs about street food (and gives directions to her favourite vendors), restaurants, ingredients and festivals. Timms is also an avid cook and gives recipes for her own dishes (baked goods, such as lemon and raspberry yogurt cake and apple and jaggery upside-down cake, feature prominently); her attempts at recreating street-vendor fare such as daulat ki chaat (above; sweetened milk and cream foam flavoured with rosewater and pistachio) and spicy sweet potato seasoned with masala and lemon juice; and dishes by other home cooks.