• Sutapa Sikdar showed an old book cover and talked about how her late husband.
• Sutapa showed a picture of a cookbook and said that, as a Bengali woman who married a North Indian.
• Sutapa wrote in her post that she had found an old cookbook called Mrs. Balbir Singh’s Indian Cookery.

Sutapa Sikdar showed an old book cover and talked about how her late husband, the actor Irrfan Khan, would look helpless when she was having trouble cooking. He would say, “khichdi bana lete” to her.

Sutapa Sikdar said that her late husband, the actor Irrfan Khan, would tell her to make khichdi when they were first married and she was having trouble cooking. Sutapa showed a picture of a cookbook and said that, as a Bengali woman who married a North Indian, she had a lot to learn about cooking.

Sutapa wrote in her post that she had found an old cookbook called Mrs. Balbir Singh’s Indian Cookery, which reminded her of the first few days after her wedding. Sutapa wrote, along with a picture of the book, “I don’t think of cleaning books as a chore.” For me, it’s more like digging into old stories and memories, and I can spend hours flipping through the pages. And every time you turn the page, the people, places, smells, and sounds of that place come to life.

Every time… the most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.Today, I found this worn-out book. And the memories poured out of her like water. A long time ago, I could feel sweat on my forehead… I didn’t like the smell of fried onions… I used to cook in a sleeveless maxi dress by Zeenat Aman. BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport) buses would honk through the kitchen grills. That Tulsi tree on its own…Irfan walked into the kitchen smoking and gave me a puff while looking like he couldn’t help himself.

Sutapa added, in reference to the cultural and culinary differences she had to deal with, “My life and food habits changed a lot when I moved from Bengali to North Indian, and I didn’t know how to cook because I wasn’t interested in marriage or taking care of a home. Being new to Bombay with no family and no cook, I was, to say the least, nervous. Without a YouTube channel, we had to learn the hard way, so we bought cookbooks. And this was my first basic, non-fancy North Indian cookbook. Thank you, Mrs. Balbir Singh. I don’t know who you are, but thanks for saving my life. My butter chicken, which I think is a very overrated dish, saved my life because my boys loved it. # irlfan # childhood # memoriesforever

Irrfan died in April 2020 after a long battle with a neuroendocrine tumour. His wife, Sutapa, and his two sons, Babil and Ayan, are still alive. Sutapa and Babil often show each other old photos of Irrfan. Babil is going to make his acting debut in Qala, which is a new show on Netflix.

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