Indian

Onam is a harvest festival traditionally celebrated with a vegetarian feast known as sadya in the south Indian state of Kerala. Avondale's Thattu serves Keralite food, and hosts a sadya. “People are not aware of the diversity of Indian cuisine,” says the owner.

Two cousins opened the first Eggholic, a restaurant featuring a distinctive style of Indian food focusing on eggs, in Schaumburg in 2018. By the end of this year, there will be 28 Eggholics across the country. How did they do it?

“God bless the pioneers of the Indian community who brought Indian food [to the United States], but we’ve gotten settled into this greatest hits world,” says Zubair Mohajir, the chef behind the buzzy Wicker Park restaurant Wazwan. 

Colleen Taylor Sen has lived in West Ridge near the South Asian mecca of Devon Avenue for fifty years, before there even were South Asian restaurants and shops. She has written numerous books about Indian food, although she came to writing them later in life.

Looking for a creative outlet while working as a doctor during the pandemic, Sheil Shukla developed recipes and photographed them for a cookbook based in part on the recipes of his family that also emphasizes healthful eating through veganism.

Chicago cookbook author and food entrepreneur Anupy Singla shares a recipe for a refreshing drink to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors that takes place around the beginning of spring. "I like to have options of natural sodas and drinks that everyone can partake in," she says.