Mumbai

Architect Charu Gandhi, founder and director of Elicyon, on why the historic city of Mumbai has beguiled her since childhood

1 Food that speaks of home When guests arrive I like to welcome them with something that evokes the comfort and welcome of a Sri Lankan home — roast paan still warm from the bakery, a punchy pol sambo

Biryani is my favourite dish. I love rice. There’s a recipe in Monsoon – it’s a spicy beef pulao with green chilies, made with mustard oil – that I could eat at any time [p104]. Wake me up at midnight

Ask these three cooks and they’ll tell you ...

Myriad flavours are born out of the country’s varied geography and pan-Asian influences

Philadelphia is experiencing something of a culinary renaissance, with some of the best chefs in the USA now based there, along with a large African American and Southeast Asian diaspora leaving their