Kankana Saxena, creator of the popular food blog Playful Cooking, brings fun back to the kitchen with recipes inspired by her upbringing in India. A mix of sweet and savory chutneys, carb-laden breads and rices and aromatic, hearty dishes like slow-cooked chicken offer depth of flavor and lots of spices, indicative of traditional Bengali cooking.

If you’re looking for a meal to satisfy body and soul, try one of Saxena’s must-have dishes like drool-worthy eggplant fritters (beguni) or fried puffed bread (luchi) as well as sweet tastes like spongy cottage cheese in sugar syrup (roshogolla) or lentil- and rice-flour cakes (daler pitha). Each bite is rich and delicious, and every recipe is as fun to make as it is to eat.