As the temperature continues to drop, it becomes increasingly challenging to maintain a healthy body, although we can easily steer clear with minor changes in our diet, using only some fresh ingredients found in abundance during winter.

Saffron is one of the most sought after spices in the world. The threadlike ingredient that imparts a yellow hue are quite literally, imbibed in myths and legends.

A few months ago, I was under fire for mourning a death. My favourite celebrity Anthony Bourdain had died. I fell in love with Bourdain in my 20s — long before I became a vegan or even a vegetarian, and long before I entered the field of animal welfare.

With the festive mood of Durga Puja in full swing, there is no better time than this to try out the following recipes, straight from the kitchen of Dhaka Regency Hotel & Resort, by their Director of Food & Beverages, ATM Ahmed Hossain.

These nine days across the world are charged with spiritual fervour as it is a time for worship, festivities, fasting and spiritual enhancement. The nine days of fasting and prayers culminate in Bijaya Dashami or Dussehra, the tenth day, which marks the victory of good over evil.

Durga, the goddess who symbolises shakti, or power, is worshipped in this season as she visits the mortal plane to bless her followers. Yet, this is not her only form. From the legends and words of scholars, we find there are nine avatars of Durga, better known as Navadurga. These nine avatars are worshipped over the nine nights of the Durga Puja (aptly named Navaratri) mainly in various regions of India.

Biting into one of these during meals has to be one of the worst feelings ever, yet it is found in pretty much every dish, sweet or savoury.

Nothing turns a bad day into a happy one like a refreshing drink in a quiet corner of a café. Whether you want to spend a serene afternoon with your best friends, or whether you want to spend some quality time with yourself and a book on a rainy day, cafés are the perfect place to be.

Growing up Durga Puja always felt like a much-dreaded annual feat. I would usually start pacing myself for the last four days that a younger hormonal me would sum in three words, “heat, traffic and gatherings”.

Whether it's a quick morning breakfast or a midnight snack, who doesn't love to find a bunch of ready-to-heat/fry/frozen goodies in their refrigerator.

If given the choice to play thumb war and win a burger or to possibly do ten push ups and then win a burger, most of us would choose thumb war. Why? Because it is as simple as it sounds and takes up less energy and time. So, the question eventually pops -- are we slaves to simplicity?

My two year old nephew, who I hoped would grow up to be a vegetarian, if not vegan, is neither anymore. He started off on a good note with eating miso mashed potatoes and date brownies, but slowly he learned to *ask* for food.

Writer Emily Esfahani Smith, in her TED Talk, told the world that happiness is not the answer to a healthy life, but rather, having meaning to it. So what does it mean to have a meaningful life?

Spice up your taste buds with healthy spices in your diet. According to the International Organisation for Standardisation, there is no clear-cut division between spices and condiments.

Knowing what type of nutrients are present in the processed food that we eat and their exact amount is the key to being a cautious eater. Food labels or nutritional labels make it much easier to compare food and find nutritional values that suit the body.

The course I took was a holistic immersion into three limbs of yoga. The daily practice consisted of two hours of breath work (pranayama), two hours of meditation (dhyana), one hour of chanting, as well as one hour of exercise (asanas).

“Oh God! My baby wouldn't eat anything and I mean anything at all!!!” If you are a mother, you'd definitely be able to relate to these words, so much so that it almost becomes a national dilemma. And why not? All the mothers in the world are complaining about the same thing- Bangladesh, Japan or Germany!

It's one of those days; you have nowhere to go, so you are sitting at home, but that sudden random crave for something so abstract kicks in, and as luck would have it, nothing from the many scrolls in Foodpanda or Hungry naki's offers can appease it.

With boatloads of meat now stockpiled in the freezer post Qurbani, all sorts of recipes now fight for attention in my mind. This brainstorming took me down the road of 'haleem' craving and I set a goal of finding out the origin of this popular dish and the result was extremely interesting.

Aren't we always on the lookout to prepare snacks for our friends, children and colleagues? Most of us have encountered days when a close one drops in without a call and we wonder what to offer besides tea and coffee.