India
A group of Together Women Rise travelers post in front of the Taj Mahal
18
Mar, 2026

Travel

Rise Journey to India 2026

By Marilyn Watson, member of the CA, Berkeley – 2 Together Women Rise chapter

Colorful, chaotic, inspiring. These are but a few adjectives that come to mind as I think back on my Together Women Rise  journey to India in February 2026. In order to fully appreciate the grantees we would visit, we were given a varied and fascinating feel for India, past and present, in between site visits. Our guide, Jaya, waxed on for hours, literally, on the historic touch points of this ancient country, the modern views of religion, current customs and regional adaptations in language, folk art, and agriculture. Details

13
May, 2024

Recipes

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The Proven Platter – India, June 2024

If there is one ingredient that is summer personified in India, it’s the mango. The mighty mango, the King of fruits, is to an Indian less a fruit and more “an emotion” or so they like to declare tongue-in-cheek, as they attempt to get a sampling of every variety they love in the specific timeframe that each variety is picked. With over 1,500 varities of mango cultivated in India, each with a distinct flavor, there’s a lot to sample. Some more expensive and difficult to source and being harvested for a very short period than others. Details

15
Jun, 2023

Recipes

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The Proven Platter – India, August 2023

India is not a monolith. Each state has its own language, its own forms of art and music, and variations in cuisine. While the states within a region of India (North, South, East and West) may share some similarities in their cuisine, the flavor profile of the same dish within a region could be markedly different depending on which combinations of colonial powers laid claim to that particular state and on the ingredients that are readily available in the state. Details

14
Nov, 2022

Recipes

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The Proven Platter—India, December 2022

It’s “gathering” season meant for “together-ing.” It is what our family declares, every year right around the time Diwali rolls around. Depending on the lunar calendar that usually falls some time in late October or early November. It usually heralds the start of the season of holidays and celebrations spanning different cultues and religions that involve, essentially, the gathering of friends and family over food. Gathering season lasts till the start of the New Year. Details

2
Jun, 2021

Grantees, News

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Nepal Hit by Second Wave of COVID-19: Updates from Our Grantees

The news reports out of India over the past few months have been heart-breaking as the country has experienced a disastrous, second COVID-19 outbreak, resulting in over 400,000 new cases daily at its peak. Now, Nepal is suffering a similar fate with a devastating second wave of COVID-19.  Latest reports are that Nepal is considering declaring a health emergency as the virus rampages across its country. BlinkNow Foundation, a Together Women Rise grantee, recently posted on its Facebook page that the number of COVID-19 cases in Nepal has increased over 2000% in the past month. BlinkNow also states that nearly 65 per cent of COVID-19 tests in their region have been positive. Details

11
Mar, 2021

Recipes

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The Proven Platter – April 2021, India

The joke goes that an astronaut getting out of the space shuttle and setting foot on the newly discovered planet gets greeted with chai and samosa by the friendly Indian chaiwallah (tea shopkeeper) who wonders what took the rest of humanity so long to get there. As with most jokes, there’s a kernel of truth there. Setting aside fast-food chains of the kind that offer pizzas or burgers, Indian cuisine is one of the few cuisines that are available no matter which part of the globe you travel to (or universe, apparently). Details

13
Aug, 2019

Recipes

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The Proven Platter – September 2019

September’s featured grantee, Edu-Girls, Inc., is located in India, a vast country with so many distinct culinary regions. If I spent the rest of my life cooking only the foods of India, I’d still have a lot to learn about the foods of India. One thing I definitely know is that cooking and eating the flavorful vegan and vegetarian dishes of India have a positive impact on my taste buds, my food budget, and my health. Details

6
Feb, 2019

Recipes

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The Proven Platter – March 2019, India and Tanzania

It’s such wonderful serendipity that the countries of origin for March’s featured grantee (Her Future Coalition, in India) and sustained grantee (African People and Wildlife, in Tanzania) are inexorably linked by geography and ancient trade routes—and, by extension, food. Details

8
Jul, 2016

Together Women Rise

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The Proven Platter – India

Hello Diners!

Welcome to India. We’ve traveled there before. Flavors from exotic spices perfume every dish.  Garlic, ginger and chiles add heat. If you love Indian food but are intimidated by long lists of ingredients and techniques, well, I’ve got your back. I’ve taken my inspiration for our recipes this month from “Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking” and “Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking.” Both of these books are devoted to recipes in the under 30 minutes or less category. You’ll need to purchase some spices (the bulk spice aisle is your friend here), but other than that most of the ingredients are commonly found. Details