Reena Kukreja teaches ghiya wali chana daal, aka bottle gourd with split chickpeas, a Punjabi recipe often eaten in the summer months. Reena also talks about food memory and her trajectory in filmmaking.

Reena Kukreja is an Associate Professor at Queen’s University in the Department of Global Development Studies. Reena is a feminist-activist, researcher, teacher, and a documentary filmmaker who is interested in understanding the complex impact of migration on people’s intimate lives.

Intro and exit music: Creep by Lal @lalforest

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Rina Khan shares her grandmother’s interpretation of a South Indian sambar daal, alongside reflections on community and how food grows and changes with us.

Rina Khan (she/her) is an immigrant originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh and now a settler in the Treaty 6 territory now known as Edmonton, Alberta. She is a PhD student researching methods of using AI in cancer care in a fair and ethical manner. Rina is also a transgender woman and a vocal advocate for transgender rights. In her spare time, Rina is an active member of her community and enjoys knitting in company of her cat.

Intro and exit music: Creep by Lal @lalforest

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In this episode, Shobhana Xavier teaches her take on Parrpu Curry, a Sri Lankan Tamil daal recipe. She also shares reflections about her family’s migration to Canada leaving Sri Lanka during the civil war and her return many years later.

Shobhana Xavier is Tamil-Canadian. Born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, she grew up in Scarborough, Ontario and is currently a professor of religious studies at Queen’s University. She thinks and teaches about religion and culture, and has published books on Sufism and spirituality. She is also the co-host of the Just Eats project and podcast, which explored questions of food, racism, and social justice.

Intro and exit music: Creep by Lal @lalforest

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In this episode, Natasha Bissonauth shares her interpretation of a Mauritian daal, as she talks about food memory, growing food, and teaches the merits of cooking “slow and low.”

Natasha Bissonauth (she/they) is from Montreal Tiohtià:ke and is an art history professor at Emily Carr University. Her research centers queer of color critique and archival fragments across South Asia’s multiple diasporas. Their most recent book project examines contemporary collage that foreground Afro Asian seams as a diasporic aesthetic. Her most cherished writing form is the artist interview.

Intro and exit music: Creep by Lal @lalforest

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In this first episode, Sailaja Krishnamurthi interviews Sayyida about what prompted The Daal Project. Why daal? Why now?

Sailaja Krishnamurti is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s University. Her work takes a critical race feminist approach to religion and representation in the South Asian diaspora and in transnational cultures.

Intro and exit music: Creep by Lal @lalforest

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