Dinner and a movie, Bollywood-style

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Author and filmmaker Sri Rao says if someone likes the flavor explosions found in Indian cuisine, they will appreciate the sensory overload of Bollywood cinema. His first book, “Bollywood Kitchen: Home-Cooked Indian Meals Paired with Unforgettable Bollywood Films,” is a guide to dinner and a movie, Indian-style.

In his search for the right food to pair with “Bajirao Mastani,” a wartime love story starring actress and heartthrob Priyanka Chopra, Rao considers the film’s key elements — song, dance, love, betrayal — and the setting of the movie. “Bajirao Mastani” plays out in the 18th century, when India was under Mughal rule. So Rao suggests chicken korma, an opulent dish that would have been found on emperors’ tables, is just the thing to eat while screening the film: “Traditionally, chicken korma is a very rich chicken curry that is made with cream and nuts and raisins. What I’ve done with that dish is streamlined the recipe and made it a lot more accessible and healthy for home cooks.” He says it’s “21st-century korma made with simple techniques to suit our modern lifestyle but with decadent flavors to suit the emperor inside us all.” Roll the tape.