Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
We probably don't even need to point this one out. When Miranda thinks about buying a bag of Hot Mix for Laxmi at the Indian grocery store and the grocer tells her that the Hot Mix is "too spicy" (S 70) for her, the pun's absolutely, positively intended.
Who's the "hot mix"? Is it Dev, whose Bengali origins seem so exotic and hot to Miranda? Is it Miranda, whose leggy, Midwestern look gets Dev to call her "sexy"? Or is it the two of them together, a white American mistress and her married Bengali lover?
Another way to look at the bag of Hot Mix: it's like a badge of belonging, a sign of Indian-ness that Miranda wants to explore. She knows it's what Laxmi eats (S 69) and if she could only offer it to Laxmi…maybe they could be friends? Maybe Miranda could feel almost Indian?