‘I am always transported to the golden years when our humble dastarkhān brought us all together...’ A delectable trove of stories and recipes, Daastan-e-Dastarkhān unravels the history and traditional cooking techniques of 30 intimate dishes from the culinary heritage of Muslim communities across India. In this evocative journal, MasterChef India contestant and consultant chef Sadaf Hussain invites you to gorge on Bihari kebabs during Eid, discover the influences of the spice trade in vegetarian dishes from the coastal Mappila cuisine and learn about a lost recipe born out of competitions between chefs during the Nizami era. With easy-to-follow recipes adapted for today’s kitchens, this book encourages you to recreate mouth-watering delicacies of old, and weaves the story of a community that is as varied as its food.

‘I am always transported to the golden years when our humble dastarkhān brought us all together...’ A delectable trove of stories and recipes, Daastan-e-Dastarkhān unravels the history and traditional cooking techniques of 30 intimate dishes from the culinary heritage of Muslim communities across India. In this evocative journal, MasterChef India contestant and consultant chef Sadaf Hussain invites you to gorge on Bihari kebabs during Eid, discover the influences of the spice trade in vegetarian dishes from the coastal Mappila cuisine and learn about a lost recipe born out of competitions between chefs during the Nizami era. With easy-to-follow recipes adapted for today’s kitchens, this book encourages you to recreate mouth-watering delicacies of old, and weaves the story of a community that is as varied as its food.

BIBLIOPHILIA: A perfectly acceptable addiction marked by obsessive reading, aggressive book-sniffing and strategic hoarding. For as long as Ferose, a San Francisco-based techie and 'gently mad' bibliophile, has understood books, he has devoured them with the unmitigated enthusiasm of a toddler on a sugar rush. For him, reading has been more than a weekend pursuit or a hobby on steroids. It has been a lifestyle - generously peppered with serendipitous first edition finds and deliberate in-store title hunting - of which he kept meticulous notes. In this intimate and refreshingly honest essay collection - illustrated by artists on the autism spectrum - Ferose professes his undying love for books and elaborates on his relationship with the life-affirming act of reading. Enthusiastically noting titles that carry scribbles in the neglected margins to gushing over one-of-a-kind collectibles, he delves into his varied picks, bringing his most formative bookish adventures to readers. Part memoir and part fascinating study of the quiet, fulfilling act of reading and collecting books, this joyous meld of anecdotes and recollections explores the sweeping genius of books and storytelling, and how they continually refine our collective conscience.

‘A vision of our past lives in images that are most often, I am not ashamed to say, memories of what we ate, with whom and when . . .’In this well-seasoned medley of memories and meals, Indranee Ghosh brings together charming vignettes from her youth in the densely forested Khasi Hills and in Bengal with a delectable selection of recipes passed down over three generations. Anecdotes about eccentric kith and kin, folklore from the time of the Second World War and chronicles of Partition are served up in a warm and engaging narrative along with accounts of audacious kitchen adventures and fascinating nuggets of hard-learnt culinary techniques.Featuring over 70 recipes that represent a mix of Bengali, Khasi and Nepali cuisines, Spiced, Smoked, Pickled, Preserved will introduce you to a variety of exciting fare. From essential spice mixes to forgotten dishes reinvented over time, from fermented delicacies like shidol in pumpkin leaves to a sizzling pan-roasted telapiya, from hearty fish stew to mouth-watering pork in plum sauce, and from sweet-and-sour fish roe ambal to a delicious tangerine payesh – every dish in this deeply personal collection has been tried, tested and practised to perfection.Whether you are an intrepid gastronome wanting to take your repertoire a bit further, or a foodie looking for a comforting bowl of goodness and a fresh flavour to tickle your tastebuds – this treasure trove of treats is your must-have culinary guide.

Royal Hyderabadi Cooking reveals secrets from the Nizam's kitchens courtesy the great practitioners of the art: Begum Mumtaz Khan and Ustad Habib Pasha.Royal Hyderabadi Cooking, collaboration between Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi, is the fruit of a number of years of intensive research. Hyderabadi Cuisine is known to be irresistible. Here it is presented in a reader-friendly easy-to-cook manner so that the exquisite and graceful food that is a legacy of the Moghuls can be recreated in the home kitchen.Whether it is the popular Haleem you wish to cook or the poetic Asif Jahi Pasandey, you will find the recipes in this book. You can regale your family and friends with scintillating vegetarian dishes like Bhagare Baingan and Diwani Handi served with hot Bakarkhani. Endings must be sweet, so ladle out bowls of Asharfiyon Ka Meetha or Khubani Ka Meetha.With this book in hand transport yourself to a whole new wonderful world where a royal Hyderabadi banquet awaits!

Timeless recipes from the stately kitchens of the Awadh regionDastarkhwan (noun): A meticulously laid out ceremonial spread of food. The nawabs of Awadh were renowned for their extravagance and their patronage of the best craftsmen. Of all the arts that flourished then, cooking was considered one of the finest, and its practitioners were among the most sought after. Famous for its nafaasat (refinement) and nazaakat (delicateness), Awadhi cuisine blends spices over a slow fire to achieve seasonal harmony with nature. Retelling anecdotes and secrets long held by the descendants of the nawabs, talukdars, bawarchis and rakabdars of the region, Sangeeta Bhatnagar and R.K. Saxena recreate the culture and cuisine of a culturally and imaginatively rich era.

A book that celebrates spices, and the integral ways in which they shape what we eat. Throughout a career spanning thirty years, well-known food critic and writer (and little-known collector of spice-grinders of eclectic origin), Marryam H. Reshii has had a relentless love affair with spices. Such has been her passion that she has travelled across the country and to various corners of the world ? crushing, grinding, frying and tasting ? in a bid to understand every aspect of these magnificent ingredients. The result is The Flavour of Spice, a zesty narrative that brings together stories about the origins of spices and how they evolved in the cuisines we know and love; colourful anecdotes gleaned from encounters with plantation owners and spice merchants; and beloved family recipes from chefs and home cooks. From the market yards of Guntur, India?s chilli capital, to the foothills of Sri Lanka in search of `true? cinnamon, and from the hillsides of Sikkim where black cardamom thrives to the saffron markets in the holy city of Mashhad, Iran - this heady account pulsates with exciting tales of travel and discovery, and an infectious love for the ingredients that add so much punch to our cuisines.

Cooking and feeding are ways of expressing your love and affection to your family. Finding the right foolproof recipe, which is easy to make and serve, makes half the job easier. Tried & Tasted is a multicuisine recipe book, which is a delightful mix of Khoja Cuisine, popular street food, festival favourites, international offerings and lots more. The author has meticulously tried, tested and tasted each of the recipes for best results. The recipes are described in a stepwise manner and in a lucid language, which even a novice can easily follow.

In the popular imagination, Delhi cuisine is most often associated with the Punjabi or Mughlai. In this book, the author seeks to dispel such a notion by presenting a rich and diverse selection of recipes drawn from the different communities who have made Delhi their home, including Baniya, the Khatri and the Kayasth. Spicy kababs and fragrant biryani, hot paranthas and korma, tangy chaat and sumptuous kulfi - the array of food is as delectable as it is eclectic in its origins and history. Drawn from different sources including old cookery books, these are authentic recipes written in a manner that facilitates easy use, and cover the entire range from starters and beverages to snacks and desserts.

Discover the flavours of the North-East If there is one part of this country that is yet to be discovered, at least in terms of its cuisine, it is the North-East. The kitchens of the North-East are the source of an extraordinary range of dishes that blend tradition and innovation in unexpected ways. The basic tribal diet of jungle produce has, over the years, been influenced by various other communities—the Thais, who once ruled over some parts of the territory; the Chinese, because of their proximity; and the Bengali migrants—and it is this unusual combination that makes the food of this region unique in India. With a variety of new recipes from the eight states of the North-East—now including Sikkim—this updated cookbook will help you transform the most ordinary meal into an exotic experience.