The biryani is India’s most beloved dish-one that has spread to all the four corners
of the country and assumed many forms.
It originated in the Mughal courts, flowering in the jagirs of Awadh, and it is in Lucknow, Delhi and
the small Muslim principalities of north India that one finds the classic versions, subtle, refined and
delicately flavoured. Pratibha Karan gives us not just the definitive recipes from these regions but
unearths rare and old dishes such as a biryani made with oranges, Rose Biryani and Kebab Biryani.
In the south, the biryani has an equally distinguished lineage, if not more so. There are the blue-blooded
biryanis of Hyderabad which include gems such as the Doodh ki Biryani, Keeme ki biryani
and Bater ki biryani. Away from the royal courts, the biryani has adapted itself into a spicy local
delicacy in Tamil Nadu, with many towns like Salem, Aambur, Dindigul boasting of their own
signature version of the dish. Kerala too is home to many-a prawn biryani spiced with curry leaves
and aniseed, a mutton one laced with star anise.
There are as many stunning variations in the east and west-Goan biryanis using vinegar and
olives; unusual dishes from the Parsi and Sindhi communities; Bengali adaptations using fish and
mustard seeds, even a dish from Assam!
Immaculately researched, full of extraordinary recipes, and beautifully designed and photographed,
Biryani is the ultimate book on this princely dish.
Catagory: Crafts, Home & Lifestyle
What’s Cooking in India?
Monish Gujral’s On the Kebab Trail and On the Dessert Trail are the perfect reads for those who want to travel the world through their palates!
Vijayan Kannampilly’s The Essential Kerala Cookbook is a comprehensive guide to all your favourite Malayali foods.
P. Krishna Dar’s Kashmiri Cooking is a stunningly illustrated edition of a celebrated classic with over a hundred Kashmiri recipes!
Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma’s Highway on My Plate: The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating is an indispensable companion for all your road trips!
Your Health in Your Hands
Ever been dissatisfied with following ONE fitness routine, and still holding on to your love handles? Here comes a collection that focuses on the complete you-from using yoga to mould your body to the fitness level you want and keeping stress at bay while losing weight, to eating the good home-made food that your body will love. This box set is for anyone and everyone looking for a healthy lifestyle, not a crash course in fitness.
Improve Memory and Maths Skills
This box set contains the best tips and tricks by renowned trainers and Guinness World Record holders Aditi and Sudhir Singhal. Guaranteed to improve your mathematics and memory skills, these books are must-reads for competitive exams, maths enthusiasts and puzzle aficionados.
Party Like A Star
Learn how to entertain like the celebrity swish-set, with recipes, tips and photos from actual parties thrown by Bollywood stars and big brands. Find a detailed plan of action for every kind of party, be it brunch, high tea or even a big, fat wedding.
Shilarna Vaze, chef and founder of Gaia Gourmet, who has cooked for the best parties and the biggest stars, will turn you into the perfect host with her scrumptious recipes, advice on picking the right party professionals, indispensible checklists and getting every detail just right. Thrown into the mix are essential tips for décor, service, and menu planning, as well as expert and celebrity inputs on how to put together a perfect soiree.
When I’m planning a party [. . .] my instinct is to call Chinu up – Alia Bhatt
Shilarna’s cooking packs a wallop and oomph, not just in flavour and texture but also presentation and creativity – Rashmi Uday Singh
Uparwali Chai
WINNER OF THE GOURMAND WORLD COOKBOOK AWARD 2019
The ultimate teatime cookbook, with an Indian twist
When Pamela Timms moved to Delhi over a decade ago, she realized how different baking in India was. She started roaming the gallis of Old Delhi, curious to know what baking traditions were born out of our tandoors and tawas. One thing she couldn’t avoid was the Indian obsession with tea and, more importantly, teatime snacks. Inspired by the local produce and flavours, she started experimenting and developed a repository of recipes tailored to suit the desi kitchen. She knew she had hit gold when she found a way to marry her traditional Scottish taste with the warm Indian palate.
From Saffron and Chocolate Macarons to Apricot and Jaggery Upside Down Cake to a Rooh Afza Layer Cake, Uparwali Chai is an original mix of classic and contemporary desserts and savouries, reinvented and infused throughout with an utterly Indian flavour. A beautifully curated set of recipes full of nostalgic flavours and stories, this is a book every home cook will be referring to for generations to come.
The Joy of Vegetarian Cooking
This unusual cookbook, with recipes from places as far-flung as Italy, France, Egypt and Australia, creatively brings together vegetables of every flavour and colour-from the versatile potato to the more exotic avocado, from the sensuous aubergine to the humble water chestnut.
Jasleen Dhamija, a widely travelled ethnologist, intersperses the recipes with piquant and often funny anecdotes that bring alive little traditions and stories about the cooking and serving of different kinds of vegetables around the world. Arranged alphabetically for easy use, the recipes are intended to save cooking time and energy without compromising on taste. Also provided are sample menus that illustrate the best and most nutritious ways to design a healthy, balanced diet. From delicious soups and salads to unusual sauces, from different kinds of rice and roti to mouth-watering desserts, this is innovative, exciting fare guaranteed to stimulate even the most jaded palate.
The Indian Accent Restaurant Cookbook
Indian Accent opened in 2009 with an inventive Indian menu at The Manor, New Delhi. The restaurant serves a unique interpretation of Indian food, featuring historic revivals, playful nostalgia, with an openness to global techniques and influence. The restaurant was featured in the 2015 San Pellegrino list of 100 Best Restaurants in the World, the only one from India on the list, and awarded the Best Restaurant in India by the 2015 list of San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. The Indian Accent Restaurant Cookbook is based on the restaurant s path-breaking contemporary Indian menu by award-winning chef Manish Mehrotra. With photographs by Rohit Chawla, among India’s foremost food photographers, the cookbook has a selection of Indian Accent recipes to excite the adventurous while satisfying traditional palates.
Happy Hours
Happy Hours: The Penguin Book of Cocktails is a first of its kind and all that you will need to set up your very own bar and make it the most talked-about one in town.
It will show you how to master basic techniques and impress your guests: keep your glasses sparkling clean, create decorative ice cubes and use a cocktail shaker with panache. It will tell you about the origins, production and classification of different types of liquor, and provide smart tips on preserving and serving them. It will treat you to a splendid selection of over 650 recipes-from classics such as the Tom Collins and Daiquiri to unique concoctions like the Maheshwar Margarita (a feni-Cointreau-lemon juice mix) and Mango Bellini to inventive punches, mocktails and heady mixtures guaranteed to cure hangovers-complete with meticulous instructions on measurements, suggested glassware and garnishes, as well as a few tricks to reinvent popular mixes.
Along the way, you’ll also pick up
– Up-to-date information on premier liquor brands and their availability in India
– Entertaining asides on sundry topics of interest, from the most expensive whisky in the world to the status of alcohol in ancient Indian society
– Crucial advice on how to recover from a night of hectic partying
– A comprehensive glossary that provides clear definitions of otherwise unfamiliar terms
Whether you’re a professional bartender or a generous host, planning a lavish party or simply looking to add zing to an evening drink, this stylish, sumptuous book is the ultimate companion for your bar.
Masala Lab
Ever wondered why your grandmother threw a teabag into the pressure cooker while boiling chickpeas, or why she measured using the knuckle of her index finger? Why does a counter-intuitive pinch of salt make your kheer more intensely flavourful? What is the Maillard reaction and what does it have to do with fenugreek? What does your high-school chemistry knowledge, or what you remember of it, have to do with perfectly browning your onions?
Masala Lab by Krish Ashok is a science nerd’s exploration of Indian cooking with the ultimate aim of making the reader a better cook and turning the kitchen into a joyful, creative playground for culinary experimentation. Just like memorizing an equation might have helped you pass an exam but not become a chemist, following a recipe without knowing its rationale can be a sub-optimal way of learning how to cook.
Exhaustively tested and researched, and with a curious and engaging approach to food, Krish Ashok puts together the one book the Indian kitchen definitely needs, proving along the way that your grandmother was right all along.