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9 flamin’ hot and spicy recipe book recommendations ?

Looking for a mouthwatering meal to celebrate International Hot and Spicy Food Day? We’ve curated just the perfect recipe book recommendations for you that will make you want to cook your heart out! Pick up your favourite one from the list – they’re sure to tingle your taste buds.

On the Pickle Trail by Monish Gujral

On the Pickle Trail front cover
On the Pickle Trail||Monish Gujral

In this book, Monish Gujral brings together a collection of 100 pickles to start you on your journey of pickling. These recipes are not only simple and easy to make, each also has health benefits. From the Italian Giardiniera (pickled vegetables) to the Israeli Torshi Left (white turnip pickle), from the Gari (Japanese ginger pickle) to the Cebollas Encurtidas (pickled onions from Ecuador), this book is a treasure trove of some of the best pickles from around the world. Start your lip-smacking journey today!

Degh to Dastarkhwan by Tarana Husain Khan

front cover degh to dastarkhwan
Degh to Dastarkhwan || Tarana Husain Khan

Originally indifferent eater and cook, Tarana Husain Khan, stumbled upon a nineteenth-century Persian cookbook at Rampur’s renowned Raza Library, that instantaneously set her on a voyage into the history of Rampur cuisine and the legends surrounding it. 

Degh to Dastarkhwan revolves around the question of what truly sets Rampur’s cuisine apart from others. Each chapter is a metaphor for a sentiment, a festival. The variety of Rampuri cuisine, from the lavish royal cuisine to the straightforward everyday meal, lays the groundwork for the expression of love, sorrow, healing, and spirituality. 

 

The Rana Cookbook by Rohini Rana

front cover the rana cookbook
The Rana Cookbook || Rohini Rana

The elegant palaces of Nepal were not only renowned for their glitz and architecture but their lavish feasts as well. Only the palace cooks were fortunate enough to have acquired these delicious recipes. For the first time ever, the doors to the palace kitchens are opened in this gorgeous book, giving us a look into the delectable royal cuisine.

Rohini Rana has compiled and documented the dishes that are cherished by each Rana prime minister’s family in this phenomenal book. This premium, exquisitely designed cookbook tries to preserve these recipes for future generations by showcasing delicious meals from the palaces.

 

This Handmade Life by Nandita Iyer

front cover this handmade life
This Handmade Life || Nandita Iyer

This Handmade Life is all about discovering your passion and mastering it. Divided into seven sections on baking, fermenting, self-care, kitchen gardening, soap-making, spices, and needlework, encourages us to take our time and engage in straightforward hobbies that bring us pure delight.

The book is about hands-on activities that can be contemplative and restorative for the body, mind, and spirit. It is written in Iyer’s trademark lyrical and approachable style. Iyer has succeeded in serving up a book that is inspirational and motivational at a time when both are in short supply by taking the reader through a variety of personal and transforming interests.

 

What’s Cooking in India?

front cover whats cooking in india
What’s Cooking In India?

The books On the Kebab Trail and On the Dessert Trail by Monish Gujral are ideal for anyone who wants to explore the world through food! With over a hundred Kashmiri recipes, P. Krishna Dar’s Kashmiri Cooking is a gorgeously illustrated edition of a well-known classic. Highway on My Plate: The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating by Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma is a must-have travel companion!

 

The Essential Sindhi Cookbook by Reejhsinghani Aroona

front cover the essential sindhi cookbook
The Essential Sindhi Cookbook || Aroona Reejhsinghani

The Sindhi community may trace its origins back to the Harappan civilization and claims a unique continuity of tradition and lifestyle in the Indian subcontinent. Cuisine, as explained in the opening to this book, is a crucial component of this continuity. While Sindhi cuisine has absorbed components from other cuisines, particularly Mughlai and Punjabi, it has always maintained its own distinct blend of flavours and scents. The answers to all questions relating to the preparation and serving of Sindhi food are all here in this comprehensive guide to a distinctive culture.

 

The Essential Delhi Cookbook by Priti Narain

front cover the essential delhi cookbook
The Essential Delhi Cookbook || Priti Narain

The Penguin Essential Cookbooks are a pioneering endeavour to preserve the art of traditional Indian cooking. Each book is prepared by a skilled chef who combines regional or community-specific recipes with a lengthy introduction that details the rituals and customs associated with eating and presenting food. Recipes in the Essential Delhi Cookbook are gathered from the various communities that have made Delhi their home, including the Khatris and Kayasths, as well as Mughlai and Punjabi foods. Raan, Bheja, Methi Dal ki Pakori, Muthanjan Pulao, Mathri, Papri, Chaat, and Sharbat-e-Ghulab are among the recipes.

 

The Essential North-East Cookbook by Hoihnu Hauzel

front cover The Essential North – East Cookbook
The Essential North – East Cookbook || Hoihnu Hauzel

If there is one section of our country that has yet to be explored, it is the North East, at least in terms of its food. Those who live in or have visited the seven sister states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura will tell you that the North East’s chefs produce an incredible variety of cuisines that combine tradition and innovation in surprising ways.

 

The Essential Andhra Cookbook by Bilkees Latif

front cover Essential Andhra Cookbook
The Essential Andhra Cookbook || Bilkees Latif

 

Enjoy the enticing flavours of Andhra cuisine. While Hyderabadi cuisine is well-known for its distinct Mughlai flavour, food from other parts of Andhra, one of India’s largest and most culturally varied states, is relatively obscure. The author brings together for the first time the various tastes of Andhra cooking, from the simple idli-sambar to spicy seafood specialties, in this contribution to the Penguin series on Indian food and customs.

Eight tasty tips to ensure no healthy lunch ever goes half-eaten again!

Among the chief struggles of raising little bundles of joy is making sure that they eat (and enjoy) their daily dose of wholesome and nutritious meals!  Bringing the ultimate solution is Uma Raghuraman-aka @Masterchefmom a super- popular food blogger and Instagrammer who has packed My Genius Lunchbox with recipes for creative dishes that are nutrition packed, vibrant and appeal to both the eye and the very discerning palate of fussy little eaters.

Here are eight very useful tips straight from a Masterchef Mom that will help you create healthy and tantalizing treats that guarantee happy, healthy and well-fed children who look forward everyday to their own ‘genius lunchbox’!

Dry fruits make a delicious addition to any meal and are a powerhouse of essential fatty acids and vitamins. Whether powdered or used whole, the possibilities are endless, whether used in the crunchy-munchy Makhana Profiteroles or the Khajoor Rock Buns.

 

Chole Chimichangas

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When you want to switch up cuisines a little, while still using easily available and essentially Indian ingredients—Mexican is a great alternative, as seen in the flavor and protein-packed Chole Chimichangas!

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Behold the wonderful versatility of Hung curd! With its probiotic properties, and packed with calcium it makes for a great addition as a spread or dip. Check out the lip-smacking Haydari Sandwich.

My Genius Lunch Box || Uma Raghuraman

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Go vocal for local! A little ingenuity works for even most tricky ingredients as in the brilliant substitute of muthia for sausages to make the Muthia Hotdogs. Play around a little with traditional  ingredients and see what positively genius substitutes  you can come up with.

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Tired of fat and preservative filled sandwich spreads? Whizz up your own veggie-tastic versions using vegetables and legumes to make the  Guacamole Chutney Sandwich  or  Pakwan Lavash and Dal Hummus instead!

Steamed Rainbow Frushke

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Gluten-free can be made tension-free as well. My Genius Lunchbox uses a number of wonderful maida substitutes that are easily available and packed with their own unique nutrients such as singhara, millet flour and cornmeal . We recommend trying the Singhara and Paneer Tarts.

Muthiya Hotdogs

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Want to reduce waste while not letting leftovers kill your buzz. My Genius Lunchbox offers us number of super creative ways to turn leftovers into something unrecognizably delicious as seen in the Vermicelli Pancakes.

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Play around with harness the natural sweetness of vitamin packed fruits to make delicious vibrant treats like the Steamed Rainbow Frushke.

5 books that will help you cook Christmassy goodness

The holiday season is synonymous with fun, frolic and feasts. With a party or a get-together happening almost every day, we have brought to you a list of five books that will make whipping up a feast as easy as hosting a party.

On the Dessert Trail

Restaurateur, chef, cookbook author Monish Gujral in On the Dessert Trail has picked more than eighty signature recipes from his travels around the world and presented them with his own unique twist. So, whip up a dessert and carve a sweet place in your guests’ hearts.

Shaken And Stirred

Parties are incomplete without drinks. In Shaken and Stirred, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna brings together a collection of non-alcoholic drinks that go a long way in creating a room full of happy guests. The versatile recipes are full of imagination and will help you create drinks for any occasion.

A Chef in Every Home


Celebrity chef Kunal Kapur with this book will allow you to transform into a star chef. This cookbook brings you simple and fuss-free techniques and a delectable recipe for every mood and moment. Use this book to not only host a magnificent feast but also to make cooking an enjoyable and valuable experience.

The Suriani Kitchen

Lathika George’s The Suriani Kitchen gives us a glimpse into the fascinating kitchen of the Syrian Christians of Kerala with their unique stories of cooking and mouth-watering dishes. Authentic and easy to execute, these recipes are accompanied by a guide to spices, herbs and equipment which help your guests have a sumptuous experience.

My First Kitchen


Is this the first party you are hosting? Are you worried what to have on the menu? Your worries end here. Vikas Khanna in My First Kitchen teaches you how to take the first steps in establishing a cooking haven of your own. With more than 100 recipes to suit every kind of palate, this cookbook is all you need to become a cooking genius.
So which recipe will you pick to delight your friends and family?

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