Fresh India: 130 Quick, Easy and Delicious Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day

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I grew up here in England in a small farming village in Lincolnshire. Behind our house were fields bursting with potatoes, leeks, corn, and chard, and down the road, mustard, cauliflower, and all sorts of greens. Mum adopted and adapted, spicing all this produce to make our very own special dishes, from zucchini kofta to green bean bhajis, rhubarb chutney, and even rainbow chard saag. With every dish, you could see the Gujarati resourcefulness and creativity at work. If you’re using fresh corn, pull off the husks and any loose silky threads. Bring a pan of water to the boil and carefully lower in the cobs. Boil for around 8 minutes, until tender. Drain, then wash under cold water. To slice off the kernels, make sure the cob sits flat (slice off the stem on the bottom of the cob if not) and place in a shallow dish. Hold the pointy end firmly with one hand and, with the other, slice close to the core, letting the blade move down the cob.

Fresh India - Penguin Books UK

Indian cuisine is one of the most vibrant vegetable cuisines in the entire world, and in Fresh India Meera leads home cooks on a culinary journey through its many flavorful dishes that will delight vegetarians and those simply looking to add to their recipe repertoire alike. At the heart of every one of my recipes is a place called Gujarat. It’s where, as long as anyone can remember, our family came from. And although my family has now settled in England, we are still Gujarati, and day in day out we talk, think, and eat like Gujaratis.I have tried some of the recipes, I tend to tweak them a bit, I did the sweet potato vindaloo and substituted the sweet potato for aubergine and it was delicious. The method for cooking samosas worked really well. There are lots that I'm really excited about trying and there's plenty here you can get ideas from. Most are vegan but the handful of egg and paneer recipes suggest you could substitute with tofu. Most of the ingredients are easy to source from a supermarket. Several recipes use tamarind and fresh curry leaves which I will have to wait until I go to the city to get these, but most are easily achievable without fancy or hard to find ingredients. What I thought:Hara Bara kebabs are so easy to make with common ingredients and taste super delicious. All ingredients can be found in a local supermarket. Whether you are vegetarian, want to eat more vegetables, or just want to make great, modern Indian food, this is the book for you. This is the best cookbook I've ever used. Recipes are all excellent, easy to follow and adapt to available ingredients. Has introduced me to loads of new ideas. Gujarat, a small state on the western coast of India, has had a very big impact on Indian food culture. It all started in 269 BC when Emperor Ashoka banned the slaughter of any living animal in the name of peace. Since that time, the majority of the millions of Hindus in the state have been vegetarian. Over thousands of years, a rich and resourceful vegetable-first way of cooking has evolved. Home cooks, restaurant chefs, and street-food stallholders alike have all been creating simple but extraordinary dishes, using just what grows on the land and is in season.

Meera Sodha’s irresistible curry recipes - The Happy Foodie Meera Sodha’s irresistible curry recipes - The Happy Foodie

My second book, Fresh India, was published in July 2016 and is a celebration of India’s love of vegetables. It won The Observer Food Monthly’s Best New Cookbook. Put a tablespoon of oil into a large lidded frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the cubes of paneer. Fry for a couple of minutes until golden on all sides, turning regularly, then remove to a plate.

From the book: Fresh India: 130 Quick, Easy and Delicious Recipes for Every Day

Although Gujarat in particular is famous for this, a similar story exists all across India. For hundreds of millions of people in India, vegetarianism is not a choice but a way of life. Sodha is a former vegetarian, and more than half the 60-million population who live in Gujarat eat a meat-free diet. “As a result, this incredible cuisine evolved that was very innovative.” Agricultural Lincolnshire was also an inspiration: “It’s like a giant larder.” I love this book. I bought it because I realised that my other book with Indian recipes was full of meat/fish dishes, which I don't eat (anymore).

Made in India: 130 Simple, Fresh and Flavourful Recipes from

So if you need to make a last minute meal for an unexpected guest or you’re learning how to cook then this is a perfect, flavoursome recipe with very little room for error.Meera Sodha has made turmeric lattes and a type of mithai (Indian sweet). Rather apologetically, she notes that while things may seem to have gone a bit hipster cafe when we meet in her east London kitchen, both are old Indian recipes. She’d grown up drinking “golden milk” as a cure-all (though health claims on its behalf remain unproven, she hastens to add), and had been busy developing her own spice blend including turmeric, cinnamon and pepper. The sweets are khajur pak – traditionally made by heating dates and nuts, likely cashews, in a pan on the stove, but she blitzed them in a food processor before rolling them into balls and dusting with pistachio and cocoa. “And I added pecans because … well, who doesn’t love pecans?” This pursuit of flavour over tradition has contributed to the success of Fresh India, this year’s winner of Best New Cookbook. A great cookbook with such a wide variety of traditional Indian dishes which you won’t find at your local takeaway. To finish, there’s a chapter of luscious puddings like salted peanut and jaggery kulfi alongside carrot halwa and pistachio cake. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

Fresh India - Macmillan Fresh India - Macmillan

Add the crushed coriander and cumin, followed by the potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until crispy. Add a couple of tablespoons of water, cover with the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and no longer resist the point of a knife.

In Gujarat, cabbages and potatoes are near deities. In Lincolnshire, where they are the main crops, the same is true. Discover everyday recipes using easy to find ingredients, delicious showstoppers and luscious puddings including: The smell of roasted pumpkin, and curry leaves sizzling in coconut oil, is enough to make anyone want to go to Kerala, which is where a variation of this dish, known as “olan”, originates. Walk the streets of Ahmedabad or Rajkot and you’ll come across simple but heavenly potato curries cooked with garlic, mustard seeds, and tomatoes. Or sweet corn cooked in a deeply savory sauce of ground peanuts and yogurt and eggplants that have been smoked over red coals until they become deeply mysterious and creamy. Chef, food writer and best-selling author, Meera Sodha, shot into the limelight in 2014 with her debut cookbook, Made in India, introducing readers to fresh, vibrant and easy Indian cooking. Born in Lincolnshire to Ugandan Asian parents, her love for her mum’s home cooking and her desire to keep her ancestors’ food traditions alive led her to capture the recipes of her childhood.