Published in 1994, Panjabi’s debut cookbook 50 Great Curries of India is a tough act to follow. Over the past three decades or so it has sold two million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Indian cookbook of all time.
Since her first book’s publication, Panjabi has worked with her sister Namita and brother-in-law Ranji Mathrani to create a restaurant empire that today includes three fine dining restaurants (two of which hold Michelin stars) and the more casual but equally influential Masala Zone chain.
Panjabi’s second book is billed as the definitive guide to Indian vegetarian cooking and – like 50 Great Curries of India – is focused on home cooking rather than restaurant cooking. But that’s not to say the 120 recipes in Vegetables the Indian way are by any means run of the mill.
While a lot of Indian cookbooks aimed at the UK market are – quite understandably – primarily concerned with familiar Indian dishes to the point that they often feel like carbon copies of one another, Panjabi has taken a very different approach.
While there are a handful of authentic recipes for Indian classics like palak saag, Bombay potatoes, a take on vegetable madras and various types of dahl, the vast majority of the book’s real estate is given over to authentic Indian recipes you’d be unlikely to come across in a curry house. These include finely chopped beans with shredded coconut; corn cob masala; popped water lily seeds in cashew sauce; and ash gourd in sour yoghurt.
Sensibly, Panjabi has opted to arrange the book alphabetically by ingredients (in some cases certain categories of ingredients, for example leafy vegetables). There are around 30 sections ranging from the obvious (cauliflower, beetroot, cucumber) to the far less so (lotus, colocasia, yam).
The beginning of the book features scholarly mini essays on each ingredient that discuss history, nutrition and how they fit into Indian food culture. As one would expect, spices feature heavily in all recipes and these are also explained in the book.
The result of decades of research and development, Vegetables the Indian way is a remarkably accomplished cookbook from one of the world’s most influential voices in Indian cuisine.
Vegetables the Indian way
Camellia Panjabi
Number of pages: 368
Must-try dish: corn cob masala
Publication date: Out now
Publisher and price: Penguin Michael Joseph, £40