India Express: easy & delicious one-tin and one-pan vegan, vegetarian & pescatarian recipes

by Rukmini Iyer

A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR | 'A JOY OF A BOOK' ( SUNDAY TIMES ) | A BBC GOOD FOOD 'BEST INDIAN COOKBOOK'FROM THE 1.5 MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF 'THE ROASTING TIN SERIES': 75 SIMPLE, FRESH AND DELICIOUS RECIPES. OVER 20 ONE-TIN/ONE-PAN RECIPES AND OVER 20 *30 MINS MAX* RECIPES.'A must-have ' Rachel Roddy | 'A practical and inspiring delight' Niki Segnit | 'An instant classic ' Felicity Cloake | ' Clever, speedy, manageable ' India Knight | ' Rukmini's best book yet' Stuart HeritageDiscover simple and speedy recipes that work for every day such Crisp-Topped Marinated Sea Bass With Green Chilli, Lime & Coriander - Roasted Cauliflower with yoghurt and mustard - All-in-one Aubergine, Tomato & Nigella Seed Curry - Chilli, Coconut & Lime Salmon with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes - Green Pea, Onion & Cauliflower Pulao Rice - Bengali Popcorn Shrimp - Mini-Naan Pizzas with Lime & Coriander Paneer - Cheddar, Cumin & Nigella Seed Cheese StrawsFrom quick snacks and weeknight dinners to simple desserts , Rukmini Iyer has created a collection of South Indian and Bengali-inspired recipes with a modern twist. Keeping with her ethos of 'minimum effort, maximum flavour', these dishes are vibrant, achievable and moreish. This is the perfect cook book for summer.' Effortless innovative cooking and banging flavours' Alice Slater | 'Everything is full of flavour and easy ' Angela Hui | 'Full of realistic, delicious recipes ' Bethany Rutter

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, India, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

Rukmini is a food stylist and food writer, who enjoys recipe developing and styling for editorial, advertising and commercial clients. Her cookbooks include 'The Roasting Tin' and 'The Green Roasting Tin', and her next cookbook 'The Quick Roasting Tin' is out with Square Peg in June 2019.

Rukmini left the law to retrain as a chef, working for Tom Kitchin at 'The Kitchin' in Edinburgh before moving to London to do what she loves best - food styling, recipe writing and development. Her first two cookbooks, with Parragon and Quadrille, are due out early in 2016. When she's not styling and writing, Rukmini enjoys planning for an extensive organic kitchen garden from the confines of her London balcony, complete with chickens.

Reviews

[MichaelK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the past year and a half I've made 37/75 recipes from this book. On my last flick through I realised I'd made all the ones I felt any urgency to make. The rest I may get round to at some point in the future.

'India Express' is the first book in what I'm deciding to call Iyer's 'Post-Roasting-Tin Era'. She came to prominence as the bestselling author of a 5-book series specialising in easy roasting tin dishes. As much as I love that series, I was very glad to see Iyer move on from it.

The title refers to both speedy cooking and the train journeys which her parents used to take across India, which inspired the book. The recipes are her versions of popular family recipes, coming from her grandparents and other relatives or family friends. Each recipe has a short introduction, which sometimes explores the family connection in more detail. 'India Express' is a far more personal cookbook than her previous; using this book can almost give you the feeling of a spiritual connection between yourself and Iyer and her family. As I sat down to eat the dishes, I often found myself reflecting on Iyer's parents' train journeys, and how their relationship led to me eating the food in front of me.

I've previously described the design of the Roasting Tin books as giving them the vibe of an artsy catalogue; 'India Express' retains the excellent photography but utilises other design choices to shift the vibe more towards that of a family album. There are photos of Iyer cooking/eating with various relatives, and a couple of photos of the original handwritten recipes. Patterned fabrics are used to frame the dishes in the photos, in addition to the standard colour blocks from previous books. Gone is smooth cover of the Roasting Tin series, instead there is a textured cloth cover which gives the book a more rustic handfeel.

Of the recipes I made, the ones I enjoyed the most were:
Tamilian Lemon Rice (pg70)
Pea, Cauliflower & Onion Pulao (pg72)
Mushroom & Pistachio Biryani (pg78)
Aubergine, Tomato & Nigella Seed Curry (pg96) - I've made this a few times now.
Bengali Mustard Fish with Crushed Peas and Sweet Potato (pg102) - this is an EXCELLENT twist on fish, chips, and mushy peas.
Bengali Five-Spice Roasted Squash & Carrots (pg104) - a very tasty roasted veg recipe which has become a household regular for when we want an easy veggie dinner.
Kidney Bean Curry with Tomatoes & Peppers (pg112)- a great 'Chilli Variant' which has become another household regular.
Tomato, Onion, and Spinach Curry (pg118)- a very quick and easy curry that makes for a great side dish as part of a spread
Easy Fried Okra (pg140) - this has become my go-to 'Okra Chips' recipe
Ghonto: Bengali Cabbage & Potato Curry (pg170)

If you are already very familiar with Indian cooking, you may not find much for you here that you haven't tried before, but if not then there is plenty here to experience and enjoy. The book is a beautiful creation; the design and personal touches throughout combine to make it feel cherishable, like a family album.

[Hugh Tierney]

I bought this book primarily because I wanted a sambar recipe, but I have to say that the results lead to a very insipid sambar indeed. I should have known from the start as the quantity of spice was extremely small. Looking through the other recipies I noticed the same trend, so I'd say only buy this book if you like your Indian food with the minimum of flavour.

[Elizabeth Judd Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many tasty looking recipes! Can’t wait to make and eat them.

[Beka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a lovely, amazing book! I just want to eat everything in it! (Might need to add to my collection.)

[Gina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a pantry full of Indian ingredients. No, this is not simple. Not accessible for a non-Indian cook. Nothing in here I would make.