Indian cookbook preserves family recipes
We’ve all been there. Mum cooks a family classic and it’s delicious. You try to emulate it and fail miserably. What does she put in it? What is the secret ingredient?
Not wanting the family secrets to be lost for future generations, Christchurch woman Jayshri Ganda and her mother Laxmi Ganda created an Indian cookbook.
‘‘We started with a wee notebook, you know, just for my own personal use. I told a few Kiwi friends and they all said, ‘oh my god, we need it because our mums are the same’,’’ Jayshri said.
They decided to print the recipes, close to 100 of them, in a professionally photographed and bound book. They launched the book, A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That, in late 2017.
Within three months, most of their 2000 copies were sold and the book was nominated in two categories of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
‘‘It’s just been incredible really, we were unsure whether we would even sell them, and to sell so many so quickly. I mean, they are just home recipes for us, it’s what we eat,’’ Jayshri said.
They ‘‘never anticipated’’ the Gourmand nominations, she said. She planned to travel with her parents to Yantai, China, for the awards ceremony in May.
‘‘It was never the reason, you know, to make it a famous cookbook, it was just documenting it for the kids really. We aren’t chefs and now we’re up against chefs from over 200 countries.’’
The mother and daughter duo spent eight months cooking and shooting, preparing each recipe four times to ensure consistency. Laxmi would prepare it ‘‘for the measures’’, then Jayshri would give it a go before bringing in a photographer.
‘‘When we were cooking, Mum had her own idea of how much of an ingredient would go in, but I would have to get her to use the measuring spoons. Timing as well, she would just know when things were done, so we had to time everything. We were just building these recipes from scratch,’’ Jayshri said.
Laxmi said the recipes were ‘‘just everyday recipes really, all the classics’’.
‘‘Just like Jayshri did, we learnt by watching [our mothers] and carried on doing it,’’ she said.
They had received emails and photos from people with ‘‘huge amounts of gratitude from people whose mums used to make the meals’’, Jayshri said.
‘‘Other people have said things like, ‘oh, your mother’s hands [in the book] look like my grandmother’s hands’.’’
Laxmi said it was ‘‘wonderful’’ to hear of different generations using the book.
‘‘I actually use it myself now too.’’
"We aren't chefs and now we're up against chefs from over 200 countries."
Jayshri Ganda on the nomination for the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards