TASTING INDIA – HEIRLOOM FAMILY RECIPES
CHRISTINE MANFIELD, SIMON & SCHUSTER, P/B, $59.99
Vast in scope, this is as much a sage and sensory travel guide as an intricately researched recipe collection. Manfield takes us through the tapestry that is India by region and city, giving a useful insight into landmarks and culture in the chapter openers, a directory for accommodation and eating and a comprehensive ingredient glossary. Like the country itself, the recipes, whether photographed or not (and Anson Smart’s photography of dishes, people and place is suitably evocative), conjure up a riot of colour and texture and bring about instant cravings. We learn to stuff pumpkin flowers with a spicy cheese mix before coating in a chickpea flour batter and frying. Keralan cabbage thoran is a textural masterpiece and Gujarati vangecha bharit – smoked eggplant – looks the ticket. Portuguese influence on Goa gives rise to bebinca, a sublime-looking cooked coconut-milk custard. This is a fully revised version of the 2012 edition of Manfield’s book, including 30 new recipes and three new chapters on the Punjab, Gujarat and Hyderabad. ANNA KING SHAHAB