'Indian mom WISDOM'

Atlanta-based chef Palak Patel’s debut cookbook inspires with plant-based Indian dishes.

“Food is Love: Plant-Based Indian-Inspired Recipes to Feel Joy and Connection” ($35, Harvest), available May 7, is the first cookbook from celebrity chef Palak Patel.

Born in India, Patel moved with her family to Stone Mountain in 1990. “In fact the day the book comes out will be the 34th anniversary of our arrival here,” Patel said when we spoke by telephone. Her family still lives in metro Atlanta and Patel returned here after living in San Francisco and New York City.

Growing up in Madhya Pradesh state in central India, Patel was raised in a vegetarian household with all meals cooked from scratch for the 15 family members living under the same roof. By age 7, she was helping in the kitchen, creating her own dishes and enjoying the compliments that came along with her cooking.

The book is organized into nine chapters that explore the connection between what you serve and eat and how you feel. From “Food is Caring” to “Food is Indulgent,” Patel shares stories of family, what she calls “Indian mom wisdom” and how her global travels have provided culinary inspiration.

For those just venturing into plantbased Indian cooking, the book includes a chapter on Patel’s pantry, with the ingredients she finds most versatile and instructions on how to make your own spice blends. The section on tools can help allay fears that Indian-inspired food requires an abundance of equipment. Patel lists only six as essential: a Tennessee-made Lodge cast-iron griddle, small food chopper, high-speed blender, nonstick skillet, enameled cast-iron skillet and a wooden rolling pin.

As for where to buy any ingredients not available at the local grocery store, Patel says her go-to source is any Patel Brothers shop (no relation). There are three in metro Atlanta: Decatur, Kennesaw and Suwanee. Patel will also launch an Amazon Marketplace May 7 to make it easy to source what’s needed to cook any of the recipes in this book. The marketplace will be accessible from her website, chefpalakpatel.com, which will also showcase videos on how to cook many of the recipes from the book.

Above: Atlanta-based Palak Patel offers approachableplant-based Indian recipes inher debut cookbook “Food is Love.” The book is organized into nine chapters that explore the connection between what you serve and eat and how you feel.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ADAM MILLIRON Left: “Food is Love: Plant-Based Indian-Inspired Recipes to Feel Joy and Connection” by Palak Patel ($35, Harvest)