Rukmini Iyer - India Express

The idea for this book came about from a conversation with my parents, talking about the train journeys they used to take when they lived in India. With her pinpoint accuracy for all things food-related, Mum described in detail the amazing things theyd eat on the train, from homemade picnics packed by my grandmother to elaborate meals served by white-coated waiters in dining cars. It sounded so good that I was inspired to take a trip with them to India to recreate one of their journeys, from Mums hometown Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) to Dads native Chennai (formerly Madras) on the Coromandel Express. The plan was to eat everything in sight, learn family recipes from both East and South India, and work out ways to incorporate them into a book of everyday recipes. So the Express in this books title reflects the original train journey inspiration for the book, as well as the speed and ease of the recipes Ive chosen for it.

You may find that the vegetarian, vegan and fish dishes in this book are quite different in style from the Indian food youre used to eating and cooking. All Indian states have unique and distinct food cultures, and curries from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are no exception you can read more about the style of cooking from both regions on ) are loosely based on familiar flavours from home, but reinterpreted to reflect the way I cook in my kitchen.

The next chapters in the book focus on the authentic everyday food of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, albeit keeping to the quick and easy theme. Many of these recipes come from my late Tamilian and Bengali grandmothers, handwritten on airmail paper, or recreated from memory. Ive included my favourites, for example the molagu rasam on ).

For keen cooks or those looking for more adventurous dishes, theres a chapter of weekend projects, where youll find tips on safe deep-frying alongside some of my all-time favourite Indian classics like puris and crispy fried aubergine (.

The recipes in the book are largely vegetarian and vegan, as thats the home-cooked Indian food that I grew up with and am most comfortable cooking. But youd be hard-pressed to write a book of authentic Bengali recipes without including fish a state-wide obsession so youll find some of my favourite prawn and fish dishes here too. I hope these recipes, from lazy brunches to easy weeknight curries and weekend feasts, will become a part of your go-to everyday repertoire, as they have in my house.

Rukmini Iyer is the bestselling author of the Roasting Tin series, which has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Shes a recipe writer, food stylist and former lawyer who loves creating delicious and easy recipes with minimum fuss and maximum flavour. Rukmini believes that making time to eat well be it for oneself or for family dinners is an integral part of the day, and shes passionate about helping people make it possible.

Rukmini grew up in Cambridgeshire with the best of three food cultures: Bengali and South Indian food from her parents Indian heritage, along with classic eighties mac and cheese, sponge puddings, and cheese and pineapple on a stick. Rukminis approach to cooking Indian food is inspired by seeing the ease with which her mother switched between Indian meals to recipes from Delia, Linda McCartney and Jamie keeping traditional flavourings, but looking at ways to put easy weeknight dinners on the table.

As well as writing cookbooks, Rukmini styles and writes recipes for numerous brands and publications, including the Guardian , BBC Good Food, Waitrose and Fortnum & Mason. When shes not cooking, she can be found walking her beautiful border collie Pepper in South London, creating her first proper kitchen garden, and entertaining at home with her partner Tim.

@ missminifer

@ missminifer

For all recipe videos, head to www.rukmini-iyer.com/videos.

As always, Id like to thank the brilliant team at Square Peg and Vintage for their work on this book: Mireille Harper and Tamsin English who have been wonderful editors throughout, and my former editor and publisher Rowan Yapp and Rachel Cugnoni respectively for getting this project off the ground all those years ago! Thanks to my agent Felicity Blunt for her support through the year, to Hannah Telfer, Sarah Bennie and Kate Neilan for looking after both the books and me. Clare Sayer, thank you for your incisive and helpful copyediting, Alex Milner and Eugenie Woodhouse for your thorough proofreads, Laura Bayliss for taking in all the corrections and Konrad Kirkham for incredible efficiency on production. And thanks all for letting me come into the office to write, drink large quantities of your tea, and stick the car in a rock-star parking space outside!

Pene Parker, David Loftus and Polina Oshu, thank you for the wonderful design, photography and illustrations in this book what youve created together is just stunning, and I love working with you! Pene and David, it feels like we have a hive mind now for our books, I cant imagine a better team. Legends both.

Pippa Leon and Jo Jackson, thank you for your thoughtful recipe testing, and Jo for your amazing work on the shoot, ably assisted by Emma my parents and I were so impressed by your South Indian cooking! As always Ive had brilliant at-home testers helping with the recipes, thanks to Laura Hutchinson, Christine Beck, Emma Drage, Danielle Adams and Padmini Iyer for trying so many of these for me and feeding back your thoughts! And to my youngest recipe tester, Rosie Drage (aged 2) I look forward to getting you in for work experience ASAP.

My biggest thanks for this book go to my parents, Parvati and Vijay, who have always been inspirational both in the kitchen and in their support for me. Talking, cooking and travelling with you for this book has been a brilliant experience. Ive loved learning more about our family through your stories, and thinking about how we thrashed out the chapter ideas in the kitchen with Padz (OK, I was typing furiously on my laptop and throwing out questions while you three had a normal conversation) always makes me smile, along with our trip on the Coromandel Express, that OTT hotel with all the giant wooden sculptures, wearing a funny hat for my dim-sum birthday dinner in Chennai, and testing the recipes at home with you both. I wish Thathi, Thatha and Didu were still here so we could show them the book we made.

Padz, if I said not you, naan bread it would ACTUALLY be relevant as this is a book of Indian food, but I used that one up in an earlier book. Damn. Pepper, thank you for providing your valuable feedback on various brands of paneer. I now know which one to buy you to hide your ad-hoc medicines in. And Tim, my love, thank you for your unwavering kindness and support throughout this book, particularly through to the end where we had no kitchen, and had to wash up everything from the recipe testing in the bath. Hurrah for running water and dishwashers!