East: 120 Easy and Delicious Asian-inspired Vegetarian and Vegan recipes

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If the tomatoes are good and fresh, the oil sufficiently grassy, and the onions just so, this is the food of the gods. I began by looking beyond India to east and south-east Asia, finding new ways to shift vegetables from the side to the centre of the table. When the rice is nearly done, it will start to bubble and burp more furiously and will need more attention.

Books – Meera Sodha

Whether you’re looking for a Christmas gift for the keen cook in your life, or just want to add to your own ever-expanding collection, we’ve selected a range of books covering everything from simple every day recipes to show-stopping restaurant dishes. If there’s one cookbook that will be getting us through the winter months this year, it’s Rachel Allen’s Soup, Broth, Bread.The author’s Israeli heritage and laid-back style really come through in the book, allowing you to feel like you’re getting to know a person as well as a range of dishes. There’s nothing quite like an indulgent Middle Eastern dessert to make you feel satisfied, and this gorgeous Middle Eastern cookbook offers over a hundred recipes to tempt you. Fun fact of the day, the word Thali actually refers to the method by which meals are served in India where an array of dishes are all presented on one platter.

Sodha: exclusive vegan and vegetarian recipes from her Meera Sodha: exclusive vegan and vegetarian recipes from her

Although a relatively small number were vegan, a larger number were trying to reduce the meat and dairy in their diet. Open it on any page (but start, say, with 1 January on page 4) and savour the simple beauty of the recipes and the writing.Meera explains in the introduction that this recipe persuaded her to finally fall in love with kale – and persuasive it is. Pasta may be one of the simplest dishes to whip up, but getting it right is a whole other can of worms. I’d never made kofta before, but I was surprised at how straightforward the whole dish was to pull together – I was able to make the kofta while the sauce simmered, and the whole thing probably only took around 40 minutes (and I’m a slow chopper!

East by Meera Sodha | Waterstones

Embracing creativity, rather than being a recipe book that prescribes very specific ideas, the latest Ottolenghi book takes on the ethos of the team's test kitchen, encouraging you to produce something great with what you have to hand. Then come the recipes, be it the roast chicken of the title – the trick is to rub it with butter and then squeeze over the juice of a lemon – one of his beloved tripe stews, or his saffron mash, pretty much the only dish he claims as his own invention. In true Moroccan style, they are all decadent, delicious, and many are surprisingly simple to recreate — the sticky ras el hangout and peach short ribs being an excellent example.I was in Chinatown a few days later, loading up on ingredients, though many are readily available in good supermarkets. We'd recommend trying the burnt onion and aubergine dip, chocolate peanut butter cake and her vegan dinner inspiration, perfect for January cooking.