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

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And then there are showstoppers such as daily dosas with coconut potatoes, roasted cauliflower korma, sticky mango paneer skewers, wild mushroom upma and lime pickle rice with roast squash and red onion. And with 120 recipes crammed inside, Meera introduces you to dishes from every corner of the East and South Asia whilst placing vegetables at the heart of them all. Wherever you find Meera (figuratively, of course), you can count on her recipes to be reliable, not too finicky and packed with flavour, texture and colour! That doesn’t mean you can’t experiment, but if you do stick to the recipe, you’ll get consistent results.

Unlike the stuff you get at your local curry house, her food is fresh, vibrant and surprisingly quick and easy to make. Whilst there are some vegetarian recipes in this meat-free cookbook, they can generally be easily veganised (swapping tofu for paneer for example). Again, the familiar-looking ingredients list caught my attention and, as with the curry, the recipe came out looking exactly like the picture. Just before serving, grind the remaining tablespoon of sugar, the pistachios and the edible flowers as finely as you can, using a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder. I know that cuisines are prone to appropriation, although perhaps, like languages, that helps our cooking repertoires to grow and we then come to appreciate the originality and complexity of certain dishes.

This means that even the most inexperienced cooks can follow the recipes and produce a tasty and delicious meal. Take the cake out of the oven and leave to rest for exactly one minute, then place a sheet of baking paper over the top, followed by a large chopping board. I sailed across the Palk Strait to Sri Lanka, where lunch means a selection of curries each made from one main ingredient – beetroot, aubergine, pumpkin, cashew – served alongside a coconut dal (parippu). You may not see this as a criticism; cookbooks are, as in the name, designed and written for you to cook from, so who cares what else is in there?

Really easy to make and a great variety of recipes makes this probably the best recipe book I've had. I accosted home cooks on social media who had innocently posted photos of their breakfast, to ask them more about what they ate and how they made it. I don't normally review recipe books, but the dishes in this book are relatively simple to make and taste SO GOOD.There are warming noodles, curries, rice dishes, tofu, salads, sides and sweets, all surprisingly easy to make and bursting with exciting flavours. Readers advisory note: this is probably a really good cookbook for someone who is looking for vegetarian recipes with limited access to ingredients. This makes it easy to find a recipe to make, whether it’s to match the ingredients you have, or to satisfy a culinary craving! I expected the tofu chunks to be a little more crisp (the method asks you to coat them in cornflour and fry first) but the sweet tomato and soy sauce coating took away from that a little. To serve, divide the wontons between the plates, drizzle some sauce over each portion, then scatter over some celery leaves.