India Express

RUKMINI IYER is the bestselling author of the Roasting Tin series, selling over 1.75 million copies worldwide. They’ve transformed the cookery space in the UK, leading the one-tin, one-pot and one-pan revolution, and remain firm favourites among fans of maximum-flavour, minimum-hassle cooking. She 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 pudding, and cheese and pineapple on a stick.Rukmini is a columnist for the Guardian and BBC Gardeners' World magazine, and writes for numerous publications, including BBC Good Food magazine, Waitrose and Fortnum & Mason. She strongly believes that making time to eat well – for oneself or for family dinners – is an integral part of the day, and as a new mother with limited time but a good appetite, she’s passionate about helping other households cook great, minimum-effort dinners.When she’s not cooking, Rukmini loves gardening, wandering around food markets with border collie and toddler in tow and entertaining at home with her husband (often friends, more often the baby and dog.)Sign up for Rukmini's newsletter here: https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/chefs/rukmini-iyer

Inspired by a train journey between her parents' home towns of Kolkata and Chennai, India Express is a collection of 75 south Indian and Bengali recipes, and Rukmini Iyer's seventh book. The first thing I made from it was Chingri Macher Malai, spiced prawns in coconut milk, which took minutes to prep, simmered quietly for just under half an hour, and was perfect on buttered white rice. Semolina pancakes were similarly successful. This collection follows Iyer's wildly successful roasting tin series, rightly considered cookbooks for our times. What was it about them? Accessibility? Minimum fuss/maximum flavour? Layout? Trust in the likable, reassuring person who guided you through? All of the above - which, together with more personal material than her previous work, makes India Express a must-have.