Many of the recipes relate to religions and festivals throughout the year ranging from Mother’s Day to the summer football season and including Halloween, Eid, Diwali, Asian weddings, Christian and Chinese New Year. In short, all wonderful excuses to eat as much food as possible says Vicky Bhogal, the author.
Vicky is an icon in the world of cookery. Belonging to a Sikh family, her family ensured that she grew up in a Western Society with strong Indian values, including learning to cook and this book is an application of Indian values with British and Asian ingredients.
The recipes are neatly compiled, allotted in sections of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Considering the spell of spring, the time for gentle and simple flavours, Vicky has added recipes such as ‘Saffron and Pistachio Rasmalai’. Having categorized summer as one of the lazy times of the year, the author has compiled recipes which are frosty and refreshing. Handful of recipes in each seasonal section tempt the viewer to grab a copy at once. Additionally, basic ayurvedic principles regarding food are covered in short.
The book also covers all the basic utensils and equipment required in a typical Asian kitchen along with measuring ingredient charts, grocery shopping preparations, cooking techniques and tips. For those who are unable to comprehend various Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati terms used in recipes can refer to the glossary of terms at the end which are put in plain words in English.
What attracts the readers more are the author’s short, personal interesting anecdotes related to each recipe in the book. She has creatively included short stories, images and extracts of poetry setting the mood of the respective seasons. A colorful appearance of the book with multi colored pages creates a fancy impression but at the same time makes it difficult for the reader to read the text on dark coloured background.