Reading Room: Made in India, Cooked in Britain, Meera Sodha

meera's book

Anna and I have a very talented new sister. Meera Sodha is my brother's fiancee and a rather incredible Lady. 

Meera, Anna and me

You have probably seen her gracing the colour supplements, cooking up a storm on Women's Hour, chatting away with her mum on BBC Asian Network, to name but a few. She is an incredibly modest girl who one day asked her mum for some family recipes to cook for her friends. Nothing had been written down as the family tradition was to cook by experience rather than written instructions. Meera took that as her cue to prevent these glorious recipes from disappearing into the ether and started to make records. The book wasn't intended to be published initially, but just to be a safe record of all the family food heritage. 

Meera and family

A year later, and here we are at the book launch, published by Figtree, Penguin. 

The official tag on her site is:

MADE IN INDIA: Cooked in Britain: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen is the essential book for anyone who loves Indian food and wants to know how to make it easily at home

Meera and Hugh

And that is just it. Both of my parents, incredible bastions of the leftovers brigade, have taken to this book so incredibly strongly, both have been serving up Meera's dishes on a daily basis without breaking into a chilli-induced sweat.

The book is currently number 5 in the Amazon charts...and that is the chart for ALL BOOKS. not bad huh.