Making Indian cooking seem glamorous and quick is Mallika Basu's book “Miss Masala: Real Indian Cooking for Busy Living” (HarperCollins Publishers). Interestingly, the book has stemmed from Mallika's popular blog www.quickindiancooking.com.
The latest cookbook author and the eldest granddaughter of former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, in her book reveals secrets for cooking Indian food. Spicing up her recipes given a quirky twist by Mallika are her equally hilarious tales that are taken from her high-flying city life as a director of a PR firm. “This book is for anybody who lives away from home and loves the Indian food and likes to cook for themselves especially for those who are juggling for a busy social or professional life.” The UK-based author first launched her debut book first in London in April this year. In Delhi, the book was launched at Oxford Bookstore, with a discussion between the author and the well-known columnist Shefalee Vasudev on ‘Blog to Book: Personal Adventure with Indian Cuisine'.
“Miss Masala”, a handbag-sized book, clears some misnomers about Indian food that it is spicy, unhealthy and a time consuming affair. Basu gives guidelines of the simple fare of dal, chicken curry, raita, boiled rice, cooked in almost every Indian household. She goes on to provide the right measures of all the ingredients used in the more elaborate dishes.