India Express: easy & delicious one-tin and one-pan vegan, vegetarian & pescatarian recipes – by the bestselling ‘Roasting Tin’ series author

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Inspired by a train journey between her parents' home towns of Kolkata and Chennai, India Expressis 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. Rachel Roddy, The Guardian 'Best Books of 2022' Home cooking from both regions couldn’t be more different from the ‘curry house’ style of Indian food, which was created by Bangladeshi restaurant cooks in the UK in the 70s (there’s a wonderful Guardian long read about it, apparently when the wives of the chefs joined them from Bangladesh they were surprised at how completely different the ‘Indian food’ the chefs were serving the locals was to the home cooking they themselves had at home!) What is one recipe everyone should try in India Express first? So you’ll find simple, one-tin dishes like crisp-topped marinated sea bass with green chilli, lime and coriander, from Bengal, and south Indian-inspired beetroot, curry leaf and ginger buns. The recipes are largely vegan and vegetarian, because that’s how most people of the regions eat, with some pescatarian meals thrown in – because seafood is a “state-wide obsession” in Bengal. Now you want things that are obviously tasty, but unless I’ve made a conscious decision that today I feel like spending the afternoon cooking, I don’t want to be tied to the stove. After 10 minutes, add the grated ginger, ground coriander, turmeric, chillies, fresh coriander, sea salt and pepper, and stir-fry for a minute. Turn off the heat, add the sliced, cooked potatoes and stir gently, so they are coated in the onion and spice mixture.

I focus on the food of Bengal and South India, as that’s where my mum and dad are from respectively, and those are the recipes I grew up with. All the regions in India have such vibrant and distinct food cultures, as South Indian and Bengali food aren’t as widely known here in the UK so I wanted to focus on them for my Indian book. You mention that people might find the dishes different to Indian food they’ve tried before, can you expand on why that is? 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. The idea for India Express: Fresh and Delicious Recipes for Everyday was inspired by a conversation with Iyer’s parents, talking about the 24-hour train journeys they used to take when courting in India. After hearing about the delicious food they’d eaten on their trips, she travelled to India with them to recreate one of the journeys, travelling from her mother’s hometown Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) to her father’s native Chennai (formerly Madras) and learning all about her family recipes. Recipes in her seventh book, Indian Express, have been a lifesaver too, with ‘one pan’ and ‘one tin’ chapters. “Those are the ones I’m relying on right now – and the more adventurous ones when I hand [Alba] over to her dad!” Put the butter in a large saucepan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the bay leaf and cumin seeds, and sizzle for 30 seconds. Add the onion and fry, stirring occasionally, on a medium to low heat for 10 minutes, until golden brown and crisping around the edges. Transfer two tablespoons of the onion mix to a small bowl and set aside.There are plenty of punchy flavours here and the beauty of this kind of cooking is that it requires so little preparation. Constance Craig Smith, Daily Mail, for ‘The Green Roasting Tin’ I have to admit, I’m a big fan of deep fried food. Bengali prawn cutlets, home-made cauliflower or onion pakoras with coriander chutney - you can’t beat them as a treat at the weekend. What is one ingredient that you have been loving recently? A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR | 'A JOY OF A BOOK' ( SUNDAY TIMES) | A BBC GOOD FOOD 'BEST INDIAN COOKBOOK' Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan (if it’s ovenproof, all the better), add the cumin and stir-fry for 30 seconds, until aromatic. Tip in the onions, turn down the heat to medium to low and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until softened and lightly caramelised at the edges. If they start getting dark, just turn the heat down. SIMPLE, FRESH AND DELICIOUS RECIPES FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ROASTING TIN SERIES

A must-have' Rachel Roddy | 'A practical and inspiring delight' Niki Segnit | 'An instant classic ' Felicity Cloake | ' Clever, speedy, manageable' India Knight | 'Rukmini's best book yet' Stuart Heritage Amazing, simple but really flavoursome curry recipes Trish Halpin, 'Postcards from Midlife' podcastThere’s hot samosas, potato cakes, hot chai… But as the regions change, you get local things. When you get to Bengal, you get offered something called mishti doi, a delicious, sweetened yoghurt served in little earthenware pots. In the south you get offered idlis, steamed fluffy rice cakes, which are really tasty. So it’s nice the food on the train reflects where you’re going through.” Think of this as an Indian take on a Spanish omelette – lightly caramelised, spiced onions, layered with potatoes, coriander and eggs. Leftovers are perfect for lunchboxes. You will need a 25cm ovenproof frying pan, or a 25cm roasting tin or round flan dish. There are plenty of punchy flavours here and the beauty of this kind of cooking is that it requires so little preparation Constance Craig Smith, Daily Mail, for ‘The Green Roasting Tin’ Recipes we love: All-in-one Aubergine, Tomato, and Nigella Seed Curry, Bengali Popcorn Shrimp, Mini Naan Pizzas with Lime & Coriander Paneer, Chilli, Coconut & Lime Salmon with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, and Shahi Tukra (Bread and Butter Pudding). Meanwhile, for the peas, heat the butter in a large frying pan and, when hot, add the chopped ginger and chilli flakes, and sizzle over a medium heat for two to three minutes, until the ginger starts to turn golden at the edges. Add the peas and a teaspoon of flaky salt, and cook for a minute more.

I am a huge fan of Rukmini Iyer's Roasting Tin cookery books, but her new one, India Express, is my favourite yet... an absolute joy of a book India Knight, Sunday Times FROM THE 1.5 MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF 'THE ROASTING TIN SERIES': 75 SIMPLE, FRESH AND DELICIOUS RECIPES. INCLUDES: OVER 20 ONE-TIN/ONE-PAN RECIPES AND OVER 20 *30 MINS MAX* RECIPES. The most delicious things I ate this year were 'chop' from [Rukmini Iyer's] India Express ... The book is a practical and inspiring delight . Iyer brings her t rademark clarity and fuss-free instruction to some of the South Indian and Bengali recipes she ate growing up. It's veg-leaning and full of flavour. I have used the book a great deal and am keeping it in the kitchen because this is the kind of food I want to make after Christmas indulgence. Niki Segnit, author of 'The Flavour Thesaurus' and 'Lateral Cooking' Crisp-Topped Marinated Sea Bass With Green Chilli, Lime & Coriander - Roasted Cauliflower with yoghurt and mustard - All-in-one Aubergine, Tomato & Nigella Seed Curry - Chilli, Coconut & Lime Salmon with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes - Green Pea, Onion & Cauliflower Pulao Rice - Bengali Popcorn Shrimp - Mini-Naan Pizzas with Lime & Coriander Paneer - Cheddar, Cumin & Nigella Seed Cheese StrawsHer latest offering focuses not just on Indian flavours, but specifically the food of a 1,000-mile train route from Tamil Nadu, South India (where her dad is from) to Kolkata, Bengal (where her mum is from) – and all the regions in between. Iyer wanted to showcase these distinct regions, while staying true to the ethos of all of her cookbooks. “What I wanted to do was think about what makes the Roasting Tin accessible and popular, and then bring a spin on it – which was the food that I grew up with, Indian-inspired foods, [and] still have something you could make on Wednesday night,” she says. This book will earn a place in kitchens up and down the country Nigella Lawson, for 'The Green Roasting Tin'