Dishoom: The first ever cookbook from the much-loved Indian restaurant

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Let the grated cheese come up to room temperature; it needs to be quite soft and workable. Heat the oven to 240°C/Fan 220°C/Gas 9. Place a baking tray inside to warm up. If Bombay was already full of all kinds of people, Irani cafés further helped to mix them physically in the same spaces and helped enhance the cosmopolitan culture of the city. When people break bread together, barriers break down.

Grate the remaining garlic and the ginger to a fine paste on a microplane (or grind in a mortar). Using a blender, blitz the chopped tomatoes to a fine consistency. More than likely, you will eventually arrive at your destination. If you’re coming to south Bombay, you will probably travel past high-rises, permanent makeshift slums, crumbling old houses, a brand new sea-link flyover and an Aston Martin dealership, to arrive somewhere near the bottom of the pendant of reclaimed land that is the city. If using the makhani sauce immediately, add 80ml of double cream and simmer for 5 minutes. If using later, cool the sauce and refrigerate it, adding the cream when you want to reheat it.A gorgeous book that delves into the history and flavours of Mumbai's Irani cafes, so evocative that I can smell the keema pau even before I’ve started cooking. And like Dishoom itself, it’s fun and accessible.” – Xanthe Clay For the marinade, blitz the ingredients together in a blender or mini food processor to a smooth paste. Add the prawns and tomatoes to the sauce and simmer gently for a further 5-6 minutes, until the prawns are cooked; do not overcook or they will be tough.

The Irani cafés were not just a source of romantic nostalgia. They were also important. Nineteenth-century Bombay is often and rightly described as a cosmopolitan city, but eating out was uncommon and almost always segregated. Religions had strong and specific prescriptions on diet, with caste an additional division. Further, the colonists created racially exclusive spaces. Those with brown skin couldn’t enter the Yacht Club or the Bombay Gymkhana and generally weren’t allowed to eat in the dining halls of hotels. (The great Parsi industrialist, Jamsetji Tata, changed this when he opened the Taj Mahal Palace hotel where the rule was clear that no one could ever be denied access for being Indian.) In 1947, the joyous awakening of the nation to life and freedom was stained with the blood from Partition. The violent rupture of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan resulted in perhaps a million deaths. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces, add to a pan of boiling, salted water and cook until almost tender. Drain and pat dry, then set aside.

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First make the makhani sauce. Peel and finely dice 15g of the garlic. Warm a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and add the oil. Toss in the chopped garlic and fry until light golden brown and slightly crisp – about seven to eight minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. These shared spaces and this cosmopolitan culture were extremely valuable. Shared spaces beget shared experiences and shared experiences mean that people are more likely to tolerate each other’s differences, less likely to hate and less likely to explode into violence towards one another. He also believed in reincarnation. We’d like to think that he is somewhere reading this dedication and diving into this book with delight. CONTENTS Put the couscous into a microwavable container (a large mug is ideal). Add 60ml boiling water and the olive oil, and microwave on high for one minute. Leave to stand for five minutes, then fluff up with a fork. (The couscous can be cooked in a small pan over a medium heat, but it’s just a very small quantity.) Once forked through, leave the couscous to cool.