I was in the fabulous Udaivilas in Udaipur, enjoying the morning breakfast feast, when my eyes lit up. No, it wasn’t some grand Rajput jewels which had so excited me, though these gems I speak of were a rich golden orange and came wrapped in a delicate outer covering of gossamer beige.

“And then there was the rainy season, and the accompanying sounds of the flirty breeze playing with the leaves of the mango tree in our backyard, the rustic smell of wet earth, and the thud of mangoes falling to the ground,” recalls chef Hari Nayak in his new book ‘My Indian Kitchen’. “We kids often dashed out to pick them up before the sky broke loose! This priceless robbery of ours would mean that soon spicy green mango chutney would be on our dining table!”

Enticing tales such as this, traditional home recipes explained lucidly and photography that’s luscious enough to eat make this a welcome addition to the books on Indian cooking.

Diwali tradition mandates you indulge in the richest of mithais and halwas during the festivities – laddoos, chumchums and burfi – amongst a myriad of classic sweets. To that list you can now add Diwali truffles – with a traditional Indian twist!

To bite into a mango and get that sweet, sticky juice squirting all over your chin and clothes is to drift back into blissful childhood, into days that seemed to have no beginning and no end.

When Oprah features a vegan recipe from Madhu Gadia in her magazine, you know it’s hot! The good news is that if you happen to be vegan, can’t eat eggs or dairy, you don’t have to be exiled to a Siberia of bland vegetables anymore.In fact, there are some Indian vegan super foods that can light up the menu and give you all the nutrition and flavor that you need. So what are these magic foods?
(Image is of one of the super foods featured in the book – beans – transformed into Dal Vada Burgers)