India Express

Inspired by a train journey between her parents’ home towns of Kolkata and Chennai, India Express is 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’ *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 … It maintains the ease and simplicity of the tin books but is chattier, more complex and goes off in all sorts of interesting directions. Nothing in it is difficult and everything is really, really nice to eat. * India Knight, Sunday Times *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 trademark 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’ *An instant classic * Felicity Cloake, author of ‘Red Sauce, Brown Sauce’ *It’s beautiful, remaining true to Rukmini’s accessible, flavourful and innovative style * Alice Slater, author of ‘Death of a Bookseller’ *Effortless innovative cooking and banging flavours * Angela Hui, author of ‘Takeaway’ *Full of realistic, delicious recipes * Bethany Rutter, author of ‘Welcome To Your Life’ *Beautiful and mouth-watering * Robert Elms, BBC Radio *Amazing, simple but really flavoursome curry recipes * Trish Halpin, ‘Postcards from Midlife’ podcast *Packed with great ideas for quick-to-prepare dishes with some punchy flavours * Madeleine Morrow, London Unattached *

RUKMINI IYER is the bestselling author of the Roasting Tin series, selling over 1.75 million copies worldwide. They’ve transformed the cookery space in the UK, leading the one-tin, one-pot and one-pan revolution, and remain firm favourites among fans of maximum-flavour, minimum-hassle cooking. She grew up in Cambridgeshire with the best of three food cultures- Bengali and South Indian food from her parents’ Indian heritage, along with classic eighties’ mac and cheese, sponge pudding, and cheese and pineapple on a stick.

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.

When she’s not cooking, Rukmini loves gardening, wandering around food markets with border collie and toddler in tow and entertaining at home with her husband (often friends, more often the baby and dog.)