From Kitchen to Culture: Three Remarkable Contemporary Indian Food Books

    

The three recent food books — Monsoon by Asma Khan, A Tale of Two Kitchens by Crescentia Scolt Fernandes, and Mitāhāra by Rujuta Diwekar — Let's get to  understand what each one offers and why they’re special additions to our collection:

 

 1. Monsoon — Delicious Indian Recipes for Every Day and Season

Author: Asma Khan
Published: March 2025
Genre: Cookbook, food writing, seasonal cooking
Why it’s great to own: A deeply personal, beautifully crafted cookbook that goes beyond recipes — it’s also food memoir and cultural journey.

 What the Book Is About

Monsoon is structured around India’s six seasons (including monsoon, winter, summer, etc.), rather than the usual course-by-course layout. Each chapter pairs a season with one of the six Ayurvedic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, astringent), teaching you how to balance flavour and intuition in your cooking.

It includes 80 vibrant recipes ranging from quick weeknight curries and snacks to festive spreads, drawing heavily on the author’s Bengali heritage and traditional Indian cooking techniques.

 Themes & Style

Seasonality & Intuition: Asma Khan encourages cooking with the rhythms of nature and embracing what’s available locally — inspired by the way food changes with the air, weather, and produce.

Storytelling: Interspersed with recipes are evocative memories — the sounds, smells, and flavours of Calcutta, family kitchens, and monsoon days — making it part cookbook, part memoir.

Flavor Mastery: The book also teaches basics like tempering spices, balancing heat and acidity, and confidently using Indian spice blends — so it’s both instructive and inspiring.

 Monsoon is ideal if you love *rich storytelling tied to food, soulful recipes that transport you, and want authentic Indian home-style cooking with personality.

 

 2. A Tale of Two Kitchens — A Culinary Journey through Cochin & Goa

Author: Crescentia Scolt Fernandes
Published: January 2026 (recent release)
Genre: Culinary memoir + recipe collection
Why it’s great to own: This book is a culinary archive — preserving lesser-known regional recipes, food memories, and cross-cultural influences from Goa, Kerala, and beyond.

 What Makes It Unique

This isn’t your typical cookbook with standardized recipes. Instead, it’s part memoir and part kitchen journal — tracing the author’s layered food heritage shaped by Dutch, Portuguese, Anglo-Indian, Goan and Chinese influences.

Crescentia recounts how food evolved in her family and the many tastes she grew up with, while preserving recipes that are fading from everyday kitchens.

Themes & Style

Memory & Tradition: The emphasis is on recollection — recipes sparked by childhood, festivals, village kitchens, and blended family traditions rather than culinary fads.

Regional and Rare Recipes: Expect dishes like Goan fish curry, pork vindalho, stuffed prawn recheado, chicken xacuti, and other coastal favourites — many of which are not commonly found in mainstream cookbooks.

Cultural Crossroads: Her story also reflects how foods change and adapt as they travel through communities and kitchens — capturing the quiet erosion of some traditional recipes and the joy of saving them in written form.

 A Tale of Two Kitchens is perfect if you treasure *culinary history, regional Indian cuisine, family food lore, and recipes embedded in personal narrative rather than just technique.

 

 3. Mitāhāra — Food Wisdom From My Indian Kitchen

Author: Rujuta Diwekar
Published: July 2025
Genre: Nutrition, mindful eating, food philosophy + recipes
Why it’s great to own: This book blends Indian food wisdom, mindful eating philosophy, seasonal ingredients, and simple recipes into a holistic guide to nourishment.

 What the Book Is About

Mitāhāra is rooted in the ancient Indian concept of “measured, mindful eating” — eating in harmony with the seasons, respecting food for nourishment, and honouring local culinary traditions.

Rujuta guides readers on a year-long journey through seasonal eating, pairing personal anecdotes with practical advice and wholesome recipes that celebrate Indian produce.

 Themes & Style

Seasonality: The book encourages you to embrace what’s naturally available each season (like mangoes in summer or root vegetables in winter) for health and sustainability.

Mind-Body Nutrition: It’s more than cooking — it’s a philosophy of food that nourishes the body and mind. It pairs traditional Indian food principles with modern nutritional thought.

Accessible Recipes: The focus is on simple, wholesome cooking and practical tips for everyday meals that honor tradition and well-being.

 Mitāhāra is a beautiful book if you’re interested in *healthy eating with soul, reconnecting to traditional Indian food practices, and using food as a tool for overall well-being rather than just taste alone.

 

 Summary

Book	Style	Focus	Good For
Monsoon	Cookbook + Memoir	Seasonal Indian cooking & flavour	Inspirational home cooking with depth
A Tale of Two Kitchens	Culinary memoir + recipes	Regional & heritage food stories	Cultural preservation & rare recipes
Mitāhāra	Food wisdom + nutrition	Mindful, seasonal, healthful eating	Holistic approach to food & sustainability

 

 

Which one would you like to add to your collection? Do share it in the comments.