dev mukherji Archives

Gifting time is here! Check out my choices for the cookbooks of the year.

It feels like we are travelling through our cookbooks, more and more. Vicariously going long-haul as we find ourselves constrained in the pocket. Scrolling through lists of the best selling food books of the year finds us leaping from country to country. Amazon’s bestsellers reads more like a travel brochure.

Here’s a selection of the four books I’ve enjoyed most this year. It’s not been an easy shortlist, so let me know what I missed.

Quick note: if you love to cook but hate sifting through recipes, try out Eat Your Books. With over 2.3 million recipes indexed Eat Your Books will help you figure out exactly what to eat for dinner tonight, based on the books you already own. Build shopping lists, add your own recipes and more. Jane has always been a big supporter of BigSpud and I highly recommend her site – try it out now and use code EYB2230 to unlock a free one month Premium membership.

Journey to Flavour by Dev Mukherji

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dev for many years. He’s always, always been passionate about vegan food that you simply can’t recognise as anything but delicious. He takes inspiration from his travels and never compromises on flavour. His pan-global, zero-waste style keeps you guessing. From rapid curries to slow casseroles, Dev’s book will take you on a journey through his life and with combinations you’ve never had before. Read my review here.

Buy Journey To Flavour from Amazon

It’s All About Dinner by Nicky Corbishley (Kitchen Sanctuary)

It’s been so exciting watching Nicky absolutely smash her way to this amazing career: from a fledgling YouTube channel that now boasts over 300,000 subscribers, to one of the most delicious Instagrams you’ll ever see Kitchen Sanctuary is a wealth of family-friendly, everyday recipes. They are all winners and ones your whole family will love, and every recipe has a QR code that will take you to the video version. A treasure trove of favourites you’ll reach for again and again. I recommend her chicken a la king, a real old-fashioned dish that’s desperate for a comeback.

Buy It’s All About Dinner from Amazon

Is This a Cookbook? by Heston Blumenthal

Well is it a cookbook? Yes. There could be no doubt that this book would be on the list, Blumenthal fanboy that I am. Yes there are recipes, but nothing bonkers or outlandish – well apart from the chapter dedicated to eating crickets but let’s come back to that – but the good stuff is literally in the margins. Any reader of Terry Pratchett will tell you some of his absolute best writing is in the footnotes. As it is here, where Heston ruminates further on why an ingredient works, or how to push a recipe further, or how to stimulate the other senses while eating. There is a whole page dedicated to the mindful eating of an egg sandwich! Along with esoteric sketches from David McKean this is one to make you think about what you cook, and what you eat.

Oh the crickets? A whole section decrying how we do need to reduce meat intake (no arguments) and then how you can replace that protein with insects. Mostly it’s in the form of tasteless cricket powder. Mostly.

Buy Is This a Cookbook? from Amazon

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

I really didn’t expect to put a book by an actor in this list! But Stanley has a way of entwining his life with food that is utterly irresistible. More than Heston’s above this isn’t quite a cookbook – more an autobiography interspersed with the recipes from key moments of his life. I have a soft spot (more of a doughy middle) for Italian food, and for the charmingly robust way Italian American food amps everything up. And hearing Stanley talk about growing up with a pot of Sunday gravy on the go, and how he spends Christmas, is all utterly charming. In some ways the book is infuriating – it’s hard to get further than three chapters without wanting to skulk into the fridge for a snack. But it’s a delight.

Buy Taste from Amazon

That was my year in cookbooks – what were your favourite books this year?

Previous years’ lists:

The 2021 cookbook list

The 2019 cookbook list

The 2018 cookbook list

The 2017 cookbook list

The 2016 cookbook list

The 2015 cookbook list

The 2014 cookbook list

The 2013 cookbook list

The 2012 cookbook list

The 2011 cookbook list

The 2010 cookbook list

Note: I have known Dev personally for a number of years so I can’t say it wouldn’t influence my review. But the book is brilliant so please check it out. Dev’s book is available from Amazon.

Masterchef contestant Dev delighted the judges with unusual yet invigorating flavour combinations and this is even more evident in his first book. Filled with vibrant colours, original pairings and delicious photography, Dev’s recipes will inspire you to try something a little different for dinner tonight: melon and tofu salad, red lentil kedgeree, banana peel rendang. This book is very definitely a journey and a surprisingly personal work. Journey to Flavour is more than a cookbook, it’s a lifestyle.

Drawing on both his personal experiences and his travels around the world, Dev has created truly fusion food that wows you with combos you’ve never heard of yet still feel right. Take this vegetable and red lentil dahl:

A dahl is as wholesome and comforting as you can get, familiar to millions. But the touch of pomegranate seeds bring it back to life again.

Or maple-seared peaches with a tofu and rocket salad:

Peaches are nothing new in a salad but the addition of maple and tofu takes it in a spectacular new direction leaving it feeling fresh and exciting.

None of the recipes are difficult either – lots of pan-frying, oven roasting – nor time consuming so don’t feel you are going to have to burden your cupboard with dozens of spices you will never use again.

Dev is passionate about hearty, healthy food that still feels vibrant and indulgent, underpinned by clear message of reducing our carbon footprint. Please try out some of his recipes – you won’t be disappointed. Check out this sample recipe below.

TheNomLab website

Buy Journey to Flavour on Amazon

pumpkin and sage tempeh katsu curry with toasted pumpkin seeds

This is the perfect katsu curry for autumn, deliciously moreish and comforting! By Dev Mukherji

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion diced
5 garlic cloves finely diced
3 teaspoons ginger finely grated
2 medium carrots peeled and sliced
2 cups pumpkin cubed
1 heaped tablespoon white miso
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon peanut butter
250 g tempeh cubed
3 cups plant milk
sesame seeds to garnish

Instructions

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, add diced onion and sauté until almost transparent. Add garlic and ginger and fry for another minute or two. Add sliced carrot, cubed pumpkin, curry powder and garam masala. Stir around and fry off for a minute or two. Now add the miso paste, peanut butter, vinegar, maple syrup, soy sauce and stir it in and fry another minute.
Now add the plant milk to the pan and let it simmer for 20–25 minutes on gentle heat till the pumpkin and carrot are softened and cooked through. Now cool this mixture a bit and blend to a smooth and creamy sauce. The sauce should be salty from the soy sauce and miso paste but add a bit more salt if required.
In a separate saucepan heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add the cubed tempeh and fry till the surfaces are a little browned. It should smell nutty. At this point add in the pumpkin katsu sauce and mix it in with the tempeh, heating it up gently till piping hot. Sprinkle sesame seeds to garnish.