East: 120 Easy and Delicious Asian-inspired Vegetarian and Vegan recipes

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A vibrant plant-based cookbook from the Guardian 'New Vegan' columnist and award-winning author of Fresh India

While the rice is steaming, make the chutney. Add the remaining 100ml of coconut milk, the coriander, the other chilli, lemon juice, sugar and ½ teaspoon of salt. Blend smooth, then scrape into a serving bowl. There are no frighteningly long ingredient lists or recherché spices - just simple recipes that really work. It's become my go-to Indian cookery book The Times (Books of the Year) on Made in India If you love Asian-style food, then East is a wonderful resource if you want to start cooking more of it at home – without the meat. A lot of the recipes are great for time-poor cooks and, although the odd recipe does ask for more specialist ingredients, it primarily caters to those who can only make it to their local convenience store. If you’re looking to expand your repertoire of vegetarian dishes or want to learn a bit more about how to use spices, then East will do that for you. Drawing from her 'New Vegan' Guardian column, Meera Sodha's collection features brand-new recipes inspired by Asian cuisine - from India to Indonesia, Singapore to Japan, by way of China, Thailand, and Vietnam.The tastiest, liveliest, spice-infused fare this side of the Sabamarti river Guardian on Fresh India I signed the contract with the Guardian and so began my journey. It started with some difficult first weeks, but winter turned to spring and suddenly two years had passed. I learned many things along the way. Sodha, who writes a vegan cooking column for The Guardian, has widened her scope in this exceptional volume, drawing on ingredients and techniques from throughout Asia to inspire a mix of mostly speedy, weeknight-friendly dishes… a glimpse of Ms. Sodha at her best.”

The dish itself is easy to make – it’s a one-pot recipe that predominantly requires stirring and simmering – and the ingredients are ones you’re likely to already have at home. The result was a coconut-y, spiced, mildly-hot curry punctured with wedges of fried paneer and, as you can imagine, tasted rather good. Although the kale is blitzed in a food processor and wilts to nothing, I expect you could swap it for spinach if you prefer. The same goes for the cheese: if you’re vegan, leave it out. The book is divided into 11 sections; you can search by a specific meal such as salads, noodles and curries or take inspiration from the ingredient-lead sections for recipes with rice, tofu, pulses and eggs. I landed first on a paneer, tomato and kale saag. The photo was the lure for me – cubes of fried cheese nestled in a creamy coconut sauce – as well as the fact that I already had most of the ingredients in my cupboard. Meera explains in the introduction that this recipe persuaded her to finally fall in love with kale – and persuasive it is. Enticing, inviting and delicious. Vegan and vegetarian dishes that are hard to resist (and why should you?' YOTAM OTTOLENGHI

She has a seemingly magic ability to tell you exactly the detail you need to make a dish sing. This book is a godsend Bee Wilson, Sunday Times Full of delectable, mouth-watering dishes . . . we guarantee you'll be devouring the entire book in no time Stylist on Fresh India Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a deep frying pan over a medium flame and, when hot, add the onions. Cook for 15 minutes until really soft, then add the ginger and garlic. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the tomato and cook for a further 6 minutes, until rich and paste-like. Sodha, who has written three cookbooks, excels at fresh, vegetable-forward cooking, which often pulls from the Gujarati cuisine she grew up with, as well as other Asian cuisines, but always with results that are entirely her own.”

That’s how I felt when Melissa Denes, an editor at the Guardian, called me. She said they were introducing a new vegan column into the weekend magazine and she wanted me to write it. In my most private moments I had dared to dream about writing a column, but I never seriously thought it would happen. As I weighed up the options, I realized there were a few small problems. Enticing, inviting and delicious. Vegan and vegetarian dishes that are hard to resist (and why should you?) Yotam Ottolenghi Inspired by a dizzying range of Asian cuisine, Meera Sodha leads foodies on a meat-free expedition, taking in everywhere from Thailand and Japan to Singapore and India i Best Cook Books of 2019 This could and should be a cheap meal, especially if you buy the ingredients from an Asian supermarket (or one online). If you buy more curry leaves and lemongrass than you need, keep them wrapped up in the freezer for next time. Serve with paratha (you can buy these from the freezer section of many Asian supermarkets) or steamed rice.

This was an amazing opportunity that had come at the worst possible time. I had every reason to say no, but I said yes. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Put the aubergines on a plate. Put 8 tablespoons of flour on a second, lipped plate, then slowly mix the flour with 180ml of water and ½ teaspoon of salt to make a thin paste. Put the panko on a third plate. Cover both sides of each aubergine slice in the flour paste, shaking off any excess, then press into the panko to coat. Lay the coated slices on the prepared tray and drizzle both sides with oil. Bake for 15 minutes on each side, turn the heat up to 220°C fan/240°C/475°F/gas 9 and cook for 10 minutes more, until crisp, then take out of the oven. Next, take a bowl that will fit all the eggs and put a couple of handfuls of ice in it. Add cold water to the bowl so it’s three-quarters full, and leave to one side. Enticing, inviting and delicious. Vegan and vegetarian dishes that are hard to resist (and why should you?).”