Veena Sharma; Niyogi Books, New Delhi; 2020

I came across this book on Amazon and the blurb had me hooked. I am always interested in new dishes, especially vegetarian ones. The Himalayan foothills is a stone’s throw from where I currently live and this made the book doubly interesting to me.

The Leaflet has an excerpt from her book and it made me want to acquire it as soon as I can. It even has a recipe for finger millet and wheat flour halwa ( Mandua aur atte ka halwa), which sounds healthy and delicious at the same time.

In an interview with Thoughtfox, she said that the book originated from a forgotten file consisting of information on “herbs and kitchen friends”, compiled for a grandchild. The herbs and kitchen friends play a really important role in the book that offers knowledge about herbs found in Uttarakhand and the region around and their use over the ages. They are well blended into recipes that are easy to follow and sound delicious even as you read them.