Photo by Laura Edwards
I was lucky enough to read Ammu in digital form before it went to the printers, but that hasn’t lessoned the glee I feel at being able to hold it now in my hands one iota. But what I feel is deeper than glee: I feel relief, as if I’m falling into an embrace. It’s entirely right that I feel that way, as this is a book written to comfort. It pays such tender and grateful homage to Asma Khan’s Ammu — or mother — and Khan is generous enough to include us, her readers, in the safe space she evokes. It’s so much more than a gathering together of recipes: it’s also a scrapbook of memories and a delicious invocation of the emotional power of food. As Khan writes in her introduction, this book covers a lifetime of cooking, starting with her childhood food in Calcutta; then the food she cooked to bring home to her when transplanted to England; the recipes she leant on when becoming a mother, an ammu, herself; the food that celebrates good times, and the food that makes the most of everyday. If you love Indian food, in all its richness, complexity and regional differences, you need this book; if you feel daunted by the idea of cooking Indian food, you need this book too.
The thing about Asma Khan is not just that her food is divine, but that cooking is such a deep expression of her true self. Her hard work, her generosity, her sense of ready connection with others, her direct and full-throttle character, which seeks to lift up and nourish those around her, are all immediately apparent when you eat her food at her restaurant, Darjeeling Express, or when you read her words or follow her recipes. That is such a gift.
And as for those recipes, there are many I’ve earmarked, from the very first one in the book, the Onion Fritters (Pyaz ke Pakora), and taking in Potatoes with Peas (Aloo Mattar Sabzi); Friendship Bread (Dosti Roti) in which two rotis are rolled together with butter, and which on cooking, separate into two; the simple but sumptuous Fish Omelette (Machher Mamlet); Pumpkin with Red Chillies (Mishti Kumro); Stuffed Meat Kofta (Bharwan Kofta); Bengali Roasted Moong Dal and Rice (Bhuna Khichuri); Cashew Nut and Raisin Bengali Pulao (Sada Pulao); Prawns Cooked in Coconut Milk (Golda Chingri Malaikari); Spicy Duck Curry (Hasher Mangsho Bhuna); Shredded Cabbage with Peanuts (Bhuna Niramish); Calcutta-Style Noodles (Mushroom Hakka Chow); Spinach with Roasted Almonds (Saag Baadam); and French Beans with Ginger (Adrak Phulli). And for those of you after something sweet, let me just mention the Ghee-Fried Pancakes in Syrup (Malpua); the Sweet Rice with Saffron and Nuts (Zarda); the Saffron and Pistachio and Rice Dessert (Kesar Pista Firni); and Vermicelli Eid Dessert (Sheer Korma).
And the recipe I bring to you today with joy in my heart is Ammu’s Chicken Biryani. Every bit of it is beautiful, starting with Khan’s moving introduction to it.
Ammu by Asma Khan is out now (Ebury Press, £26).
Photography by Laura Edwards.
