Phaidon is one of our favourite publishers.  Over the years they have brought us a host of definitive cookbooks including  1080 Recipes on Spain; Vefa’s Kitchen on Greek cuisine; and The Art of French Baking, to name but a few of the cookbooks that we have reviewed over the years.

Their latest offering, India Cookbook, is the first comprehensive guide  to Indian cooking, with over 1,000 recipes covering every aspect of India’s rich and colourful culinary heritage.  It is written by an Indian culinary academic and cookbook author, Pushpesh Pant, who lives and works in Delhi, and the recipes are a true reflection of how traditional dishes are really cooked all over India.

The recipes in India Cookbook are easy-to-follow and authentic, covering the length and breadth of India. Apart from the obvious curries, dhals and breads, you will find  authentic chutneys, pickles, spice mixes and everything else to do with Indian cuisine that you may be looking for. Each of the recipes indicates where it  comes from, approximate preparation and cooking time  and how spicy/hot it is.

Recipes are achievable in most western kitchens. What’s also great about India Cookbook is that if you are already proficient in Indian cuisine, it will certainly take you to the next level, with great ideas from which to adapt to your own tastes.

Pushpesh Pant was born in Nainital, northen India, and is now a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. A regular recipe columnist and author of many cookbooks in India, he has spent two decades collecting authentic family recipes from all over the subcontinent, which have been carefully edited, tested and collated to produce a remarkable collection documenting the rich diversity of Indian cuisine.

India Cookbook is certainly a recipe book that will go into the Wickedfood Cooking School archives as a constant reference source when developing Indian cooking classes.

Interested in buying this book? Visit – Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, is able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for, and they deliver to your door. Pay only R460 for this book (Recommended Retail Price = R538)  Red Pepper Books is offering Wickedfood Cooking School an EXTRA 10% off this book. Simply type in the promotional code WICKEDFOOD on the shipping page of the checkout process and your purchase will be reduced by a further 10%, a total saving of R78.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients. We’ve just launched a new and exciting class, Wickedfood Master Cook. Think Master Chef with a fun twist.