The enchanting autobiography of the seven-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and acclaimed actress who taught America how to cook Indian food. “Wistful, funny and tremendously satisfying.... Jaffrey's taste memories sparkle with enthusiasm, and her talent for conveying them makes the book relentlessly appetizing." —The New York Times Book Review Whether climbing the mango trees in her grandparents' orchard in Delhi or picnicking in the Himalayan foothills on meatballs stuffed with raisins and mint, tucked into freshly baked spiced pooris, Madhur Jaffrey’s life has been marked by food, and today these childhood pleasures evoke for her the tastes and textures of growing up. Following Jaffrey from India to Britain, this memoir is both an enormously appealing account of an unusual childhood and a testament to the power of food to prompt memory, vividly bringing to life a lost time and place. Also included here are recipes for more than thirty delicious dishes from Jaffrey’s childhood.

In this James Beard Award-winning cookbook, Madhur Jaffrey draws on more than four decades of culinary adventures, travels, and experimentation to create a diverse collection of more than 650 vegetarian recipes featuring dishes from five continents. Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian exemplifies Madhur's unsurpassed ability to create simple, flavorful homecooking that is well within the reach of every cook. Extensive sections on beans, vegetables, grains, and dairy explore the myriad ways these staples are enjoyed worldwide. Madhur balances appealing, uncomplicated dishes such as sumptuous omelets and rich polentas with less familiar ingredients such as green mangoes, pigeon peas, and spelt. She demystifies the latter with clear-cut explanations so that incorporating new combinations and interesting flavors into everyday cooking becomes second nature. She also offers substantial sections on soups, salads, and drinks, as well as sauces and other flavorings, to help round out a meatless meal and add exciting new flavors to even the most easily prepared dishes. Each section opens with a detailed introduction, where Madhur describes methods for preparation and storage, as well as different cooking techniques and their cultural origins. And a complete glossary of ingredients and techniques clarifies some of the little-known elements of the world's cuisines so that even the uninitiated can bring the flavors of Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and more to their tables. Throughout this extensive collection, Madhur includes personal anecdotes and historical contexts that bring her recipes to life, whether she's remembering field of leeks she saw in the mountains of northern Greece or describing how corn-based dishes arrived in Indonesia through colonial trade. Committed vegetarians will rejoice at the wide variety of meatless fare Madhur offers, and nonvegetarians will enjoy experimenting with her global flavorings. This highly readable resource promises to be a valuable addition to any cook's library, helping everyone make healthful ethnic foods a part of everyday cooking.

Born into a sprawling house by the Yamuna River in Delhi, Madhur Jaffrey has always been around fine Indian cuisine. In this book, she tells the story of her life, as well as including some of the recipes that have made her famous.

My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.” This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.

His partnership with director James Ivory has yielded a succession of acclaimed and award-winning films, including A Room with a View, Howard's End and The Remains of the Day. But Merchant's talents extend into the culinary world as well, as evidenced by this exquisite collection of over 100 recipes from his native India.

"Madhur Jaffrey is the authority on Indian food and is known and loved for her knowledgeable yet accessible writing on the subject. The Essential Madhur Jaffrey contains all her most popular recipes in one volume, including everything from delicious meat and fish curries to vegetarian meals and recipes for chutneys and pickles. Based on a broad range of regional Indian cusines, the recipes have been selected to provide ideas for all kinds of occasions, from quick after-work meals to more elaborate entertaining. Informative introductions and notes on ingredients and equipment give fascinating background information. This is a classic collection from the leading name in Indian cooking."

Travelling across Britain, visiting local Indian and South Asian communities, Madhur reveals how it's possible to sample virtually the whole of Indian cuisine without ever leaving the British Isles.