The Spice Chronicles Cookbook

An interactive, personal approach to Indian cooking with step-by-step recipes, photos and links to videos that will help you prepare incredible Indian meals at home! 

Author, blogger, and cooking instructor Rinku Bhattacharya offers a fun, modern and sustainable way to learn the basics of Indian cooking in this unique volume. The Spice Chronicles Cookbook includes over 120 recipes and photos for favorite Indian dishes alongside links to many additional recipes and QR codes to detailed videos that show step-by-step techniques and variations.

As a busy working mom and cooking instructor, Rinku has years of experience with simplifying and streamlining recipes. Now she helps readers demystify Indian ingredients and techniques and answers many of the questions her students posed over the years about different types of dal, spice combinations and the nuances of regional Indian cooking. The recipes include both classic and modern Indian fare, many with make-ahead sauces. She also utilizes short cuts and practical equipment like the air fryer, pressure cooker and slow cooker in many recipes. Sections like meal-planning cheat sheets and freezer friendly recipes help reduce waste and make the most of fresh, seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Rinku’s Spice Chronicles blog details her immigrant story as a girl from Kolkata, India who learned to make New York her home. Links and references to the blog, social media posts and even TikTok videos will give readers a fuller sense of the culinary story and techniques behind each recipe.

Sample recipes:

• Butter Chicken Biryani
• “Flexible” Dosas
• Scallops with a Saffron-Fig Sauce
• Murgh Kofta (Chicken Meatballs)
• Spiced Green Beans with Carrots
• Saag Paneer (Creamy Greens with Paneer)
• Kachumber (Indian-style Chopped Salad)