East: 120 Easy and Delicious Asian-inspired Vegetarian and Vegan recipes

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The photo was the lure for me – cubes of fried cheese nestled in a creamy coconut sauce – as well as the fact that I already had most of the ingredients in my cupboard. Meera explains in the introduction that this recipe persuaded her to finally fall in love with kale – and persuasive it is. One more spoonful and she’s six months old and learning to eat; she doesn’t wrinkle her nose at a simple kheer made with apples. Beautifully produced and bursting with colour and vitality, Meera Sodha’s collection of vegan recipes from the East is the must have cookbook of the summer. I began by looking beyond India to east and south-east Asia, finding new ways to shift vegetables from the side to the centre of the table.

That doesn’t mean you can’t experiment, but if you do stick to the recipe, you’ll get consistent results. With relatively short ingredient lists and straightforward instructions, this great book will have you producing authentic-tasting dishes without spending all day in the kitchen.It's become my go-to Indian cookery book - The Times (Books of the Year) on Made in India You may also be interested in.

Unlike the stuff you get at your local curry house, her food is fresh, vibrant and surprisingly quick and easy to make. Stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the onion and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown and is soft. Other favourites include the Chickpea Flour Chips with Chilli Sauce; Black Dal; Honey (I use Maple Syrup) Soy and Ginger Braised Tofu; and Sprout Nasi Goreng. Taking you on a journey from India to Indonesia, Singapore to Japan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam, this book is bursting with flavourful and exciting yet accessible ingredients in dishes that vary from noodles and curries, to rice dishes, salads and sweets.

Next, place the cabbage, carrots, spring onions and herbs into another bowl and mix with your hands. Wherever you find Meera (figuratively, of course), you can count on her recipes to be reliable, not too finicky and packed with flavour, texture and colour! First, make the batter for the pancakes: put the rice flour, salt, turmeric and egg into a bowl and mix together.

The dish itself is easy to make – it’s a one-pot recipe that predominantly requires stirring and simmering – and the ingredients are ones you’re likely to already have at home.Cook for 15 to 20 minutes over a medium heat, stirring frequently to remove as much water as possible, then add the garlic and soy sauce and cook for a further 5 minutes. All the freshness and lightness that hot weather demands, but with enough in there to keep tummies full.

And then there are showstoppers such as daily dosas with coconut potatoes, roasted cauliflower korma, sticky mango paneer skewers, wild mushroom upma and lime pickle rice with roast squash and red onion. Stir again and bring the mixture to the boil, then put the lid on, turn the heat down to a whisper and cook for a further 15 minutes.Following on from her bestselling Made in India, Meera Sodha reveals a whole new side of Indian food that is fresh, delicious and quick to make at home. The remaining recipes are vegan, with many of them based on Meera Sodha’s weekly column in The Guardian. I travelled east to Thailand, and on to Japan, where the katsu curry bears little resemblance to anything I’ve eaten anywhere else.