What is my first book all about? A little introduction...

So my book is done. Has been for a while now. Writing a book is solitary work. But finishing it at 4 in the morning is even more solitary. There really is no one you can shout out to. But what it worse than all of that is the feeling of emptiness aftetwards. I remember tweeting that writing a book was like having a baby. Well finishing it is like when your baby decides to go off on its own. After carrying the weight of it for almost 2 years, crying and laughing with it and struggling to get it out, I suspect it will take a while for me to get used to the change. But the residual feelings linger, I do not think I have severed the umbilical cord yet.

Ever since I finished my book and sent it off I have felt the need to mark the occasion here. So much so that I think its actually been blocking me from writing other things. I have also been getting a lot of queries about what the book is all about, so I thought I would share a little introduction here.

Here is the introduction that was recently published in the publishers catalogue which I am most excited about although I have yet to actually see it.

My Mumbai Cookbook

My Mumbai Cookbook is a food diary with lots of fabulous recipes and the stories behind them. A celebration of the Mumbai kitchen and the many culinary influences that have molded me into the cook I am. Offering a smorgasbord of Mumbai’s favourite foods through essays it begins with a memoir of her growing years and the early influences on her palate, and goes on to wander through Mumbai’s by lanes giving insights into home-style regional cuisines of Mumbai’s many communities; Gujarati, Marwari, Maharashtrian, Sindhi, Parsi, Kerela, Tamil, Irani, Chindian enriched with colourful personal anecdotes, recipes from home cooks of various communities. Along the way it stops to explore the many avatars of Chai, samples Mumbai’s legendary street foods, and experiments with international cuisines on Mumbai's plate; Italian, Thai, Chinese, Mexican and Middle Eastern.  

Without getting too specific about any particular cuisine, it identifies popular, lesser known dishes and her own creations from a wide variety of influences; Gujarati Undhiyu and Daal Dhokli Ravioli, Maharashtrian Fish Curry, Sindhi Kadhi, Kerela Ishtew and Curry Leaf Fish, Parsi Dhansak, Irani Berry Pulav and Gormeh Subzi, Chindian Manchurian and Sweet and Sour Aubergines, Thai curry and Lemongrass wrapped Chicken, Tacos and Mix meat salad, Hummus and Tagine, that have crossed the barriers of community and region to become part of a the colorful whole that is contemporary Mumbai cuisine. My Mumbai Cookbook targets gastronomes, curious cooks, travelers, and anyone curious about the home cooking of Mumbai offering food aficionados and mumbaiphiles, glimpses of the variety that makes up the melting pot of Mumbai.

Two people are reading it in its complete avatar. And yesterday, both wrote in and chatted with me sharing glowing comments.

Preeti Singh, who is the editor of my book sent in her two bits for me to put up here “Rushina's book blends excellent storytelling with an incredible gastronomical journey through Indian cooking. While I edit, I am learning to make aam papad, a spread healthier than nutella, cake from channa dal and delicious Indian Chinese food!And if a horrid cook like me (who can ruin a nice toast and butter) can actually churn out good stuff, I am willing to bet that anyone can cook with Rushina's book!

The other person reading it, is my English teacher from school, who had ‘gchatted’ me through some of the hardest bits of writing this book, read chapters as I wrote them and gave me tips on improving them. Here is what she has to say “Your book is beautiful, I find myself even reading the recipes, though I try and be professional and read just the writing. You have an unaffected honesty
which is such a rare commodity. i just never knew that food writing could move me so deeply. I realise now how food and stories have been intertwined forever and you have taught me that.”

But it feels unreal. Because ever since I finished I have been wondering have I done enough? Should I have added more? Is it perfect? And then I tell myself that just like I have had to let Aman walk to school on his own, let Natasha fall down to learn to pick herself up, I must let the book go as well, to go where it will. For the moment, i am happy to pottering about on the internet and in the garden here in Dehra Dun, reasearching my second book on Uttarakhandi Cuisine, watching things growing, pomegranate flowers blooming, their petals shrivelling away as the fruit swell with the promise of succulent beads that wil burst in the mouth on ripening, Just like my new book - slowly ripening untill it is finally ready to make its way out onto paper.