ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream” was the belief of Vincent van Gogh. Similarly I dreamt of doing a great vegetarian cookbook for years and wanted to create it just like a painting. It was like “I dream of a cookbook and I cook like a dream.” But the true reflection of the book was in the title of the Indian edition, Hymns from the Soil. A chef’s tribute to the most essential element of life—soil.

I first want to thank all my gurus at home, who were all vegetarians and taught me the true power of food. The best part of my childhood was shelling peas, learning how to chop onions without crying, waiting every day to see a new blossom of vegetable or a sprout grow in my garden, and of course climbing the mango trees in summer. It was all about learning how to love to eat bitter gourds and of course enjoying the legacy of India’s vegetarian cuisine. India is an ocean of vegetarian cuisine, and the varieties and traditions to cook them are almost infinite. I thank so many home cooks who have inspired me to cook vegetables in the most interesting ways.

When I used to work as a teenager at my Lawrence Gardens, I used to clean the kitchen and prepare all the vegetables myself for the next day. Sometimes I would be very late and see my Biji sitting in the verandah, waiting for me to finish; sometimes she would be dozing off or sometimes she would be chanting her mantra with a rosary in her hand. It somehow kept me safe.

While I was writing this book, we worked hours with the team of Chef Michael Swamy who photographed every dish, creating immortal frames of taste. You guys are brilliant. Ganesh Shedge, I feel so proud of your talents and may you grow forever and shine. Special thanks to Nokia for introducing me to the Lumia 1020 for capturing the images in this book.

Chef Varun Inamdar and Hanif Sheikh; the aromas of your cooking crossed every border as we were testing the recipes. Mugdha Savkar for helping me at every step of creating the recipes. Jyoti Mehrotra from Bloomsbury for being with me for every detail of the book. You are truly a dream editor-friend for every author. My special thanks to Poonam Kaul, Kavneet Sahni from Culinary Communications, Karan Sandhu, Gaurav Bajaj, and Armaan Dhir for all your support. My sincere thanks to Chef Arti Thapa and Chef Navdeep Sharma for inspiring me to create this book.

While we were designing this book at Kam Studio with Kamlesh Hiranandani and Maninder Singh and team for hours and hours, Suresh Gopal ji sat outside silently, almost in a meditative mode. His being there was an assurance for me that this book would be safe and one day become yours.

Everything in life is a thread and culture is created with the continuation of this thread of traditions. As I grow older, I feel the reflection of this culture in my nieces, Ojasvi and Saumya, and I feel the strength of the bond that culture creates. I feel proud to be a part of this continuation through the Mothers—Meri Ma and Dharti Ma...my Mother and Mother Earth and I bow to both of you since you both represent Hymns from the Soil for me.