WE HIT THE AISLES WITH A FAMOUS FOOD LOVER
Rukmini Iyer, food stylist and author of the Roasting Tin cookbooks, selects some of her supermarket must-haves
The foodie
Rukmini Iyer is best known as the author of the popular Roasting Tin cookbooks, which are filled with her low-prep, one-tray dishes. But for her seventh book, India Express, a more personal route was taken – with recipes inspired by Bengal and South India, where her parents are from, and the long train journeys between Kolkata and Chennai that they would take to visit each other in the early days of their relationship. ‘It’s the food I grew up with,’ says Rukmini. ‘I also feel there’s a real difference between Indian home cooking, whichever region you’re from, and the quite generic food that you often get in the UK.’ As well as deep dives into the traditions of her family’s recipes, there is plenty for fans of Rukmini’s fuss-free style, including chapters on one-pan and one-tin recipes. ‘I’m a new mum, and the book has made it easy for me to get a nice weeknight dinner without much hassle,’ she laughs. ‘So I enjoyed that!’
India Express by Rukmini Iyer (Square Peg, £22) is out now
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RICE VINEGAR
It’s great for Asian dressings – asimple one is equal parts rice vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce, which is great with salmon, pak choi or a Korean bibimbap. Also, if you’re doing plain rice with an Asian dish, stir a teaspoon of rice vinegar through it. It adds a subtle f lavour, and it’s what chefs do for sushi rice.
CORIANDER SEEDS
I never buy ground coriander – it doesn’t add anything to your curry, unless you want it to taste like a school curry. I would always use whole seeds that I’ve crushed using a pestle and mortar. The flavour is a little citrusy and very different from the dusty ground stuff.
RED CHILLIES
My family and I have a really low chilli tolerance! So I quite like that the fat red supermarket chillies aren’t too hot, because you can add them to anything for a bit of heat – but not too much – or as a garnish to add that contrast of colour and flavour to something.
I love eggy CRUMPETS. Beat an egg with a bit of chilli and some flat-leaf parsley, dip the crumpets in it, and put them on a griddle pan. It’s like French toast but better – because there’s a pocket for the egg to fill.
PINK LADY are my favourite apples. They’re always crisp and sweet. I’ve got a reci
