Flavours of Delhi - A Food Lover's Guide
By Charmaine O'Brien

I found this book on my last day in Delhi, on a visit several years ago, and was annoyed with myself when I discovered all the food I had missed out on. The city - especially Old Delhi - is not the kind of place where a visitor can randomly stumble upon an absolutely fantastic restaurant - not that they don't exist, but there are just too many places to try, and it can be hard figuring out what's good (not to mention what's safe) to eat. Delhi has a long history and wide-ranging influences, so the many cuisines on offer can take ages of in-depth study to understand.

Chef and food writer Charmaine O'Brien takes her readers on a culinary tour of the city, showing such things as its Hindu roots, Muslim and British influences, the cuisine of the sultans and regional food. The Australian also suggests short tours of various neighbourhoods, including what specialities to look out for, and intersperses the text with recipes for dishes such as samosas, country captain (chicken and onion cooked with turmeric, garlic, chillies and chicken stock), Nepali aloo (potatoes flavoured with sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds and mango powder) and bhang ki thandai (a dessert made with cannabis seeds and rose petals).