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

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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. Take the cake out of the oven and leave to rest for exactly one minute, then place a sheet of baking paper over the top, followed by a large chopping board. First, make the batter for the pancakes: put the rice flour, salt, turmeric and egg into a bowl and mix together. I would genuinely hate to be without this in my cookbook collection, and strongly recommend it to everyone. There are no frighteningly long ingredient lists or recherché spices - just simple recipes that really work.

Such a good cookbook, none of the recipes take that long to make or require too many ingredients but they all taste great and have a really good variety. This triumph of a cookbook is a must for anyone who follows a meat-free diet, who is keen to introduce more vegetables into their daily cooking, or simply enjoys bringing the delicious flavours of the East into their kitchen at home. In Thailand, I had memorised every twist in the creation of som tam salad and counted down the minutes until my next pad thai.

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. You’ll find ramen, katsu curry, bibimbap, pad Thai, egg fried rice and more Asian-inspired favourites, plus a couple of slightly more obscure ideas including miso brownies and a Japanese twist on cacio e pepe. 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. East is a fabulous cookbook and whilst it does contain some vegetarian recipes, most can be easily veganised – like using tofu instead of paneer for example. When the rice is tender (ie there is no chalkiness in the centre), take it off the heat and spoon into a serving bowl.

Chances are you’ll find Meera Sodha lurking in your kitchen somewhere – and no, I don’t mean that in an alarming way.It’s the sort of cookbook that has you inadvertently saying ‘ooh, that looks good’ or ‘I need that in my life’ with every turn of a page. Drawing from her ‘New Vegan’ Guardian column, East also features plenty of brand-new recipes inspired by a wide range of Asian cuisines, from India to Indonesia, China to Singapore, by way of Thailand and Vietnam. Without cleaning the whisk, move on to the next bowl, whisking the yolks and caster sugar together for a couple of minutes until they double in volume, then stir the matcha flour mixture into the egg-yolk bowl. This makes it easy to find a recipe to make, whether it’s to match the ingredients you have, or to satisfy a culinary craving! The tofu was crisp and chewy, giving way to a soft and creamy sponginess, and doused in a sweet, fiery sauce.

Whilst there are some vegetarian recipes in this meat-free cookbook, they can generally be easily veganised (swapping tofu for paneer for example). Meera explains in the introduction that this recipe persuaded her to finally fall in love with kale – and persuasive it is. Unlike the stuff you get at your local curry house, her food is fresh, vibrant and surprisingly quick and easy to make.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. 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. Her recipe instructions are very easy to follow and are also accurate, so if she says the sauce will be ready after simmering for 7 minutes, that’s when it will be ready! When I ran out of books, I packed Arya and a notebook into a baby carrier and went on a food safari, to find the best laksa, bun cha or massaman curry in London. That doesn’t mean you can’t experiment, but if you do stick to the recipe, you’ll get consistent results.