“To develop skills and knowledge in a particular style of cooking you need to immerse
yourself in it.” Maunika Gowardhan
An Indian chef and an author, Maunika Gowardhan has surfaced over the internet due to her recent
book launch, titled “Thali”, she’s also the author of “Indian Kitchen”. But prior to telling you anything
about the book, I’d give a brief introduction of who Maunika Gowardhan is. Some of you might know
her from BBC Morning Live and Saturday Kitchen. Well, she was born in Mumbai and she spent her
life till adulthood there, she had her schooling and college there. She grew up in a Maharashtrian
household and Fish is an inevitable part of their food. She took great interest in the process using
which the fish was cooked in her house. She recalls going to the fish market with her mother and
bringing fish which got cleaned up and marinated before finally frying it, giving it a divine taste. She
inculcated the cooking skills from her home and later she went on an expedition of her own to
discover new tastes and new styles of cooking to take the whole experience to another level. Her
cooking style represents the idealistic Indian dishes and flavours, which are a mirror image of the
skills she received from her family. She has cooked with TV chef Jamie Oliver and Heston
Blumenthal and teaches at Jamie’s Cook School in London.
Now a little about her recent book titled “Thali”, how it’s a must-read if you are into cooking or have
some interest in knowing the way Indian Thali dishes are prepared and their regional variations.
Well, it’s a cookbook (evident from its name), in it she explores the regional diversity of Thalis across
the distinct communities of India. She has put great effort into categorising all the distinct Thali
varieties by considering certain dimensions of their characteristic uniqueness. The categories include
family recipes, the history of spices and the way it’s eaten, etc. These “Thali” recipes are simple and
you can recreate them all in your own home. This cookbook came out in 2021 and since then it has
received good ratings, and remarkable reviews, there are many articles devoted to this book. Thali
has made it to the Telegraph and Olive Magazine. It has also been awarded Book of the month in
March 2022 for the Waterstones Jamie Oliver Cookbook Club.
So thrilled to see Thali stocked in @JohnLewisRetail stores nationwide! #thalicookbook #johnlewis pic.twitter.com/PWC8oDoJAF
— Maunika Gowardhan (@cookinacurry) August 21, 2022
