Zaika - packed full of flavour

Adding another string to her bow, Romy Gill has launched her writing career and hit the bullseye!

For those of you who went to and those of you who never made it to Romy Gill's restaurant in Thornbury, here is a taste of what we are now missing.

Zaika - which means flavour, is a book of Indian vegan recipes - but not vegan in the strident, confrontational tones of the evangelists.  Whilst there is no apology for the non meat content, nor does there need to be; this is simply gloriously tasty food that incidentally happens to be vegan.  Much like a bowl of tomato soup, there is no need to sweat about its credentials, just prepare, eat and enjoy.
And that preparation - if you have ever worried about Indian cooking, scared of the long ingredients list, the complexity, the skills needed, fret no more.  These are easy to follow, easy to source, easy to make - you don't need any special equipment or a lifetime's experience in the kitchen, most of the ingredients can be found on the supermarket shelf and you can go on-line for any that are not.  And they won't break the bank either!

This is fresh writing about fresh food and flavours, imbued with the warmth of family history, tinged with the sadness of her mother's recent death, uplifted by the love of father, husband, children and culture.
It has a feeling of heritage, home and grounding; a pulling together of emotion, memories, ambition - lots of ambition - and a sense of place.

This is a book for anyone and everyone who enjoys tasty food.  

When/if Romy opens a new restaurant, we will be at the head of the queue for a table and we are really looking forward to seeing her on the new series of Ready Steady Cook next year.

Meanwhile, we will keep cooking from the book, here are a couple of the first dishes we have made at home.

 

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