Stories and recipes from Scotland's best-loved Indian restaurant,
illustrated by celebrated photographer Martin Gray.
Mother India at Westminster Terrace in Glasgow, has been an institution
since 1996 and specialises in dishes such as ginger and green chilli
fish pakora, seasoned Scottish haddock with Puy lentils, and Delhi-style
Scottish lamb, all cooked fresh to order, reflecting Mother India owner
Monir Mohammed's commitment to cooking quality Indian food without
pandering to the British taste for inauthentic korma or masala. The
strategy has been hugely popular, allowing expansion to five outlets,
including tapas, take-aways and a Mother India Cafe in Edinburgh. Mother
India is regularly ranked in Herald restaurant critic Ron MacKenna's top
10 Scottish restaurants.
The book will incorporate a first person account of Monir's personal
culinary journey, with a photo essay of the life of one of the world's
great Indian restaurants as an integral cog in the cultural melting pot
of a modern British city. Alongside this will be a collection of
recipes, some of which are signature Mother India dishes, and others
designed specifically for home cooking. Each recipe will draw upon
Monir's story: his beginnings as a boy from a British Asian family who
started working in restaurants at 14 and his pivotal stay in the Punjab
in his late teens where he learned the ancient principles of Indian home
cooking from scratch. The book will tell the story of the risks he took
to build a personal, authentic style of Indian cooking. There are human
stories running through the recipes as well: Hajra Bibi's Salmon was
inspired by a dish his mother (Hajra Bibi) used to make them as
children."
