Comfort and Joy: Irresistible pleasures from a vegetarian kitchen

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At a corner table in Jikoni – where ingredients are British and inspiration global, and where one has to make impossible decisions between dishes such as whipped feta with beetroot Gujarati cake, butternut squash pakoras and crispy aubergine with Sichuan caramel – Bhogal is brimming with enthusiasm for her latest project. This month, she publishes a plant-based cookbook, full of recipes so imaginative and luscious that (and I say this as an omnivore) you’d never know they didn’t contain meat. Comfort & Joy will be a sister brand to the existing Marylebone restaurant - delivering vegetarian meals across London. "We wanted to lead the way in a well thought out, sustainable, vegetarian home delivery brand," says Ravinder. Transfer to a large bowl along with the broccoli and add the eggs, pine nuts, currants, feta, ricotta, lemon zest and juice, herbs, nutmeg and sour cream, and season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Shortlisted for Fortnum & Mason Cookery Writer of the Year - Ravinder Bhogal for work in FT Weekend Magazine This is not a book about food but a source of comfort. Bhogal writes with care and an inviting hand, bringing us not just into her kitchen, but her present, her histories, her intimacies' * Caleb Azumah Nelson *

You’ll find kataifi pastry in the fridge or freezer section of Middle Eastern grocers.” Broccoli, kale and spinach kataifi pie Born in Kenya to Indian parents, Bhogal’s food is inspired by her mixed heritage and the UK’s diverse immigrant culture. Her first restaurant, Jikoni, was ranked 56th in the UK by the National Restaurant Awards within seven months of opening and achieved a place in the Michelin Guide in the same year. It was the UK’s first independent restaurant to go carbon-neutral. Pour the spinach and ricotta filling into a deep pie dish – I use a 34cm baking dish. Gently pile the kataifi over the pie filling, sprinkle over the sesame seeds and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is hot and set and the kataifi pastry is golden brown. Serve with a light salad. (Bloomsbury/PA)

Introduction

This pie is based on that comforting Greek favourite – spanakopita – although it is far more forgiving to make,” says Ravinder Bhogal. The Namaste Box - Sweet and Sour Baby Aubergine Curry with Spicy Nut Butter, Alphonso Mango and Bramley Apple Dhal, French Bean, Coconut and Cashew Nut Thoran and Lemon Rice.

From the IACP award-winning author of Jikoni, a cookbook celebrating indulgence in vegetarian and vegan home cooking. There is no buttering and layering of delicate filo pastry: instead, the iron-rich mixture of greens and cheese is blanketed under a nest of buttered kataifi pastry, a shredded filo dough that crisps up beautifully when baked or fried. Comfort and Joy is a fresh take on vegetarian and vegan cooking; not geared towards health or denial but indulging all the senses with a decadent global larder.A revelation-you will never look at "the vegetarian option” in the same way after diving into her inventive, bewitching and mouth watering book ' - Meera Syal A gorgeous and enticing marriage of styles and flavours that is uniquely Ravinder's' * Claudia Roden * This book is equal parts mouth watering, heart warming and identity forming. A tender and soft love letter to her family, that spans three continents. Connecting us with our ancestors, the soil, our roots. Celebrating what South Asians have known for centuries, that vegetables are an entire meal. Just like Ravinder this book is generous, open hearted, Beautiful, sexy as hell and DELICIOUS. I want to eat it all' * Anita Rani * Bloomsbury has landed a second cookbook from award-winning author, journalist, chef and restaurateur Ravinder Bhogal. It's well-proven that a diet centering fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, and nuts is healthier for us and our planet, but talks of decreasing global meat and dairy intake have for too long been tied to narratives of culinary sacrifice. Ravinder Bhogal, award-winning chef and self-described “half-woman, half-hummus,” knows better. In Comfort and Joy, she radically reclaims vegan and vegetarian cooking in all its abundance, with decadent, craveable recipes that bring together crisp okra fries with curry leaf mayonnaise, earthy roasted beet salad with blood orange and creamy burrata, whipped feta with tomatoes confit, and so much more.