Cook and entrepreneur Mehak Kansal is known her comforting cooking, inspired by her Indian heritage, travels around the world and the gardens of her rural English upbringing.

Her Bindas Eatery venues in London serve crowd-pleasing dishes influenced by her childhood memories and street food experiences.

Now, Kansal has captured those big, bold flavours and her hallmark eclectic style in her cookbook, Bindas, which contains nine chapters and covers topics such as grills, traditional recipes and chutneys.

“My food and style of cooking is global with an Indian soul,” she writes in the book’s introduction.

Here, Kansal shares some easy recipes to try at home.

Bombay cheese toast

My first attempt at a complete amalgamation of cultures was making this Bombay cheese toast. Papa had a Sunday ritual where he would make cheese on toast packed with tomatoes and rings of red onions, using a medium white cheddar on top of thick slices of freshly baked white bread. The smell was so comforting; it smelled like home.

Another fond memory was going to our cousin’s house in Mumbai and eating the famous sandwich of green chutney and masala potatoes on airy white bread.

I took these snippets of nostalgia from both of my homes and made this Bombay cheese toast. I have added masala mashed potatoes, green chutney and a chilli-cheese mix made with brown butter, green chillies, peppers, onions and English cheddar, all melted on top of sourdough. Apologies in advance for all glorious smells that will make your stomach rumble as you cook.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 slices of sourdough bread
• 2 tbsp melted ghee
• 4 tbsp green goddess chutney (see below), plus extra to serve
• handful of grated mozzarella
• handful of grated vintage cheddar
• ½ red onion, diced
• 1-2 green chillies, diced
• Nanima’s tomato chutney (see below), to serve (optional)

For the masala mashed potato

1 large potato, peeled and chopped into large chunks

small handful of coriander, chopped

pinch of ground turmeric

pinch of ground cumin

½ tablespoon olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground

black pepper

METHOD

1. Begin by making the masala mashed potato. Boil the potato in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 12-15 minutes until tender, then drain and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash with a fork, then add the remaining masala mashed potato ingredients. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Line a baking tray with baking parchment or foil and preheat the grill to medium.
3. Lightly toast the sourdough in the toaster until it has a crunch. Place the slices on the prepared tray and spread or spoon over most of the melted ghee. Add 1 tablespoon of the green goddess chutney to each slice and spread it all over the toast. Divide the masala mash between the slices, spreading it out into an even layer. Top with the cheeses and sprinkle over the onion and chillies. Finish with a little extra ghee to help it brown and bubble. Place under the grill for 4-6 minutes until the cheese has bubbled and melted. Serve with a little extra green goddess chutney, a spoonful of Nanima’s tomato chutney, or as it is with a glass of masala chai.

Serves 4

Chicken pakoras

Pakoras are fried fritters made with chickpea flour, spices and herbs, bound together with water. You can make them using vegetables, fish or chicken, and enhance the flavours by pairing them with chutneys. There is nothing more quintessentially Indian than having chai, chutneys and pakoras.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g boneless, skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tbsp ginger puree
• 1 tbsp garlic puree
• 1-2 green bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp dried tarragon
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed oil, for deep frying
• 100g besan flour (also known as chickpea or gram flour)
• 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

To serve

• lemon wedges
• chopped coriander
• green goddess chutney (see below) or beetroot raita (see below)

METHOD

1. Place the chicken pieces in a bowl. Add the ginger and garlic purees, along with the chillies, spices, tarragon and salt and pepper. Mix well and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. When you’re ready to cook, pour the oil into a wok or large, heavy-based pan to a depth of 7.5 centimetres. Take care not to add too much oil or it may bubble over. Place over a medium heat.
3. While the oil is heating, take the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator. Add the besan flour, cornflour and bicarbonate of soda, and mix well to combine. Now add 180ml (¾ cup) water, a little at a time as you would when making a dough, until the chicken pieces are coated in a thick, velvety batter with a consistency similar to that of thick cream. You may not need all the water.
4. Test the heat of the oil by dropping a little of the batter into the oil; it should sizzle and crackle, turn golden brown and float to the top.
5. Carefully add the chicken pieces to the oil using a set of tongs. You will need to work in two batches to ensure the pan isn’t overcrowded. Fry the first batch for 4-5 minutes until the coating is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through, then set aside on a plate lined with paper towels to drain while you cook the second batch.
6. Once all the pakoras are cooked, place in a serving bowl and season with a little sea salt. Serve with lemon wedges, coriander and your chosen chutney.

Serves 4-6

Green goddess chutney

This is a spicy, creamy, moreish chutney.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large ripe avocados, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped
• handful of coriander, roughly chopped (including stalks)
• handful of dill, roughly chopped
• 15g parsley, roughly chopped
• 3-6 green chillies (depending on how spicy you like it), chopped
• 5 spring onions, roughly chopped
• ½ tbsp ginger puree
• 1 tbsp garlic puree
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• zest and juice of 4 limes
• 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
• 125ml (½ cup) cold water
• generous pinch of salt, or to taste

METHOD

1. Tip ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz until finely chopped and emulsified. Season to taste, adding more lime juice, salt or sugar if you like. This will keep for up to three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Serves 4-6

Nanima’s tomato chutney

Nani used to make this chutney all the time; we would eat it with onion pakoras or dollop it on to our tadka daal with steamed basmati rice. The combination of something wholesome and vegan with a spicy, tangy, sweet, juicy chutney is just delicious. Papa liked to eat this chutney with cheese on toast.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 large vine tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 dried red chillies
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp garlic puree
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp coarsely ground
• black pepper

METHOD

1. Score two lines all the way around the middle of each tomato, horizontally and vertically, making sure you pierce the skin but being careful not to cut into the flesh. Place the tomatoes and 125ml (½ cup) water in a saucepan over a high heat. Cook for 5 minutes, then use a pair of tongs or a spoon to carefully rotate the tomatoes so that the tops are on the bottom. Cook for another 5 minutes. Once the skins of the tomatoes begin peeling away, remove the tomatoes from the pan using a slotted spoon and carefully remove and discard the skins, then return the peeled tomatoes to the pan with the water. Begin to mash the tomatoes; they will be wonderfully juicy and soft, and perfect for mashing. After another 5 minutes, when the contents of the pan become reminiscent of a good pasta sauce, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, it’s time to prepare your spices. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the dried chillies and fennel seeds. Allow them to pop and sizzle, and enjoy the wonderful aniseed aroma. This will take 10-15 seconds. Tip the tempered spices and their oil into a blender, along with the cooled tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients. Blitz on the lowest setting - if you do it on a high setting, you are in danger of the spices going bitter. Season the chutney to taste and serve. This will keep for five days in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator.

Serves 4-6

Beetroot raita

This recipe will soon become one of your favourites: packed with antioxidants, earthy, sweet, spiced and creamy, it is delicious with just about anything. Enjoy this raita as part of a meal, with naan, or with a simple salad.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cooked beetroots, peeled (I use the ready boiled ones from the supermarket)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tsp garlic puree
• 350g Greek-style yoghurt
• 2½ tbsp runny honey
• handful of very finely chopped coriander, leaves picked
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• salt

METHOD

1. Place the beetroots in a blender, then blend to a puree. Transfer the puree to a bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine, season with salt to taste and serve. This will keep for up to three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Serves 4

This is an edited extract from Bindas by Mehak Kansal, photography by Sam Folan, Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99