Lubna’s Kitchen book cover.

Who doesn’t want to become a good cook and prepare the choicest food for oneself and others, at one’s own sweet will and pleasure? Before one heads home for summer vacations or while fasting during the Holy Month of Ramadan, to ensure one has the best-cooked food at the dinner table, Lubna’s Kitchen — Ghar Ki Handi, a savoury collection in book form of time-tested delicious Indian recipes, and step-by-step explanations of easy cooking methods, has been released at a formal ceremony in Dubai by prominent Indian expat lawyer, Anjana Bhatia.

“Ghar Ki Handi” translates as “Home cooking pot”, handi being an earthenware or metal pot used in Indian cooking. The much-needed opportunity to cook plenty of good food has been provided by Dubai-based Indian expat, Lubna Mohsin, in her cookbook. The 50-recipes by her presents the concept of creating simple, finger-licking dishes.

“For food lovers, India is nothing short of a culinary heaven, with a whole kaleidoscope of flavours to discover,” says Mohsin, who prepared the book in between raising four children and dealing with a failed marriage of 18 years. She has honed her cooking skills and had her tryst with taste, in her drive to become an independent housewife. “I derive my strength from my undiminished passion for good food,” says the first-time author, who also indulges in by-order contract cooking.

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Her 50-pages/50-recipes book offers simple homemade food recipes, including smacking starters, invigorating soups, fulfilling main course dishes and tongue-melting desserts. Bhatia, who is Partner and Managing Director of Ajure Advocates & Co. said: “The vintage recipes the book offers are simply winners. Each recipe offers us a flavour of love, making us reminisce memories with the families we hold so dearly.  “Lubna is a very passionate cook and makes sure everyone who she caters to, smiles with a delighted palate. Without a doubt, this book is a gem that every household should have.” Bhatia is an Indian lawyer with over two decades of practice in India and the Gulf. Ajure Advocates & Co. is a full service law firm founded by her, established in 2011. Its principal office is in Mumbai, India, with presence in the UAE and the GCC region, with strategic affiliates and partners in the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and United States.

Hailing from a family of perfumers and philanthropists in Lucknow, North India, Mohsin, when not cooking, has also been dabbling in painting and gardening, and spending time with pets.

Author Lubna Mohsin

The city of Lucknow is known for its fine perfumes that are available in beautiful bottles of cut-glass work. Perfumers in Lucknow are renowned for making delicate and lasting fragrances. The magic of cooking her way and sharing the secrets with others will undoubtedly remain Mohsin’s mission, as more and more people in get-togethers and parties, prefer homemade meals as a healthy option.  Made-to-order dishes are truly delicious and finger-licking, provided they are laced with the right mix and quality of ingredients, is her opinion.

Variety is certainly the spice of life when it comes to ethnic Indian food, which the book focuses on. Somebody has observed that “saying that all Indian food is the same is like saying all birds are the same. The country is absolutely gigantic, and a penguin is vastly separate from a turkey, okay?

“Bengali food is very different from Manipuri food. Both are delicious regional cuisines in India, and within the nation’s border, there’s almost 40 different distinct cultural regions.”

It is to Mohsin’s credit that she has been able to condense her experience of India’s culinary world into a “handi” book. Lubna’s Kitchen – Ghar Ki Handi is priced at Dhs39, and is published by Xponent Media. Established in 2009 in the UAE, Xponent Media provides high quality coffee table books.  Hers is a story of women empowerment through becoming an independent woman. And what better way to commemorate International Women’s Day than buying her book, raising the kitchen fires and cooking your heart out!