Monsoon by Asma Khan

Last Updated on February 2, 2026

Delicious Indian recipes for every day and season

Monsoon, published by DK, is Asma Khan’s third cookbook and presents the dishes she ate growing up in Bengal, where there were six recognised seasons – summer, monsoon, autumn, dry season, winter, and spring. Khan was born in the monsoon season, a time of year that holds spiritual significance for her, the season ‘when the world stopped, and nature displayed its benevolence through rain’.  Khan introduces the book with a chapter on the six Ayurvedic flavours that define her culinary heritage – sour, tangy/astringent, spicy/pungent, sweet, salty, and bitter. At least two of these should be incorporated into each meal, with balance created from the contrast between the six flavours. There is also a chapter on mastering basic cooking techniques in Indian cooking. For those who want to learn how to prepare Indian food at home, Monsoon is like having Khan at your shoulder, giving encouragement and guidance.

Khan is not only the restaurateur and chef whose Darjeeling Express hosts legendary biriyani supper clubs and sumptuous meals for which one must book months in advance. She is a powerful force behind the promotion of women in the hospitality industry and leads from the front with her all-women kitchen. Over the past years, she has appeared on an international stage advocating for the advancement of women in hospitality, and Time named her one of 2024’s most influential people.

One of the reasons I enjoy Asma Khan’s cookbooks is their strong family connection. Her previous book, Ammu, explored her relationship with her mother, and Monsoon too is rooted in her memories of food from her childhood. She describes how, during the monsoon season, shops would close, and groceries were not easily accessible. She writes that she learned what gratitude meant when the rains came and broke the stifling heat of an Indian summer. This was when she discovered the magic in her mother’s kitchen, when dishes would be created from what was available.

Many people feel a connection to Asma Khan even if they have not met her because she embodies so much of what many feel – a deep connection to family and loved ones and the use of food as a love language. Coincidentally, my son was travelling in India when my review copy of Monsoon arrived. I was missing him and decided to cook Indian food to feel closer. As it was suddenly very cold in London, following a week of fine Spring weather, I paged through the book in search of soup. Khan writes that although soup is not popular in the plains of India, her father, who attended a British-style boarding school as a youth, enjoyed it with his meals. I, too, grew up with a father who ate soup daily, and I inherited his devotion to soups. I made a pot of sardiyon ka shorba (vegetable soup with carrots and potatoes), full of warm spices that I knew would console and nurture me. As I sat down to eat, my son WhatsApped a photo of himself covered head to toe in coloured paint. It was the Hindu festival of Holi in India, and he was out celebrating with new friends he had met in Jaipur. As I ate my soup, I raised a spoon to my boy and a festival I had not connected with previously.

I made three dishes for a weekend dinner, and they were excellent. Shadha Bamdhakopi (white cabbage with tomatoes and cashew nuts) was gorgeous. I think that white cabbage is a very underrated vegetable that lacks the popularity of the sexier members of the brassica family – cavolo nero, for example. I happen to like white cabbage and eat it quite often. I usually lightly steam it or add it to stir-fries or salads for crunch, but now I have a spicier recipe that showcases it well. The cabbage was cooked in a tomato-based sauce and had a gentle heat. The combination of the sauce with the slightly crunchy cabbage was lovely. With the addition of pan-fried cashews, it felt like a dish one could happily serve to guests.

Pumpkin Dal was another successful dish. I make dal regularly and cook with pumpkin or butternut every week, yet this was the first time I’ve combined them. This recipe produced a multi-textured orange dish beautifully tempered with cumin seeds, dried chilli, and golden slices of fried garlic. This added tremendous flavour to every mouthful.

It is also the first time I have added orange juice and thin slices of zest to a rice dish. Narangi Pulao (rice pulao with oranges) had a lovely fragrance. The sliced zest softened during cooking and provided a distinct citrus note, as did the orange segments garnishing the dish. It is an easy way to make an impressive, tasty rice dish. Khan recalls it being served in her family during the winter wedding season, when the wider family would arrive for the celebration, and there would often be over a hundred people at every mealtime.

The three dishes paired well together. My solitary guest – I would be rather stressed cooking for over a hundred people – was very satisfied and returned for a second helping.

Monsoon has many tempting dishes made with meat, chicken, or fish, and I will try some of these. There are many vegetarian recipes too. Cooking from Monsoon made me realise how much I enjoy Indian cuisine, but do not prepare it often enough. This is such a user-friendly cookbook with clear instructions and delicious flavours that I hope to return to regularly. Khan writes about love being an important ingredient in cooking. I could not agree more. Monsoon is designed to enable readers to nourish themselves and anyone who sits at their table.

You can buy Asma Khan’s Monsoon from Amazon and other good booksellers for around £20

Looking for something different? We also love Dinner by Meera Sodha