Rukmini Iyer My mother's cashew nut pulao rice

The best-selling cookbook author and former BBC MasterChef contestant shares the recipe her mum made for special occasions

- RUKMINI IYER

Rukmini is the author of The Roasting Tin series, selling over 1.5 million copies to date. The Green Roasting Tin was a Sunday Times Bestseller of the Year in 2019 and The Roasting Tin Around the World and The Sweet Roasting Tin were named among the best cookbooks of 2020 and 2021 respectively by various publications. Here, Rukmini shares the story behind one of her favourite recipes: cashew nut pulao rice.

I’ve loved cooking ever since I was a child, then got more into it while studying English literature at university, learning new dishes from my flatmates and cooking on a budget for parties. Later, at law school, I spent more time planning elaborate dinners for friends than I did studying I realised that I was deeply unhappy as a trainee. The pivotal moment was telling my mum that I didn’t want to continue after qualifying as a solicitor. She helped me put a deposit down for cookery school the day before I got a call from the team behind MasterChef, who asked me to audition for the 2013 series. I pushed cookery school back one term to film and reached the final seven of the competition, which led to working as a food stylist and, eventually, to where I am now.

When I was growing up, we ate a mixture of South Indian, Bengali and western food mac’n’ cheese, quiche my mum’s quiche is legendary!). Mum taught me how to cook, starting with fairy cakes and flapjacks, then moving on to béchamel sauce and browning the onions properly for curries.

My mother's cashew nut pulao rice