A veteran cook and the author of a cookbook, Annuradha Toshniwal pens down aromatic memories of her gastronomic journey inspired from the Marwari family.

Text: Niyati Patel
Photographs: Dhiman Chatterjee

A philanthropist (contributing her time to the Happy Home School for the Blind), a chef (conducting cooking classes) and a housewife—Annuradha Toshniwal is the epitome of a multi-faceted woman. On the eve of her 60th birthday, Toshniwal presented her own cookbook titled A Kaleidoscope... of sensory delights, a compilation of the various tried and tested recipes that were much loved by her family. A foodie, sensualist and epicure, Toshniwal understands the importance of food and the influence it has on maintaining strong familial ties. Obviously, family constitutes a large part of Toshniwal’s cookbook. Not only is the book a culmination of the combined effort of her niece Preeti Rathi Motwani, who designed the book, and her daughter Rachna, who contributed her paintings to the book; but after every few pages, attractive photographs of Toshniwal and her friends and family eating and enjoying a glass of wine are spread out on the pages, further strengthening the connection she asserts there is between food and family.

Familial beginning

One of the first things she mentions is that the recipes in the book are personal favourites of her family. It all began when at the age of 17, she married Vinay Toshniwal and found that she missed her mother’s cooking. A further catalyst was her family’s request to add interest to the usual lunch and dinner fare. After a few cooking classes, periods of trial and error, inspirations from Tarla Dalal and Jyoti Parikh and encouragement from her husband, nephews, and father-in-law (who enjoyed variety and well-made food), Toshniwal gradually became known as the chef in the family. From those days of uncertainty, she has built an arsenal of recipes—all lovingly presented with myriad pictures of happy times with her family and friends surrounded by glimpses of Cinnamon Rolls, and Churi ki Roti, Imli Paani and Frozen Margaritas! Years of travelling abroad with her husband has exposed Toshniwal to different cuisines, especially European food which features prominently in her cookbook. Her sister Asha Daga introduced Vegetable Au Gratin to her when she was a novice cook with little knowledge of international cuisines, and that’s all it took to get her hooked!