Toshniwal tells us that the idea was based on sharing moments we enjoy. “We wanted to infuse a more holistic experience of the positives that the lockdown taught us.” Her daughter, Rachna, who is an artist and performs poetry at live venues, collected imagery related to the themes from photographs, monoprints and sketches that she had made during and prior to the pandemic. Poems of fellow-performer and poet Smita Vyas Kumar were added to the mix, and so were Toshniwal’s zen tangles, which was her go-to activity for solace.

A Mahajong maverick, Toshniwal has led several entrepreneurial organisations and routinely conducts cooking classes and demonstrations. Her speciality is quick, innovative and experimental cooking with a variety of flavours using readily available ingredients. The recipes in the book are a reflection of that. “During the lockdown, the focus of cooking shifted to minimalism. Using the limited vegetables and ingredients available, I experimented with different combinations to make wholesome dishes that I could savour—a way to balance the otherwise challenging circumstances. Planning, sourcing, and cooking with the ingredients available helped me focus.  As the dishes came together, I finetuned them and penned them down.”

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The release comes exactly 10 years after the launch of her first cookbook, A Kaleidoscope of Sensory Delights.  The themes she has picked are particularly close to her heart. “While assembling the book, I realised that as a cook, different foods speak to me in different ways, and I associate particular values with the type of food I am cooking at any given moment.  And these times have brought out and highlighted the values that I hold dear—the importance of pleasure, beauty, abundance, communication, focus and joy.  I wanted to share them through my recipes.”

In the pleasure section, she offers an innovative recipe of apple cream cheese and dill, which was a lockdown experiment. It’s a burst of contrasting flavours that also complement each other.

Apple with cream cheese dill

Since sour cream wasn’t easily available, there’s a recipe in the book that shows you how to make it from scratch. The recipes, however, aren’t limited to lockdown cooking, but take cues from Toshniwal’s life prior to the outbreak. “I had the papaya salad in Mussourie and it blew my mind. I knew it then that I had to share this recipe with my readers. Also, the honeydew melon is my take on the melon panna that my mother made for us as kids. On adding celery, it came out well,” says Toshniwal.

The money generated from the sale of the books will be donated to the Vinay Toshniwal Memorial Trust that supports education and medical treatment for the less privileged.