The Modern Tiffin

The Modern Tiffin: On-the-Go Vegan Dishes with a Global Flair

by Priyanka Naik
Genres: Cooking
Published on November 2, 2021
Pages: 224
Format: eBook Source: Netgalley

Travel the world in a tiffin with 55 delicious recipes showcasing the global vegan experience.
Italy, Mexico, Thailand, India... Self-taught Indian American chef Priyanka Naik loves to travel just as much as she loves cooking! So when she set out to write a cookbook, she knew it couldn’t be just one cuisine—it had to feature a world of plant-based flavors. Drawing on her heritage and her travels, Chef Priyanka introduces you to a world of mouthwatering vegan dishes in The Modern Tiffin.
With vegetables as the star of the show, ​Priyanka takes you to a different part of the world in each chapter, adding her own Indian-inspired twist to each dish. The recipes in the book are made to be put into a tiffin, an Indian-style lunch box, so that each meal can be perfectly packaged to take on your own adventures, near and far.
You’ll learn recipes like: -Bucatini à la Pumpkin with Pink Peppercorn & Pistachio -Green Chutney Quesadillas -Chili-Maple Skillet Corn Bread -Indian Home Fries with Peanuts -Bondi Blue Tea Cakes -Cardamom Sweet Tea Spritzer -and so many more!
Get ready for an international trip from the comfort of your own kitchen: The Modern Tiffin will take you on a delicious vegan voyage around the world!

I was excited when I saw this book on NetGalley. I have a tiffin that I don’t use nearly as much as I probably could. I was hoping to get some ideas and tips. I was extra excited when I saw that this was a vegan cookbook so every recipe was something that I could potentially make.

The book starts with an introduction to tiffins, which are three part stacking metal lunchboxes developed in India. There is also an introduction to the basics of Indian cuisine.

This cookbook features Indian fusion recipes organized by the area of the globe they represent. There are sections for various parts of India and Asia. Then the focus moves to places such as American comfort food with an Indian twist, Indio-Italian, Spanish, Latin American, and even Australian based foods.

I’ve tried a few recipes so far. I made the Tofu Banh Mi sandwich. The tofu marinade was wonderful and it made a great sandwich. I was conservative with the spices because I am a wimp but I could have been braver. The spices gave much more flavor than heat but that could have been dialed up if you like more heat in your food.

I also made the stuffed mushrooms that combined Italian inspiration with some Indian spices. These were also very good.

I’m looking forward to trying a few of the spiced cashew recipes.

My main complaint about this book is that it seemed to forget that it was supposed to be tiffin-focused when it got to the recipes. Each of the dishes can be served at room temperature so you can pack it for lunch. After each recipe there is a little section that says a sentence or two about packing it up. That’s good. But I would have liked to see some photos of the food in a tiffin. Maybe suggestions like “Pack this in the bottom tin, put these in the middle, and then add this snack to the top to make a great lunch” with a picture.

Overall, the recipes are good but it is just lacking that little bit that could have made it great.