Every cookbook has something that holds it together, and for Meherwan Irani, you don't have to look hard to find it.

His debut, The No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World, arriving this September, is built on spice. Not as decoration or an afterthought, but as the actual foundation of how the food works.

Look at what runs through all 100-plus recipes, and you start to see exactly what's in his pantry, and the portrait of a cook it reveals.

Turmeric Powder shows up more than almost anything else in the book! It's the golden thread running through the whole thing.

Kashmiri Chilli Powder is right behind it, giving dishes that deep brick-red color and a heat that's present without being aggressive. Then come Roasted Cumin Powder and Cumin Seed. They appear together so often that you start to understand they're not interchangeable; they're doing two different jobs.

Coriander Powder brings a citrusy lift to whatever it touches. Brown Mustard Seed goes into the hot oil first, popping and sputtering before anything else gets added; it's the starting gun on some of the most beloved street food dishes in the book.

Some recipes come directly from the streets and kitchens of India, others from Amrit's kitchen (Meherwan's mom). And that says a lot about what kind of cookbook this is. 

It's not a restaurant manual or a technique guide. It's the food Meherwan grew up eating, which he's spent his career cooking for other people, and which now lives in a book you can take home and cook from yourself.

And if you want to go a step further (because, duh)...if you want to see where the turmeric actually grows, eat chaat the way it's meant to be eaten, and experience the country that made Meherwan the cook he is, he's taking someone there.

Pre-order the cookbook before June 8th, and enter to win a trip to Mumbai with Meherwan himself. It's the kind of trip that only happens for his closest people, and right now, that door is open.

Pre-order The No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World and enter to win a trip to India with Meherwan → Sweepstakes ends June 8th, 2026.