�The book on cheese I did because not every Indian home has Italian and French cheese. I say try cooking with Indian cheese. What is good and what works for you, you put to use in your cooking!�

IF Purobi Babbar had not been staying in the upper reaches of Shillong, which used to be the capital of Old Assam before becoming part of Meghalaya, she might well have been the Queen Bee of the Indian culinary scene. Not quite like Madhur Jaffrey, but in a different league, and just as good an influence on Indian cooking. As it is she is quite an achiever, and a major foodie: she writes cookery books and food columns for major publications; she makes documentary films for Doordarshan and the Food Processing Industry of India on food and travel; and, she is always happy and willing to share her vast and colourful culinary knowledge with anyone interested in learning about it.

Purobi is Assamese, she comes from Upper Assam, where she said the cooking practise is not to bhunao the food. And where rice and fish is the staple diet and green chilli paste the favourite spice. There is a separate monk cuisine in Upper Assam, there being several Vaishov monasteries here, and the cuisine has no onion and garlic. �It is diksha food. Upper Assamese people are like Thai people,� she said. �They are even known as Tais. Whereas Lower Assamese people are migrants from Burma. Their food is spiced by red chilli paste.�

Another revelation is that the Assamese vegetarian eats fish! �We get vegetarian fish in the Brahmaputra,� Purobi explained earnestly. �This is vegetarian fish, it feeds on plants, it has scales on its back and it has a small mouth.� The other variety of fish, of course, are non-vegetarian. And the Brahmaputra is overflowing with fish, there is variety, plus crabs and prawns. She loves cooking and will try cooking any and everything. �But unless I am happy, I will not put it down in my books. That's why, each book takes me four years to write. I try each recipe three times!�

The name Purobi Babbar is synonymous with the best-selling cookery book Rotis & Naans of India. She's done several others, like Aamantran, Say Cheese For Better Health, Flavours of China, Eat & Stay Slim With Soups & Salads, Joys of China. She loves talking about her books. �The one on cheese I did because not every Indian home has Italian and French cheese. I say try cooking with Indian cheese. What is good and what works for you, you put to use in your cooking!� And the one on China, �It has the cuisine of the Buddhist and Muslim Chinese too, and food from the restaurants of Bangkok, Singapore and HongKong.� Now Purobi is working on a book on Coastal Saraswat Brahmin cooking.

Her own home cooking is best, she said. There does exist a local cuisine in Shillong. It is made up of all kinds of influences, especially Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu food. It is a bit like Goa, because there is much use of beef and pork in the Christian cooking. There is local alcohol, too, in Shillong. The people make excellent plum rum and cherry brandy. Though Purobi Babbar does not herself drink, nor smoke. �So I am useless for clubs,� she said with a laugh. But she makes up by being passionately interested in cooking, instead. Assamese cuisine, naturally, is top of her choice of favourites. She does a lot of Italian-French fusion experiments too. And mixes Indian food with this to suit her own exotic tastes.

Purobi comes from an interesting background. She studied music from the Allahabad University and passed her Indian Classical finals with a first class with distinction. Then she went on to do food and nutrition from the Baroda University. And after achieving these vastly different qualifications, Purobi pursued a career with Indian Airlines as an air-hostess! �This gave me the opportunity to travel,� she admitted. �I went places, explored markets, interviewed chefs, always was in search of new food, recipes, taking down notes, I never stayed in the hotel during my breaks, I was always on the streets doing research for my future books.�

Then she got married to a steel industrialist of Indore and travelled the world, criss-crossing Europe, the US, both the west and east coasts, and most of Asia except Japan. Paris excites her.

And all of Germany. �You get some of the best confectioners in the world here though the motherland of confectionery food is Lisbon,� Purobi said. Her keen interest, observation, and study of people and their food habits and preferences coupled with her natural flair for cooking, has helped her create her unusual cookery books. Of these, she is especially proud of Rotis & Naans of India. In 240 pages, Purobi managed to successfully present an exciting collection of traditional recipes that show the intriguing diversity of Indian cuisine.

Apart from cooking, it is making documentaries that excites her most. Purobi has done two on ethnic Kashmiri food and culture. And one on Mandu, the Holkar Palace in Indore. �I find doing documentaries on culture, heritage and food a challenge,� she said. �These are so dry as a subject. I prefer to let my visuals speak for the documentaries. I do them my way and don't follow any rigid rules. Like when I did the Mandu Palace, which had been done before, I chose to do it in the rains!� But there's a lot more she wants to do to spread India out to the world, especially on the cuisine front. �For that, I will have to shift out of Shillong and Indore and come to Bombay,� she said. �I'm a workaholic, I can keep at what I am doing for 24 hours easily.�

And, finally, she mentioned her fascination for correct nutrition, health and fitness. She writes extensively on these subjects for Indian newspapers and magazines in which she stresses the importance of nutritious, well-cooked and delectable food. �My motto is to make people aware of correct nutrition and eating habits,� she said. �It is so easy to have the correct kind of food prepared in a short time and with a small budget.�