If there is a quintessentially Indian snack?one that quashes dieting diktats and diet restrictions, and instantly evokes the magic of rains and good times?it is a piping hot plate of pakodas.

In this most definitive ?biography? of the golden-brown fritter star, Pakodas: The Snack for all Seasons, the author chronicles a wide and hitherto unknown variety of batter-fried (and sometimes steamed or poached) delights. The book into divided into three neat and helpful sections: vegetarian (all sort of vegetables, of course, but also flowers, leaves, fruits, roots, seeds, nuts, cereals, dairy), non-vegetarian and a wonderful array of lip-smacking chutneys to further enrich the pakoda experience.

Puncturing every reason for pakoda-abstinence, it is an unabashed celebration of a pan-Indian treat.