A national bestseller in India, Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet is the fictional memoir of a wise Indian princess, who recalls the ways the women of the Indian court found friendship, faith, and love through their beauty traditions. We journey with her as she recounts a lifetime of comforting rituals, tantalizing textures, colors, and fragrances, exquisite jewels and adornments, and assorted beauty and health secrets passed through generations of women by word of mouth.
In Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet, Sharada Dwivedi, a native of India, and Shalini Devi Holkar, an Indian princess by marriage, draw on the oral histories of privileged Indian women to capture and revive their many wonderful and wise beauty traditions. The result is a rich cultural tapestry, filled with ancient remedies, recipes, and tonics used to soften skin, silken hair, enrich the body, and lift the spirit like no store-bought products can. Additionally, the book offers a glossary of plants, flowers, spices, and grains and simple home remedies for women in all stages of life—from puberty to pregnancy to menopause—including:
<ul>
<li>Almond-Saffron for cleansing and exfoliation</li>
<li>Papaya-Mint-Tea for acne and pimples</li>
<li>Cream &amp; Honey for dry skin and wrinkles</li>
<li>Cress &amp; Rosewater for post-natal strength</li>
<li>Tulsi Kadha (Basil Tea) for coughs or morning sickness</li>
</ul>
Replete with gorgeous photos and illustrations from a bygone era, Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet is a treasure trove of time-honored health and beauty customs that will delight the senses of modern women everywhere.

Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet: Indian Traditions in Beauty and Health

Biographies & Memoirs

Dwivedi, Sharada

Holkar, Shalini Devi

Historical

William Morrow

Food-its preparation, presentation, and delectation-has for centuries been an integral, significant part of the culture of India, touching all aspects of Indian life from religion, art, and literature to history and social convention.  Traditionally, the highest level of Indian cuisine has been found in the royal kitchens of the maharajas, the one-time rulers of India's princely states, but with the disappearance of the maharajas, that great culinary tradition-passed down through the years from cook to cook as a kind of gospel for the table-has been nearly forgotten.   The authors of this book are in a unique position to rescue this remarkable cuisine from obscurity, and to preserv its finest recipes along with the legends and stories that have always accompanied them.  Shivaji Rao Holkar, the formr Maharaja of Indore in Central India, and his American-born wife, Shalini Devi-a superb cook and delightful writer-have traveled through the country since their marriage in 1966, collecting recipes from palace chefs, testing dishes (in American and European kitchens as wll as in India), and studying the vast literature of Indian food and cooking.   This beautiful book is the result of their researches: a collection of over 100 recipes, handsomely illustrated with photographs and drawings, and further illuminated by a rich sampling of Indian legend and lore as recorded in the old texts or imprinted on the memories of former princes and their master chefs.  These are not Americanized adaptations but authentic meals-and from the rich Mughal dishes of Delhi to the intriguing vegetarian recipes of Southern India; each can be reproduced exactly in American kitchens in its truly exotic and surprisingly low-cost form.  A book to dress up any dinner, The Cooking of the Maharajas has a very special, and very genuine, appeal.

Cooking of the Maharajas: The Royal Recipes of India

Rao, Shivaji

Viking Adult

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