I did it pie way ...

There must be easier ways of researching a book than travelling through India by train and cooking British food for people. After all, the subcontinent is known for its spice-laced dishes and culinary diversity. Why would a group of Delhi socialites be interested in eating bland, mashed potato-topped mince whipped up by a Glaswegian Sikh who has just stepped off a train with no ingredients and a bad dose of Delhi belly? It's a question Hardeep Singh Kohli asked himself more than once during his cooking, sightseeing and self-discovery odyssey around the country of his forebears.

Kohli is a British-based journalist and current affairs commentator and a minor celebrity on his home turf. A regular on BBC radio and television and with a column in a Scottish Sunday newspaper, he considers the weighty issues, such as the challenges of growing up in a minority in Britain, as well as lighter but no less important questions, such as declining dress standards among the British (shell suits and Burberry caps). He is well placed to explore both topics because he was born in Glasgow in 1969 and was regularly referred to as a 'darkie' at school. And he rarely appears on television in anything less than a brightly coloured suit and matching turban - of which he has almost 40.

His latest incarnation as the author of Indian Takeaway: One Man's Attempt to Cook His Way Home, was not born of a decision to pursue a new career path as a writer. To listen to him explain events, his first book appears to be the by-product of time spent soul searching - albeit with some cooking thrown in.