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Heartland Masala

An Indian Cookbook from the American Midwest

Illustrated by Olivier Kugler / Photographs by Kevin Miyazaki
Published by The Collective Book Studio
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Heartland Masala features 100 Indian recipes from Jyoti Mukharji paired with cultural and historical insights from her son, Auyon. Together, they blend Indian traditions with Midwestern influences to create a vibrant masala of flavors—delicious, inventive, and unique.

Take a flavorful journey into Indian cooking and culture with a Midwestern mother-son duo.

Since 2010, Jyoti Mukharji has been teaching cooking classes from her Kansas City kitchen, sharing her love for Indian cuisine with her community. Heartland Masala brings her 100 favorite recipes to life in a beautifully photographed collection, enriched with witty, culturally insightful, and vividly illustrated vignettes by culinary historian Auyon Mukharji.

From beloved restaurant staples like Saag Paneer to unique creations like Masala Brussels Sprouts and rare delicacies such as Murgh Rezala (Chicken Curry with Water Lily Seeds and Cashews), this cookbook offers something for every curious cook and adventurous palate. Packed with vibrant flavors, cultural anecdotes, and inventive recipes, Heartland Masala is a one-of-a-kind collaboration that redefines the Indian cookbook.

About The Authors

Jyoti Mukharji is a chef, teacher, and retired physician. She immigrated to the US from India in the late 1970s, and she began teaching weekly Indian cooking classes out of her home in Prairie Village, KS in 2010. Jyoti has since welcomed several thousand students into her kitchen, and her writing and teaching have been celebrated in press and radio outlets across the Midwest. Jyoti's team includes her husband Jhulan (art director), her eldest son Arnob (grocery shopping deputy), her middle son Auyon (musical guest), and her youngest son Aroop (copy editor).

Auyon Mukharji is a musician, writer, and culinary historian who spends most of his time thinking about food. He studied biology at Williams College and was awarded a Watson Fellowship in 2007 to study self-expression in folk music. Since 2009, Auyon has toured with, and cooked for, the acclaimed indie-folk band Darlingside. He otherwise finds time to work in and around kitchens (and farms) in both his hometown of Kansas City and his adopted state-of-residence of Massachusetts.

About The Illustrator

Olivier Kugler is a German-born London-based editorial illustrator and visual journalist. He has travelled to Iran, Laos, Iraqi Kurdistan, Cairo, Ghana and many other places on assignment for a variety of publications including The Guardian, New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, French journal XXI and German GQ. He has done extensive reporting on Middle Eastern refugees in Europe and a book collecting this work called Dem Krieg Entronnen was published in German by Edition Moderne – and in the UK and North America as Escaping Wars and Waves. The book has won two major European design and illustration awards. Oli is also a past winner of a V&A Illustration Award and World Illustration Award. You can visit his portfolio at www.olivierkugler.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: The Collective Book Studio (September 9, 2025)
  • Length: 288 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781685552329

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