Guwahati: More than 180 recipes, cooking tips and health information on local ingredients can be found in A Book of Gourmet Cooking- A Culinary Journey Across the Mighty River Brahmaputra written by Jyoti Das Bardoloi and launched by veteran journalist Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty here on Sunday.

It is more than a simple cookbook; it is an attempt to preserve the traditional culinary knowledge of the Assamese people complemented by modern culinary techniques.

The book provides information on health benefits of different local ingredients and simple cookery tips that help in preparing perfect dishes.

Bardoloi, the granddaughter of Surabala Bordoloi, wife of Assam's first chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi, is one of the first graduates from the Institute of Hotel Management, Guwahati, having passed out in 1987. The book is a treasure trove of traditional Assamese recipes, some of them hundreds of years old. From everyday khar (a preparation of gourd or raw papaya with soda ash) and tenga mas (sour fish) to pitha (sweetmeats of rice and jaggery), the book contains staple dishes of savoured by Assamese families from Sadiya to Dhubri and on both sides of the Brahmaputra.

The recipes are written in simple English and are easy to follow. It aims at helping people from outside the state and the country who want to try their hands at authentic Assamese recipes.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Bardoloi said, "I was interested in cooking from an early age. I used to ask my grandmother and mother about the preparations of different dishes. When I was older, my grandmother Surabala Bordoloi and my mother told me to write down the recipes. I inculcated this habit of jotting down the ingredients and the method of cooking the dishes. This helped me a lot in compiling this book. Most of the recipes are popular on both sides of the Brahmaputra with some minor variations."

"We eat different kinds of food in different seasons, keeping in mind their suitability and availability of different local ingredients. Seasonal vegetables and fruits play an important role in our diet. I have also decided to include the health benefits of local ingredients such as thekera, xilikha, kardoi tenga, sojina pat and phool, sewali phool, dhekia among others," she said.

According to her, sojina (drumsticks) is a storehouse of vitamin C and dhekia (a type of leafy greens) is rich in minerals.