Masterchef winner Mahmood Ahmed to Hodder

This year's "Masterchef" winner Saliha Mahmood Ahmed is publishing her debut cookbook with Hodder & Stoughton: an Indo-Persian collection of recipes called Khazana.

Mahmood Ahmed, a junior doctor and 29-year-old mother-of-one, won "Masterchef" in spring 2017. Her debut, after the show was watched by six million people, has been described as "a treasure trove of Indo-Persian recipes inspired by the Mughals", showcasing a fusion of Indian and Persian flavours and Western cooking techniques including "sandalwood and slow-cooked lamb, cardamom and curries, and lots of lovely pomegranate".

Khazana will publish in September 2018. Hodder & Stoughton lifestyle editorial director Nicky Ross secured world rights from Heather Holden-Brown at HHB.

Ross said: "For a nation brought up on Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian cookbooks through to today’s bestsellers like Persiana and Meera Sodha’s Made in India, Khazana will be the next step in our on-going love affair with the food of the Indian sub-continent. With recipes influenced by Indo-Persian cooking techniques and flavours, transported completely into the 21st century, Khazana will be a fusion of Indian and Persian flavours and Western cooking techniques."

Mahmood Ahmed added: "I’ve always been fascinated by the stories of the Mughal Empire, which ruled over much of India from the early 16th to the mid-19th century. The Mughal Emperors brought with them a strong Persian influence and they have left behind an enduring legacy of culinary art which to this day influences the gastronomy of the Indian subcontinent. Think sandalwood and slow-cooked lamb, cardamom and curries, and lots of lovely pomegranate."