In the weeks since the James Beard awards took place, there has been a tidal wave of announcements championing a few of the local winners. (Hip-hip hooray for Craig and Annie Stoll of Delfina! Three cheers for Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of Tartine!) I, however, would like to give an enthusiastic shout-out to the winner for Best Asian Cookbook, Niloufer Ichaporia King, author of My Bombay Kitchen. Don’t get me wrong. I love me some Delfina and Tartine. I dine at the former probably more than any other restaurant in the city. Despite the interminable line, I’ll (occasionally) brave the crowds at the latter for a slice of quiche, an almond rocher, and a ham and cheese croissant. But King is as deserving of accolades as those two San Francisco institutions. In her book, through recipes and scholarly narrative, the longtime Bay Area resident defines and elucidates the foodways of her people, the Parsis, who left Persia more than a millennium ago to settle in India. All her well-crafted, intelligent prose would be of less interest to me, if her recipes didn’t work. But, boy, do they.

In my fridge right now is a fresh turmeric pickle so startlingly delicious it has become a near-indispensable condiment. So, too, is a jar of that Parsi staple, garlic and ginger paste. I just used the last of her tangy, spicy rhubarb chutney, slathering it on a broiled pork chop. Her poha, a sort of savory Rice Krispies pilaf with potatoes, curry leaves, and, of course, chiles, is my new favorite breakfast. In fact, two of my favorite restaurant meals in the last year involved Ms. King: one at Chez Panisse in March for her superb Parsi New Year dinner; the other at Foreign Cinema to celebrate the release of My Bombay Kitchen with a menu comprising dishes from the book. That particular dinner was my introduction to King’s cooking; it was vibrant, nuanced, and explicitly seasonal. Mark my words: King could do for Indian cooking in America what Alice Waters and company did for the food of southern France. Lord knows, I’m already a convert.