Mother-Son Authors Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji Discuss Cookbook at St. Joe County Public Library

Chefs and avid readers alike gathered at the St. Joe County Public Library’s Community Learning Center on Tuesday, September 22, at 6 p.m. as part of the library’s Culturally Speaking Author Series. The Culturally Speaking Author Series focuses on bringing diverse storytellers and perspectives to the South Bend community, emphasizing the story behind why authors write what they write.

This most recent event featured Jyoti Mukharji and Auyon Mukharji, a mother-son duo who published their cookbook, Heartland Masala: An Indian Cookbook from an American Kitchen, last year. Copies of the cookbook were available for sale through Brain Lair Books, a South Bend based bookstore.

The cookbook consists of 99 recipes. Of those, 96 came from Jyoti Mukharji. The other three came from her son, Auyon Mukharji. The book includes recipe photos, cultural analysis, and culinary history researched and written by Auyon Mukharji.

While cooking has been important to both authors throughout their lives, past versions of the two might not have anticipated a cookbook in their future. Auyon Mukharji pursued a biology degree before turning to music, joining acclaimed indie folk band Darlingside. He serves as a vocalist, violinist, mandolinist, and chef for the band.

Jyoti Mukharji spent her early adult years in the United States not cooking, but pursuing a medical career.

“I didn’t know how to cook when I first moved to the United States because I was a medical student. When you’re a medical student, you have no time to do anything else but study,” Jyoti Mukharji said. “Kudos to my husband, who withstood my practice dishes. He had never tasted the dishes in the form in which I was cooking them.”

A few years into her medical practice, Jyoti made the decision to stay at home in order to focus on raising her eldest son, who was diagnosed with autism. Over the years, she continued to hone her skills as a chef, eventually using her talent to cook a dinner for a silent auction with her local Head Start. Following the popularity of her dinner, a board member suggested she switch her auction donation from a dinner to a cooking class.

“I said, ‘I’ve never done one in my life,’” Jyoti Mukharji said. “She said, ‘You know, there’s always a first class.’”

Despite her reluctance, Jyoti Mukharji moved forward with the change, hosting her first class in February 2010.

“I realized that day that I had achieved my nirvana. My passion to cook as a mother and my passion to teach as a little girl—I had totally forgotten I even knew how to do that till that afternoon when I was teaching them,” Jyoti Mukharji said. “When the people left, my husband must have seen some glow on my face, and he said, ‘Why don’t you do this as a hobby?’ Here I am, 16 years later, I’m still doing it.”

Over the years, Jyoti Mukharji has hosted thousands of students. Frequently, students requested a cookbook from her. Their requests pushed Jyoti Mukharji to approach her middle son about helping her write an official cookbook.

“I love to talk, I love to teach, but I don’t like to write,” Jyoti Mukharji said.  “Auyon had been doing my ghost-writing for some time for media coverage, so I asked him if he would help me write the book.”

Auyon Mukharji agreed, and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the two began to deconstruct recipes built up from decades of cooking. The process included extensive research, rough drafts, recipe testing, layout planning, and precise measuring.

Aspects of the recipe testing especially tested the limits of the authors.

“The only bit of our process that was violent was recipe testing,” Auyon Mukharji said. “A lot of very mean things were said, and some of those wounds are still healing.”

The two continued to chip away at the book until its publishing in September 2025. Following this, they attended a book tour, travelling to 45 cities across the country in the span of two and a half months.

Since publishing, the positive reception of Heartland Masala has meant the world to the Mukharjis. The book has sold rapidly through its second printing. It has won accolades, including 2025 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Gold Winner in Cooking and a feature in The Boston Globe’s Best Cookbooks for Holiday Giving, as well as a silver Independent Book Publishers Association Award.

“We have been very lucky that our book has been accepted so well,” Jyoti Mukharji said. “I know for a lot of people who write cookbooks, not much happens with it. We are delighted to have done it and still be talking about it a year later. It’s been a terrific ride.”

Through every high and low of the process, the two are grateful for the final product they created and the learning experiences along the way.

“When there are clear boundaries around our roles, things work pretty well. With the writing of the book, she was happy to get eyes on everything, but I had agency. On the tour, I was tour management, she was the talent. This was all very easy,” Auyon Mukharji said. “But for the recipe testing, I mistook myself as an equal to my mother. That was very wrong. I’ve learned my lesson, which is to say I’m not recipe testing with my mother anymore.”

The talk closed with questions from the audience, followed by a book signing and a demonstration of chutney recipes from the cookbook. The event closed around 7:30 p.m.

Jyoti Mukharji continues to offer in-person cooking classes based out of Kansas City, Missouri. The proceeds from her classes go towards charities around Kansas City. For more information about classes, you can email her at jmukharji@gmail.com.

St. Joe County Public Library hosts its Culturally Speaking Author Series throughout the year. The events are free to the public and do not require a library card, thanks to the sponsorship of The Pokagon Fund. Its next author talk will be on October 14 with V.E. Schwab.

For more information about the St. Joe County Public Library, you can visit its website.