Hollywood-Bollywood come together for vegan cookbook

New Delhi: A host of Bollywood celebrities like Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha and Neha Dhupia, as well as Hollywood biggies are set to share their favourite vegan recipes for a book titled "The Bolly Holly Vegan Cookbook".

Poorva Joshipura, head of animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and vice president (International Operations), PETA Foundation UK, is working on the project. "It will be perfect for everyone - veteran vegans, curious newcomers and those who just want to try the occasional meatless meal - as well as both kitchen novices and culinary wizards," Joshipura, a food enthusiast herself, told IANS. "The recipes will allow readers to enjoy vegan versions of old-time Indian regional favourites and to explore dishes that they might never have heard of before. The book will reveal how easy it is to turn traditionally meat or dairy-laden Indian dishes - and those from faraway lands - into more enjoyable and far healthier vegan delicacies," she added. Other Indian actors who will provide their inputs for the book include names like Sonu Sood, Raveena Tandon, Amrita Rao, Celina Jaitly and Jacqueline Fernandez. The book will also contain writing from Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA US, as well as by nutrition expert and author Neal Barnard, also the founder of Washington-based The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). "The Bolly Holly Vegan Cookbook" is expected to hit the stands in 2013. PETA India`s US affiliate counts Hollywood stars like Pamela Anderson, Alicia Silverstone, Sir Paul McCartney, Bryan Adams, Stella McCartney and Eva Mendes as their supporters. Joshipura has signed with Jacaranda Press to represent the book and she feels it would help readers to understand how a vegan diet helps celebrities to be in perfect shape. "Learning what celebrities eat can reveal the secrets behind their shiny hair, slim figures, toned bodies and smooth, healthy skin. Every chapter of the book will offer celebrity tips, quotations and facts about the benefits of vegan eating. "Best of all, it will be fun - full of colourful pictures of celebrities` favourite dishes, with cinematic terms used throughout the text of the book to liven up the pages," added Joshipura. IANS