It's been more than five years since I dined at Rasika, a visionary Indian restaurant in Washington, D.C., yet I can vividly recall many details of that remarkable meal.

Which is why whenever someone visiting the capital asks if I have any dining recommendations, Rasika always resides at the top of my list. Trust me, my enthusiasm and admiration is near-universal.

"The most fabulous Indian cooking in the country," decreed Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post, possibly the nation's most-traveled restaurant critic.

That's why it's such a delight to discover that chef Vikram Sunderam and owner Ashok Bajaj, in collaboration with noted D.C. food writer David Hagedorn, have published their first cookbook.

This readable, sharply photographed resource isn't a treatise on the whole of Indian cooking, but a chronicle of dishes that the James Beard award-winning Sunderam has served on his menu, translated for the home cook.

Happily, "Rasika: Flavors of India" (Ecco, $34.99) is out just in time for Thanksgiving, since it's full of ideas that work beautifully on the holiday table. Butternut squash? Green beans? Pass them to my end of the table, please.

“Rasika: Flavors of India”

Rick Nelson • 612-673-4757 @RickNelsonStrib