COOKBOOK WATCH

As the fine Knopf Cooks American series has shown over the last several years, there is no simple definition of American cuisine. In those cookbooks, the authors explore ethnic food--Italian, Chinese or Latino, for instance--through the eyes of first-, second- and third-generation Americanswho not only adapt their native foods to American ingredients and tastes but who also change the way all Americans eat by expanding the national palate.

In the same spirit, Neelam Batra, a Santa Monica-based cooking teacher and author of “The Indian Vegetarian” (Macmillan, 1994), has written “Chilis to Chutneys: American Home Cooking With the Flavors of India” (Morrow, $25). Batra was raised in New Delhi but learned to cook in Los Angeles, far from her mother’s kitchen. Her own cooking was necessarily influenced by the California food around her: Consider her recipes for grilled zucchini with red onion, her thyme-and-ginger roasted chicken or her hamburger seasoned with garam masala, ginger, cumin and coriander. Through her classes and cookbooks, she’s simply returning the favor.