Years ago, I was in a used-book store when I came upon an 800-page treatise I had never seen before: “Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking.”

By Yamuna Devi, the 1987 book was emblazed with a starburst announcing it as Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), and on one flap was a black-and-white photo of the short-haired author in a bookstore. In quotes on the back, cookbook authors Deborah Madison, Barbara Kafka and even Julia Child praised it as “full of life,” “big and beautiful” and “gratifying.”