Penguin India has announced the release of Tell My Mother I Like Boys — a bold new memoir by Michelin-starred chef Suvir Saran, the culinary innovator widely credited with changing the world’s palate for Indian cuisine.

In the book, Saran — who moved from Delhi to New York and became one of the first openly gay Indian chefs to gain international acclaim — pulls back the curtain on his private battles and public triumphs. He writes candidly of the secrets he carried for decades, the cultural negotiations required to survive, and the heavy personal cost of living a double life.

Part food narrative, part coming-out story, Tell My Mother I Like Boys traces Saran’s journey from a shy Delhi boy afraid of his own truth to the chef whose Manhattan restaurant Devi became the first non-Northern European establishment in North America to earn a Michelin star.

The memoir has already drawn advance praise from leading voices. International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree calls it “tantalizing and enlightening,” while author Shashi Tharoor describes it as a reminder that “the most powerful ingredient in any life is authenticity.” Celebrity chef Vikas Khanna hails it as “a testament to resilience, courage and authenticity.”

Spanning Delhi, Bombay and New York, the book explores identity, queerness, shame, self-acceptance and the healing power of food. Saran writes of family silences, secret wounds, illnesses endured and the liberating triumph of telling the truth.

“For years I plated joy while swallowing shame,” he says in the memoir. “Food saved me, and cooking made it possible to build bridges between worlds when I couldn’t speak my own.”

Saran, a trailblazer for South Asian representation in global gastronomy, has also worked across celebrated restaurant projects including One8 Commune, Neuma, Bastian, Qora, Murphies and The House of Celeste. Outside the kitchen, he is a passionate artist, embroiderer, classical music student and gardener.

With its blend of confession, cultural commentary and culinary history, Tell My Mother I Like Boys is poised to become one of the year’s most talked-about non-fiction releases — a memoir that argues for living without apology, and for the quiet bravery of claiming one’s truth.