Part of the Blue Elephant Group, the acclaimed La Porte des Indes restaurants in London and Brussels offer a unique style of Indian cookery inspired by the French créole cuisine of Pondichèry and other former French trading posts in Southern India. Dishes such as Demoiselles de Pondichèry (scallops in a saffron sauce), Magret de Canard Pulivar (roasted duck breasts in a banana leaf parcel) and Riz au Lait de Rose (crushed basmati rice and clotted cream milk pudding) blend French and Indian ingredients and flavours.   The historical theme is continued in the design of the restaurants, where elegant palms, moghul waterfalls and antique carvings and paintings evoke the atmosphere of French-colonial India.   'La Porte des Indes' Cookbook presents the very best recipes from the restaurants, including many of these original 'fusion' dishes as well as other regional specialities from across the subcontinent. Introductory chapters cover the ingredients and equipment used in Indian cooking, as well as Indian teas and suitable wines to drink. These are followed by over 80 recipes for hors d'oeuvres, soups, fish and seafood, meat and poultry, seafood, vegetables, rice and bread, chutneys and sauce, and desserts.   Recipes are clearly written and give helpful advice on obtaining unusual ingredients. The stunning photography by award-winning Belgian photographer Tony Le Duc captures the beauty of the finished dishes and the ambience of the restaurant.