Classic Indian Veget Ck

I can imagine becoming a vegetarian for reasons of social conscience, but it hasn't happened yet. I do, however, have vegetarian friends who tolerate my lack of enlightenment, and I do sometimes cook for them. On such occasions, if I feel like challenging myself, this is the cookbook to which I turn for inspiration. Julie Sahni offers clear enough descriptions of the tasks involved in classic Indian cooking so that anyone who's a halfway good cook in any other style can easily produce something delicious from her recipes. I never follow recipes exactly except when I use this book; I've learned from trial and error that whatever Julie says is right. The lessons she offers in nutrition - balancing grains with lentils and other pulses; using spices to AID digestion; conserving nutrients in the cooking process - are invariably worth learning. The cookbook begins with eighty pages of descriptions of the basic ingredients of Indian vegetarian cooking, especially the spices and spice blends. Julie tells us which spices can be ground or purchased ground in advance without sacrificing flavor, and which cannot. Lots of recipes in the newspapers, for instance, call for "garam masala" as if there were only one blend of spices under that name. Julie offers five quite different blends of aromatic and piquant spices, all regional garam masalas, and tells us when each is appropriate. Some of the best recipes in the book are for pilafs and hearty stews. Then there are clear instrutions for making two dozen sorts of Indian breads and dumplings. Home-made chutneys, I can tell you, are way tastier than gunk from jars. Cauliflower stuffed with nuts and greens is one of my favorite showy dishes for company. How about 'tiny new potatoes smothered in fenugreek leaves?' She includes instructions for growing a pot of fenugreek from seeds. Cardamom ice cream and rose petal rice pudding are always show-stopper desserts. There are also ideas for whole menus - combinations of dishes both for aesthetic and nutritioal balance. I have half a dozen Indian cookbooks - gifts from friends mostly - but Julie Sahni's is the only one that's speckled with food stains and oil smudges. Honorable decorations for a cookbook, indicating frequent use.

My first reaction to many of these recipes has been "My god! Can you DO that with lentils/milk/yoghurt/vegetables?". But the answer is an unequivocal and delicious "YES!" There aren't tons of glossy colourful pictures smiling out at you (and pushing the price up), and this is a cookbook that has more recipes than you can shake a stick at, so it might be intimidating for some. But fear not. The recipes are well tested, the ingredients readily available, and the descriptions are well written and meaningful. This book has transformed my cooking and my kitchen, with recipes that are tasty, economical, and varied. If you are the least bit adventurous, try this book, I implore you.

This cookbook absolutely rocks. It is a 500 page tome of fantastic recipes. Its starts with a good explanation of ingredients, spice blends and builds a solid foundation of knowledge about Indian cooking. While some of the dinner recipes are complex, I could easily live off of the side dishes. Before this book, my experimentation with Indian food was hit or miss. Now I am always happy with the results. A must-have for vegetarians.

I must agree with the raves about the various dishes that the other reviewers have mentioned. I own several other Indian vegetarian cookbooks and I have found that this one is the best in its description of the spices and other ingredients that may be new to some people. I have no problem with the excellent quality of the recipes but beginners in Indian cuisine should not mistake this book as easy to master. Most of the recipes in this book are complex and mastering Indian cuisine requires a lot of experimentation with amounts of spices. There are few illustrations and no pictures of prepared food to help newer cooks. So the only downside to this great book is its lack of more complete instructions for beginners

This book is a MUST if you are interested in cooking authentic Indian vegetarian-one to one. I am not an Indian but an Indo-vegetarian, meaning I cook mostly Indian vegetarian food because I believe it is the best in the world. Almost everything I've made from this book has been AWESOME, from vegetable lentil curries of south India to paneer cheese dishes of north. This is the first book that taught me, correctly, the art of making dosa-the silky rice crepes of Madras and dokla, the feathery, lentil chiffon cakes of Gujrat. My Indian friends, who love my cooking, think I am some kind of a reincarnated Indian soul. All I do really is follow Julie Sahni's recipes. I own many Indian vegetarian cookbooks but hardly use them because none produce such great results, time after time. I think it is Julie Sahni's amazing knowledge of combining spices that make the dishes taste so extraordinary. I highly recommend this book. It is THE BEST.