Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals: The New Indian Cuisine for Fearless Cooks and Adventurous Eaters

Ismail Merchant makes Indian cooking easy. The recipes are all great (and I have cooked every one of them). Merchant is the quintessential bachelor-cook. Most Indian Cookbooks prescribe elaborate and complicated methods, but Merchant cuts through all this. The recipes in this book can be prepared by anyone. They can be made quickly. And they taste as if they were made by a chef who went through all the traditional hoops of Indian cooking. The book is perfect for both everyday meals as well as special ones. Trust me. Once you start using this book, every other book seems over done.

My husband and I "discovered" Indian food on our honeymoon nine years ago in, of all places, Seattle (on our way to Alaska). It was fabulous, of course. When we returned home we had a strong desire to replicate those meals. We live in New Mexico, now, and at the time lived in West Texas. I probably don't really need to describe the paucity of restaurants that would satisfy our needs. So, we went cookbook looking. We found this absolute treasure. We have made numerous dishes from this cookbook and loved them all. We have an absolute favorite. Dhaniya Murgh (Coriander Chicken) gets made in this house so much we both could do it without the instructions (and the instructions are complex). It's the dish we make in huge quantities and freeze. It's the dish we serve company. The cookbook tells you about Indian cooking and how to mix what with what. There are sections on lentils, on chicken, on meat. You even get a recipe for making the strange cheeses and the wonderful raita that are served alongside the meals. It's one of those cookbooks where you drool reading the recipes even if there's no picture right there (all pics are in the center). One thing: the guy's pretty proud of all the people he knows. He's a name dropper. Funny thing, maybe because I'm only 31, but I know NONE of those people. Never heard of them. Oh well, the man can cook AND he can teach you how, too. My husband now experiments based on what he's learned from this book. Want some adventure in your cooking? Looking for Indian food that doesn't call for Cream of Chicken soup? This is the book!

Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals is a compendium of more than two hundred Indian-inspired recipes adapted for the Western kitchen. From Bambai Bhajya (Bombay Vegetable Fritters), Besan Walla Chana (Black Chick-Peas with Gram Flower Sauce), and Murgh Masala (Spicy Chicken Curry), to Bhuna Gosht (Pan-Roasted Lamb), Machli Dam Masala (Cod in Tomato and Basil Sauce), and Nimbu ka Achar (Sour Lemon Pickle), Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals offers a mouth-watering, appetite satisfying spectrum of dishes to enhance any meal. Highly recommended for enthusiasts of ethnic and regional cuisines, Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals treats the reader to Merchant's engaging personal anecdotes and reflections on Indian customs.

Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals: The New Indian Cuisine For Fearless Cooks And Adventurous Eaters truly lives up to its provocative title! From A Better Gin and Tonic, Taza Kumbhi ka Shorba (Fresh Mushroom Soup), and Nimbu Masoor Dal (Lemon Lentils), to Tamatar Gosht (Tomato Lamb Curry), Sarson-walla Jhingha (Mustard Shrimp), and Naaspati ka Murabba (Stewed Spiced Pears), this compendium of delicious, memorable, dishes are adapted for Western cooks and will prove irresistible for gourmet dining and liven up any family meal.

I am a novice at Indian cooking, and I did not have any trouble with these recipes. Every one I've tried is delicious. Some tend to be higher in fat than I like, and I prefer cookbooks with a nutritional analysis for each recipe, but overall this was a great addition to my collection.