Modern Indian Cooking

As a world traveler, international culinary afficionada, and avid cookbook collector with some 2000 volumes in my collection, many of them devoted to Indian cooking, I heartily recommend Modern Indian Cooking by Hari Nayak and Vikas Khanna. In addition to the book being beautifully designed and accompanied by mouthwatering photos, it introduces a wide selection of modern healthy recipes guaranteed to please the palate of even those who regard traditional Indian fare as too heavy on the use of exotic spices. All of the recipes are good, but be sure to try the Oven-Roasted Spicy Eggplant and the Cumin Coriander Beef Patties, although I modify the latter by adding soft bread crumbs to the mixture to make them extra moist and tender, although this can be done to any recipe for burgers, including the traditional American variety. In short, the volume is a fresh take on an ancient cuisine that is sure to win new converts to Indian cooking.

Having tried many exquisite creations of Vikas Khanna's at Purnima in manhattan, I was already a fan of his and didnt hesitate for a second before ordering this cookbook. I can only say, I am already waiting for his next cookbook! This one has recipes full of spunk and sass, no doubt that these chefs are on top of their game. I have already gotten many compliments on the few that i have tried myself. It makes me want to quit my career to become a chef... amazing Indian food recipes with a twist! Two thumbs up!!

Personally, I wasn't holding out much hope for this book since I am not a fan of Indian cuisine. But Hari Nayak and Vikas Khanna make the mysteriousness of these recipes very mainstream by infusing common ingredients to formulate some really tasty dishes. In fact, many of these are quite suitable for people who are livin' la vida low-carb with very few substitutions required. For something a little different while still mouthwatering, the recipes in this book will do the trick.

This is by far the best and most innovative Indian recipe book ever. Its also very foolproof - all the recipes work out awesome. I love how they've combined Indian ingredients with mainstream American herbs and foods. Very well done. The book is a delight to look at as well - very clean, beautiful and lovely looking pages. If this recipe book were a hotel, it would get a 7-star deluxe rating.

Both as a professional chef, and as a avid home cook, I must admit, when I first flipped through the pages of this new book, I was a bit skeptical: I'm not a huge fan of classical Indian cuisine; never had much luck recreating many classical dishes due to the inavailability of, or excessively high priced ingredients (ever try to find Cardamom seeds or Kaffir Lime leaves in your local grocery store without having to spend an arm to get them, or having to track down an Asian Market?!); and most of all, much of the classical Indian dishes I've eaten in my career have often been over-poweringly spiced, or just not to my tastes. However, having said all that, this book and it's recipes have begun to change my mind. As a previous review had stated, yes, this book does not contain puritanic classical Indian recipes. But that's not what this book is about! As the title states, it's focus is on *MODERN* Indian cooking. Yes, this does mean that there is a lot of fusion cooking in this book. It also means that the recipes themselves are simpler, easier to produce, utilizing less exoctic ingridients, less prep time and less cooking time! Some would say that this could be a terrible thing, as it takes away from the millenia of refinement that Indian Cuisine has gone through. but in my earnest opinion, it's for the betterment of the cuisine, as it makes it far more accessible to the average *MODERN* American home cook! The recipes run the gamut here, from simple and quick to the flavorfully complex and not so quick. Each recipe is accompanied with BEAUTIFUL photographs; clear and implicit instructions; recipes that do not require you to run to an Asian Grocery store to find some obscure ingreident; and best of all, they're EASY to make! It took me 20 minutes of prep time, an hour to marinate the shrimp, and 10 minutes at the most to cook the Crispy Pan Fried Shrimp and Tamarind Glaze. And best of all, my fiance adored them! Hari and Vikas, I tip my toque to the two of you! Congratulations on your first book, and best of luck!