The Spice Box: A Vegetarian Indian Cookbook

The Spice Box can be used as a concise, informative introduction to the many spiced adventures of varied East Indian vegetarian cuisine. The Introduction contains definitions of Curries and Dals as well as descriptions of many of the most popular spices, in addition to mixtures of spices, such as garam masala, and basic procedures, such as roasting cumin seeds, grinding dals or spices, or breaking open a coconut. The Indian name for each ingredient or dish is always given after the English in parentheses, a practice to encourage the uninitiated. Chapters are offered on Appetizers and Snacks, Soups, Vegetables, Dals, Egg Dishes, Rice Dishes, Indian Breads, Yogurt Salads (Raitas), Fresh Chutneys, Pickles, Indian Sweets, and the Finale, which is paan, or a betel nut spiced sweet wrapped in betel leaf. Classic curry recipes abound, including Pumpkin Curry, Tomato Curry, Turnip Koftas Curry, Mashed Zucchini Curry, Chickpea Flour Curry, and Pink Lentil Curry. The chapter on breads also contains many classic Indian bread recipes, including Raised Bread (Naan), Chappatis or Roti, Paranthas, Puri, and Fried Bread, or Bhatura. The Yogurt Salads suggested provide a cooling note to the spicy curries and vegetable main dishes, and the Pickles and Chutneys add further authentic flair to the Indian feast. If the reader prefers, the Introduction contains a list of sources or places to buy Indian foods in the United States organized by region. But it is also incredibly fascinating to see the list of spices that go into a coconut chutney or a sweet mango pickle, for example. The Desserts chapter includes Rose Syrup Milk Balls (Gulab Jamun), Sugar-Coated Cookies (Sakkaarpara), and many wonderful vegetable puddings.In all, The Spice Box packs a lot of stimulus into a slender package. It's appeal rests not only in its authenticity, but also in its accessibility. It is surely a classic.Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

This is by far the best Indian cookery book I have ever come across. It is a pleasure to use - I am delighted by it. The recipes are easy to follow and only require easily found ingredients. Everytime I cook from it my husband says "I feel like we've just eaten at a restaurant" we are so impressed! There is plenty for the vegan too. Our favourites so far are the Whole Eggplant Curry (page 75), Hyderabadi Chili Curry (page 69) and the Pink Lentil Curry (page 112). There are so many wonders awaiting us - we haven't even tried any of the soups or apetizers yet. My only criticism is the lack of photographs - it is nice to see photographs for reassurance if nothing else!If you like delicious, authentic Indian food you'll love these recipes!

Definitely a great cookbook to have. The recipes are quite tasty and very straightforward. The book has the following chapters: appetizers, soups (great ones!!), vegetables, dals, egg dishes, rice dishes, breads, yogurt salads, chutneys, pickles, sweets. I was glad to see the mulligatawny soup since that can be a tricky recipe to find a good one and this one is. There are also some really great eggplant dishes like the whole eggplant curry that has peanuts, tomatoes and coconut in it. yum. Glad I bought this book!

Being a vegetarian, I fell in love with Indian food during my many trips to India and wanted to learn how to replicate some of the dishes, so I purchased a variety of Indian cookbooks. I found them all to be difficult in that they assumed the cook already knew how to cook Indian food, or they required spices I could not find, or methods of cooking I was not familiar with. When I found The Spice Box, I found exactly what I was looking for - a Vegetarian Indian cookbook that was designed with simple instructions for the Westerner, and a description and explanation of the spices and all other ingredients used in the recipes. It also contained every type of recipe from Indian sweets to pickles to main dishes.

This little gem is my favorite indian cookbook. They are the kind of recipes you can make quickly and easily at home. This food has the hearty "peasant food" feel to it. Haute cuisine NOT. If you buy it you'll end up wanting your own indian spice box (I now own two). You're also apt to end up with a taste for some spices you can't easily get in your home town like curry leaves and green mango powder. I stock up whenever I'm in berkeley or Vancouver B.C. Many of the recipes can be made with ingredients you'll find in Muskogee. As for the rest, get the ingredients when you can find them. These recipes are not overly westernized and you'll appreciate it when you sit down with a little eggplant curry and dal or a cool raita.