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Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes
This beautiful follow-up to Anupy Singla's widely praised first cookbook, the Indian Slow Cooker , is a unique guide to preparing favorite recipes from the Indian tradition using entirely vegan ingredients. Featuring more than 50 recipes, and illustrated with color photography throughout, these great recipes are all prepared in healthful versions that use vegan alternatives to rich cream, butter, and meat. The result is a terrific addition to the culinary resources of any cook interested in either vegan or Indian cuisine.
Singla--a mother of two, Indian emigre, and former TV news journalist--has a distinctive style and voice that brings alive her passion for easy, authentic Indian food. Some of these recipes were developed by her mother through the years, but many Singla developed herself, including fusion recipes that pull together diverse traditions from across the Indian subcontinent. She shows the busy, harried family that cooking healthy is simple and that cooking Indian is just a matter of understanding a few key spices.
As Singla sees it, acquiring and using the proper spices is the key to preparing her healthful recipes at home. Singla has recently brought to market her own line of traditional Indian spice trays (also known as a masala dabba ), which is being sold by retail outlets like Williams-Sonoma. Vegan Indian Cooking builds off of Singla's vast expertise in simplifying and perfecting Indian spices and unique, custom spice blends, making delicious Indian cooking accessible to even the most hurried home chef.
Singla--a mother of two, Indian emigre, and former TV news journalist--has a distinctive style and voice that brings alive her passion for easy, authentic Indian food. Some of these recipes were developed by her mother through the years, but many Singla developed herself, including fusion recipes that pull together diverse traditions from across the Indian subcontinent. She shows the busy, harried family that cooking healthy is simple and that cooking Indian is just a matter of understanding a few key spices.
As Singla sees it, acquiring and using the proper spices is the key to preparing her healthful recipes at home. Singla has recently brought to market her own line of traditional Indian spice trays (also known as a masala dabba ), which is being sold by retail outlets like Williams-Sonoma. Vegan Indian Cooking builds off of Singla's vast expertise in simplifying and perfecting Indian spices and unique, custom spice blends, making delicious Indian cooking accessible to even the most hurried home chef.
248 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2012
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417 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 3, 2020
3.5 stars. I got this from the library and was only able to try a few recipes before I had to return it. My husband and I went fully vegan for the month of January and so I was looking for new recipes to try.
This book starts with a short introduction about the author's experience eating vegan and why she wrote this book. Then there's a really interesting section on explaining/demystifying Indian ingredients and pantry staples. I learned a lot! Then the chapters are divided pretty typically (breakfast, beans and lentils, soups and sides, vegetables, chutneys, etc).
I dropped my rating a half star because I would've liked each section to have its own contents page, listing all the recipes that could be found there. There is an index in the back, though.
She promises simple recipes, and some are as simple as "soak almonds in water." That's it for the Soaked Almonds snack. 😊 But others are a bit more interesting.
Highlights: Mushroom curry in cashew cream sauce. That cashew cream was YUMMY and so easy to make! I will definitely make that again.
Punjabi-style Cabbage. This was SO good and I immediately saved that recipe after tasting. She gave instructions for both stovetop and slow cooker prep. I did it on the stovetop and it was so easy. The only time consuming part is prepping the vegetables, and that wasn't hard. It came together so easily and went great with some roti bread.
I like her little stories/explanations at the beginning of each recipe. Those always make a cookbook a good read!
This book starts with a short introduction about the author's experience eating vegan and why she wrote this book. Then there's a really interesting section on explaining/demystifying Indian ingredients and pantry staples. I learned a lot! Then the chapters are divided pretty typically (breakfast, beans and lentils, soups and sides, vegetables, chutneys, etc).
I dropped my rating a half star because I would've liked each section to have its own contents page, listing all the recipes that could be found there. There is an index in the back, though.
She promises simple recipes, and some are as simple as "soak almonds in water." That's it for the Soaked Almonds snack. 😊 But others are a bit more interesting.
Highlights: Mushroom curry in cashew cream sauce. That cashew cream was YUMMY and so easy to make! I will definitely make that again.
Punjabi-style Cabbage. This was SO good and I immediately saved that recipe after tasting. She gave instructions for both stovetop and slow cooker prep. I did it on the stovetop and it was so easy. The only time consuming part is prepping the vegetables, and that wasn't hard. It came together so easily and went great with some roti bread.
I like her little stories/explanations at the beginning of each recipe. Those always make a cookbook a good read!
April 27, 2013
Hands down, favourite Indian cookbook ever! Doesn't even matter that all the recipes are vegan. Everytime I cook from it, my neighbors and friends ask what is and can I share the recipe. The band gobi is fantastic, even better if you replace the cabbage with shredded brussel sprouts.
February 10, 2020
If you are from Indian Sub continent and you are already into cooking, this book would be very basic for you. However, if you are new to cooking or Indian cooking, this would be a great help! I found 2 to 3 recipes very interesting.
September 9, 2012
Lovely book, full of delicious looking recipes and really practical ways to use a slow cooker to make healthy Indian meals. If only I could find the ingredients in my small Midwestern town and could find family members willing to try these with me.
June 6, 2012
I love this book. The focus is on recipes with whole foods, not vegan products or meat substitutes. Great flavors.
December 27, 2012
Beautiful pictures of Indian food. My mouth was watering! Lots of ingredients needed for each recipe...some unusual. may be easier to just go to local Indian restaurant.
September 20, 2013
Recipes are too complicated with spices that would be hard to find. I'm not ready for these types of recipes yet.
March 14, 2019
Great recipes, beautiful pictures. You do need some exotic ingredients though..
my-cookbooks
April 18, 2023Recipe sections (# of recipes)
Getting Started, 40 pages of lots of good information about techniques, spices, and tools
Spice Blends & Other Shortcuts (12)
Breakfast (13)
Soups, Small Plates, Salads, and Sides (27)
Slow-Cooked Legumes to Stovetop (18)
Slow-Cooked Beans and Lentils (2)
Vegetables (20)
Rice Dishes and One-Pot Meals (9)
Meatless Dishes, Inspired Inspired (9)
Chutneys (9)
Drinks (5)
Getting Started, 40 pages of lots of good information about techniques, spices, and tools
Spice Blends & Other Shortcuts (12)
Breakfast (13)
Soups, Small Plates, Salads, and Sides (27)
Slow-Cooked Legumes to Stovetop (18)
Slow-Cooked Beans and Lentils (2)
Vegetables (20)
Rice Dishes and One-Pot Meals (9)
Meatless Dishes, Inspired Inspired (9)
Chutneys (9)
Drinks (5)
February 8, 2024
I found some of the book helpful, such as the Indian spices 102, especially the pictures of the spices. The legumes section with pictures would probably also helpful for new cooks. I did find a few recipes I was interested in making, but for the most part this book is just being returned to the library.
April 26, 2018
Amazing book! Specially teaching us how to combine Indian spices!
July 13, 2018
One of the better vegan recipe books. Practical and informative.
November 23, 2019
love this one! may have to pick it up to add to my shelf. a lot of great and varied recipes in here and some good advice/tidbits of her own trials and errors.
August 20, 2021
Love this cookbook. The combination of a good selection of both southern and northern Indians dishes is amazing. The traditional recipes have been 'remade" in vegan friendly style. Worth reading.
October 4, 2012
I must say, there is a ton of seasonings I don't have. I ran all over yesterday finding the ingredients for dinner tonight. I hope it's yummy!!!
Many of the recipes are really good. I just can't bring myself to use the asafetida. Not only was it the most difficult seasoning to find, it smells just like gear oil. The smell is so foul and so strong, I had to put it in a glass jar because I could smell it all the way in my bedroom the first night I had it in the house.
I'd like to try her slow cooker book and see if those recipes are any easier. Each dish takes a fair amount of time to prepare and after a while, it got annoying.
Many of the recipes are really good. I just can't bring myself to use the asafetida. Not only was it the most difficult seasoning to find, it smells just like gear oil. The smell is so foul and so strong, I had to put it in a glass jar because I could smell it all the way in my bedroom the first night I had it in the house.
I'd like to try her slow cooker book and see if those recipes are any easier. Each dish takes a fair amount of time to prepare and after a while, it got annoying.
December 8, 2015
I checked this out of the library, renewed it a few times, then went and bought a copy. After several years of failing miserably at cooking Indian food at home, this book has helped me make delicious, inexpensive Indian feasts at home. You will need to go to an Indian grocery or order most of the spices online. You can get everything on Amazon but they seem to be more expensive than in a store.
November 4, 2013
Beautiful pictures of delicious food - I made a number of recipes from this book and a couple from Anupy Singla's blog. For some reason, easier than many other Indian recipes, but still authentic flavor.
August 12, 2012
There are not many exclusively vegan Indian cookbooks on the market. This one is splendid and on my list to buy.
September 9, 2012
Delightful, delicious, easy and vegan! Yay!
December 16, 2012
This is a great vegan cookbook. I use it all the time. Once you have your spices, the recipes are a BREEZE and so delicious and healthy!
December 29, 2012
Although you may have to order a lot of the spices online or visit a specialty shop or Indian market, this was a nice overall introduction to basic Indian cooking.
Read
February 24, 2013Have to return this to library before cooking from it much. :( Will have to borrow it again!
April 18, 2013
I got a whole bunch of new yummy things to try! Excellent introduction appears very comprehensive.
November 8, 2013
Haven't made any of the recipes yet, but will! We have her slow cooker Indian book and it is AWESOME. I expect this will be the same. Plan to purchase this one!
August 27, 2013
I am relatively new to Indian Food, and this is an awesome book. Really easy to use and the recipes are fantastic.
June 7, 2014
Explains all the spices used and great recipes.
January 2, 2015
Awesome and accessible book which explains how to cook vegan Indian food. I love the way the author breaks down the ingredients and makes the recipes accessible to everyone.
Read
June 8, 2015I tried three or four of the recipes. They were quite good, except the tempeh tandoori, which was missing something.
August 2, 2015
pretty good recipe selection. could use more pictures. veganricha.com will offer more than this book. the recipes would be simplified by purchasing masalas from an indian grocery
May 13, 2013
I don't know why, but there wasn't a single thing in here I really wanted to cook.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews