Best Ever Indian Cookbook

by Mridula Baljekar, Shehzad Husain, Rafi Fernandez

This book is a ultimate guide to successful Indian cooking, with a superb rang of classic, modern and regional dishes for every occasion. A accessible introduction helps the beginner to learn principles such as mixing curry pastes and preparing perfect basmati rice, and it offers guidance on equipping a kitchen to cope with a variety of Indian cooking methods.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Indian Literature, Reference

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Mikejencostanzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors of Best Ever Indian Cookbook set a pretty high standard for themselves when they chose their title. But they succeed in fulfilling their claim with flying colors in my estimation. This truly is the best ever, Indian cookbook. It has an attractive and modern visual appeal, the recipes are authentic (not dumbed-down for those fearful of strong spices), it's comprehensive (325 recipes), and what I think it the most amazing feature of all is that every recipe is accompanied by a full-page, full-color photo of the finished dish.

You know those cookbooks that have photos of only a handful of recipes? And those are the only recipes that we end up making? Best Ever Indian Cookbook is an equal opportunity recipe presenter. The food stylist/photographer does a fantastic job of making each dish look attractive and luxurious. The food photography here is art.

I think one of the main fears one must conquer before diving headlong into embracing Indian cooking is the sheer number of ingredients needed. And Best Ever Indian Cooking does not attempt to alleviate that fear. The ingredient lists here are lengthy, but necessary for authenticity. Let me make it simpler though. If you want to make the recipes in Best Ever Indian Cooking, here are the main spices you'll want to stock up on:

Turmeric
Cumin Powder
Ground Hot Chilli Powder
Curry Powder
Cardamom Pods
Dried Red Chili Peppers
Ground Coriander
Mustard Seeds
Black Peppercorns
Garam Masala
Cinnamon stick

I recommend just getting these in bulk (3-7 oz bags) at an Indian grocery store. You'll actually end up saving money that way.

I also suggest keeping jars of fresh minced garlic, ginger & tamarind paste in your fridge at all times, as these are used a lot. Fresh cilantro is also called for in just about every other recipe!

If there are other more obscure spices needed (fenugreek, saffron, asafoetida, onion seed), I personally believe you can get away with leaving them out (I know, terrible of me)--but I haven't noticed a huge flavor depletion.

Oh, and my two other tips for making Indian cooking less scary... #1: Keep all your Indian spices in a single box that you can whip out and place right next to you when preparing any Indian recipe. And, #2: Challenge yourself to use only one measuring spoon. I just use my 1/2 teaspoon, and then it's handy it to measure everything (whether it's filled halfway for a spice only needing 1/4 tsp. or whether it's filled 4 times for an ingredient requiring 2 tsp.) No tedious spoon-switching!

So, if you're into Indian cooking, or want to be, Best Ever Indian Cooking is the must-have book for your collection.

--Jen

[Sher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really a 3.5. I'm always a bit wary when the title of any book is _The Best_, but perhaps what the author meant is that she believes these are the best spice mixtures and the best of the many variants of recipes in India. I do come away with the idea, that although a dish may be called lamb curry, for example, it will taste quite differently depending on the household you dine at.

Heavy on meat, poultry, and fish recipes. Heavily illustrated. I found the discussion on spices helpful, because she describes how frying, dry heating spices is and even how important it is to put spices into the heat in order. She has her own curry and other spice mixtures one can try.

I'm trying to learn how to use and work with Indian spices, and this book has been helpful. I'm slowly trying various recipes.

The book does not consider special diets - such as gluten or dairy free. Also, no discussion of Ayurveda and food will be found in this book.

[archie]

easy to follow recipes with simple directions & pictures for each step along the way which i found very helpful, i’ve made a couple dishes so far & the chicken tomato balti was my favorite :-) excited to try more recipes

[Jeffrey Caston · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of two go to cookbooks when I want to make a good curry. Best butter chicken recipe I've run into too.

[Kat Brashears · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this cookbook took me about a year to read I found it very informative about the basics of Indian cooking. There is just so much information! I love Indian food so I want to start making it on my own. I specifically enjoyed the first chapters of the book on the different spices, bases, and equipment explanations. I found that the starting paragraph for each recipe and pictures for each recipe helped me understand the overall concept of the dish better. This is a great cookbook!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

this cookbook is lavishly illustrated with wonderful photographs of finished dishes and the steps to making them. the introduction includes a long introduction to the special tools and ingredients you'll need and instructions for producing a few ingredients if you can't find them at local grocery stores. it may not be the most "authentic" indian cookbook out there, but it's a great introduction for western cooks. all measurements are given in metric and english requirements.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally cracked the spine of this thing after letting it sit on my shelf for five plus years. Superb. Now that I've made a few of these tasty recipes, I can say, as a lifelong half-hearted cook, that the user friendly, color photographs and easy to read instructions make this book actually useful to practically anyone.

My family loved what I came up with from these pages--and they're not exactly big fans of Indian cuisine. Highly recommended.

[Amanda Vogelbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mere size, number of recipes, and beautiful illustrations sometimes make me skeptical of the content. However, I have put some real time into finding the correct ingredients and trying more than several recipes. Each time I am amazed!!! Easy to follow and helpful photos. Great addition to any cookbook library.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is awesome! Has great pictures detailing ingredients and cooking techniques, and has great recipes!

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indian food is one of my favs. Love that it has photos and easy directions to make tasty Indian dinners.

[Chad Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Chicken Tika Masala and Garlic and Cilantro Nan bread recipes were great. Lots of work to prepare, but delicious dishes. Can't wait to try more.

[Emma Forber-roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has some absolutely gorgeous recipes in, it's my go to cookery book

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty comprehensive Indian cookbook. doesn't get into regional dishes but otherwise a very good resource. The intro chapters are helpful. I recommend it.

[Carol D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love the pictures, recipes and background information.

[Deepika Dhavala · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is filled with Indian recipes, in an easy to follow format. It helps that it's filled with delicious looking photos!