An Invitation to Indian Cooking

by Madhur Jaffrey

Written especially for Americans, this book demonstrates how varied, exciting, and inexpensive Indian cooking can be, and how easily you can produce authentic dishes at home. Over 200 recipes.

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

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Madhur Jaffrey CBE is an Indian-born actress, food and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the western hemisphere with her debut cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, which was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006.

Reviews

[Hana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been on a grand tour of India and the complex history of of Indian cooking thanks to Raja Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyan, available on Netflix in the U.S. Spectacular cinematography and the kind of understanding that only comes when people sit down to share a meal together. I just left Kerala and I'm headed to Gujarat. I've been inspired to re-explore my old favorite, Madhur Jaffrey's classic and I'm upping my rating to five stars . While I have yet to find the perfect book of regional Indian cooking Jaffrey provides a great introduction and the recipes are close to foolproof.

Original Review

This is another cookbook that I've owned for years (since I was a teenager). I was bold and brave in those days and I tackled the complex spice mixes with great enthusiasm--and generally a lot of success. Madhur Jaffrey is a great teacher; if you think you can't possibly master this style of cooking, do not fear, she makes it easy. And you would be surprised at how even fussy eaters take to this--her recipe for cauliflower with onion and tomato (flavored with ginger, coriander, cumin and garam masala) has become my family's favorite way to eat cauliflower.

Since I've gotten comfortable with the style, I make dishes from this cookbook almost every week. For the kosher chef, this is an ideal cooking style to master since it features plenty of vegetarian recipes. Her vegetarian recipes mix well with my favorite Mediterranean dishes and you can vary the hotness depending on your family's taste. Things are simpler these days since McCormick sells a very wide range of essential Indian (and Middle Eastern) spices, so give it a try!

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cult Flav

Sarah
7.8

If you're someone who likes to explore classic cooking techniques and make spicy, warming foods available to guests when you entertain, then this cookbook is for you.

I found my way into this book because I wanted to make paneer from scratch one night. No reason — I just thought it would be fun to try. Anyway, I started rifling through a few cookbooks to see what the overall strategy was to making this dense and glorious cheese (spoiler: it's lemon juice).

While reading Madhur's paneer recipe, I quickly found myself down a rabbit hole and an hour later I was working out how to make her parathas, potatoes, and lamb. All I wanted to do in that moment was read more of her recipes; the paneer would have to wait.

So, after a week (and 18 dishes) of working exclusively with An Invitation to Indian Cooking, I learned that a pickled onion and some yogurt go a long way to fix any kitchen mishap and that the combination of fried rice and black-eyed peas is divine.

value 10
writing 8
flavor 8
accessibility 7

[Austin Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece. Every recipe in here kills. Our guests and friends have praised every one I’ve tried on them- and they’re not even just trying to be polite!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve only tried a couple of recipes from this book. But I wanted to add it here because it is a really fun read! People who enjoy cooking read cookbooks for fun, and I thought that very strange until I started reading this book in a disorderly fashion—passages here and there before going to sleep at night. It is sure to be fascinating to those who are very serious about eating or cooking Indian food. It has lots of great anecdotes (one recounts a relative’s attempt to pickle rosepetals!) and a personable way of explaining ingredients’ properties and how they work together.


I only gave it four stars because—the snobby cook of Pakistani origin that I am—I don’t think many of the things warrant as much garam masala as she indicates. At least that’s what my mom preaches to me, and as talented and a good writer as Madhurji is, to me, no one beats my mom :D

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely cook book! Great explanations and recipes.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Britisher who loves his food, I like to think to myself that I know a thing or two about Indian food: ghee is clarified butter; Hindus don't eat beef. Well, there's just two received wisdoms that Madhur Jaffrey's disabused me of in this book. Hindus do eat beef - when it's from water buffalo. Ghee, meanwhile, is more of a collective noun for cooking fats, with most ghee used in India actually being vegetable oil.

This came eighteenth in The Observer's Best 50 Cookbooks of all Time and, having finally read it, it's obvious why. I've read some of Jaffrey's other books and I was already aware that she was both a good writer and capable of conveying recipes very clearly. Both of those talents are on display here in a book whose age is only shown in the lack of photographs.

The book begins with a twenty page introduction which outlines the author's reasons for writing the book as well as the regional variety of Indian cuisine. This is smattered with personal anecdotes and imagined scenarios (these latter written as pieces of drama) which add to detailed information to create an engaging piece of writing. Jaffrey is someone who plainly not only loves food and sharing but also writing and she allows herself to continue this theme throughout the book. After six pages of 'suggested menus' and extensive notes on herbs, spices and utensils, she returns to the meat of the book - twelve lengthy chapters of recipes grouped as is customary in western cookbooks but each introduced with further essays.

He picks one up delicately with the tips of his right thumb and forefinger, opens his mouth wide, arches his body forward so it will not catch the staining spill, if any, and then stuffs the large paan into his mouth. He goes out into the moonlight licking his lips and chewing contentedly.

Although the title may suggest a typical pan-Indian approach, the author makes clear in her introduction that the recipes here are primarily from Delhi and the nearby Kashmir region. They represent, in the main, the food her family ate when she was growing up. One other Indian cookbook was on the Oberver's list, which I believe was primarily judged on influence, but whereas Indian Vegetarian Cookery creaks a little now this, more than forty years on from first publication, continues to inspire.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful cookbook. It was written in the 70s, and it's amazing to see what ingredients weren't available then. The author describes ginger and cumin in great detail, and cilantro is called Chinese parsley. I love it.
The author went to school abroad and missed her native food while she was there, so she had her mother send her recipes. She includes a lot of little stories with the recipes, too, and assures you it's fine to do things like use beef instead of lamb in the recipes, or to leave the hot pepper out.
All the recipes we've tried so far have been delicious, and we're excited to eat more!

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended to American cooks eager to learn the complexities of classic Delhi cooking. I love the size and format of the book (an easy-to-hold paperback) because this isn't just a bunch of recipes, it's a readable, interesting introduction to Delhi food-culture by a skilled writer.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BEST Indian cookbook. Everything tastes very authentic and is relatively easy to prepare.

[Danielle Mccoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

I've recently tried and liked Indian food and the culture seems amazing. I thought this book would give me some insight into both but unfortunately there's no pictures. So I don't know what anything is supposed to look like or even be. There are lots of introductions but that didn't really help me with the how to cook these amazing foods there was little to no descriptions of what each recipe was for. I feel bad but can't give this more stars. I think it's made for someone with more of an Indian background.

[Mary Rude · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very heart-felt cookbook in which the author shares some traditional recipes as well as many of her own personal recipes. It's not quite the comprehensive overview of Indian cuisine that I was hoping for -- don't expect the recipe list to look like a menu at an Indian restaurant. But it gave me new insight into different types of foods that an Indian family really eats, and I enjoyed her personal stories.

[Erianne]

An invitation it was! I liked that Jeffery started each chapter with an introduction/education for the reader. The introduction for the book noted how she may have had long directions, but she wanted the reader to truly understand what she was saying and making it clear for her directions. If I were to make one suggestion it would be to have any new edition to include photos. I’d love to see the vibrant colors of the dishes throughout.

[Susan Ciliberti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was informative and could be a reference if you are being taught Indian cooking. I really wished there had been pictures because I was totally at a loss as to what many of the dishes were supposed to look like. Since I have no one to guide me to learn the Indian cuisine, I plan to continue this adventure down the road.

[Eleanor Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the ingredients are outdated as items have become more or less accessible (i.e.: I know chickpea flour by the name gram but I’m still not entirely sure what size a “new potato” is) but I think that’s part of the charm of reading an older cookbook. I borrowed this book from the library but I will buy it to add to my collection.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every page is utterly fascinating.

[James Shrimpton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously a provisional rating. Although I've read it all, I've only tried one recipe. But it certainly looks very good.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading her stories and the little introductions to recipes interspersed throughout the book. Delightful.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The intro was fantastic. I think the book should be reprinted with pictures!

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well rounded collection of great recipes from the priestess of Indian cooking. No fusion food here, just solid daily family recipes that are completely accessible.

[Barb Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fascinating person and scrumptious sounding recipes

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it came out it was awesome, it's still pretty good, but most recipes are meat heavy. There are now far more books on this topic.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the intro and skimmed thru the rest of the book and recipes. Have one recipe marked to try, so far.

I appreciate what she has to say about the kind of Indian food one gets in a Indian restaurant and I hope her recipes are as good as they look upon first viewing. I say this because I have tried a bunch of different Indian recipes and been disappointed with all of them, I consider them all to be too mild in flavor and too Americanized in taste. Hopefully this book will change that.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was able to buy this book second hand from Amazon for less than a Euro. And what a find it is! This is, if not the first, one of the first Madhur Jaffrey cookbooks, born of the air letters her mother sent to her when she was a starving college student hungry for the flavours of home. I would have preferred a hardback (I actually use my cookbooks...a lot), but hey, it's 40 years old!

It's definitely my kind of cookbook. No photo spreads to bump up the price. No cheffy "look at me" techniques that a normal person with a small apartment kitchen and limited gadgetry can't replicate. No day-long faff--just good, solid soul-food. Water pickles, a large and varied vegetarian section, everything from soup to dessert. Written in the days when the more esoteric ingredients weren't necessarily available in many parts of the UK and US (no online shopping in the seventies!), Jaffrey offers substitutes or ways to get the right taste without tears. The recipes are clearly written and explained, down to how a dish should look at different stages in the preparation. Even if you've never tried to cook Indian food before, fear not.

Aside from the recipes and techniques, it's also a good read. Food and memories are always intertwined, and this book proves it.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madhur Jaffrey's classic 1973 cookbook brought to the American melting pot a new food, doing for Indian cuisine what Julia Child had done for French. The recipes are as inspiring as ever, but I particularly like her stories of India, as well as the pieces that reference the state of tracking down ingredients in 1970s America. I was struck by this in her introduction to rice recipes:

"If you are lucky enough to be near a specialty store carrying Indian rice, buy basmati rice. [...] In the last few years, India, being short of foreign exchange, has been exporting so much of its basmati rice that it is often easier to buy it in New York than it is in New Delhi! But keep the basmati for special occasions."

While I am lucky enough to have both an Indian foods store and a supermarket with huge international foods selections, nowadays basmati is available in pretty much any store, along with other selections that were unknown in the majority of American stores 40 years ago, not to mention (at least in Southern California), numerous Indian restaurants from which to choose. A good reality check for how blessed we are these days.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most engrossing cookbook I've read in recent memory. Jaffrey has a gift for prose as well as completely delicious recipes. I loved reading her stories of growing up in India which are often incorporated in the introduction to a recipe. An added plus is her creation of a mini-drama to imagine the origin of Curry Powder. While this cookbook has no photographs of completed dishes (which seems to be de rigueur), her descriptions are so excellent that photographs are unnecessary. Dotted throughout, Jaffrey has included charming decorative drawings. I just made the Chicken with Tomato Sauce and Butter and it is one of the best Indian dishes I've ever made. I've also made the Lentils and Basmati rice with spices and saffron, which were also very good.

[Brooklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think that Indian cooking is too hard - the multi-talented Madhur Jaffrey will set you straight. It's all about timing - when you saute the onion or add the spices really makes such a difference in the finished product. Just pay close mind to Madhur and you can't go wrong - there is not a single recipe dud in the bunch. I'm thinking about the green beans with green chilies and yogurt right now...

[Jen Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cookbook was originally published in 1973. An ambitious effort for almost 40 years ago. I learned a lot reading this book, especially about how flavors in Indian food are built and layered from the first tablespoons of oil. Although her more recent cookbook "At Home with Madhur Jaffrey" is a little more accessible to the typical home cook, this cookbook is still a great addition to my collection, and I have enjoyed every recipe I have cooked thus far.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend the canned chickpeas with garlic and ginger. It has opened my eyes to the virtues of asafatida powder-- it smells very strongly of rotting onions and garlic but is delicious when used in proper amounts and in the proper dishes.

My wife is also getting good with the samosas and a variety of chutneys.

[Juenbug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Systematically making my way through every recipe in this fantastic collection. I've had so much fun slowly gathering up the Indian spices that I can only find at Patel's Cash & Carry, in Jersey City's Little India. Every dish has been divine. I'm so grateful to my sister J for giving this to me as a gift.

[Louise Davy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. This was my introduction to Madhur Jaffrey. No pictures - well lots of word pictures in the introductions to recipes. She introduced me to the use of a blender in place of an aged relative grinding the spices and herbs.

I have cooked so many of her recipes from this book - a favourite is stuffed okra.