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India On My Platter - The 20,000 km Food Journey
Backpacking through the country, young chef Saransh Goila sets off on a culinary trail through India, wherein he discovers the various nuances of local cuisine. From rural villages to barren deserts to freezing mountains, he unfolds the flavour of his destination by meeting local villagers or erstwhile royalty, picking up a tip or two to use in his kitchen. Wherever he goes, he makes sure to visit the famous eateries of that place. Through him, the reader can vividly smell the spices and taste the dishes that are described. The recipes given also present ways on using locally found ingredients. From having steaming Murthal ke paranthes to savouring tasty street food in hometown Delhi, from cooking on a boat in Varanasi to cooking dishes using a bamboo hollow in Assam, Goila does it all and presents his adventures in a lucid, flowing narrative peppered with humorous anecdotes.
247 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 25, 2015
Ever wondered what's it like to travel 20,000km across India discovering interesting food experiences at every junction?
Read my review of Saransh Goila's book 'India on my Platter': http://goo.gl/Fq1shQ
Read my review of Saransh Goila's book 'India on my Platter': http://goo.gl/Fq1shQ
June 12, 2016
really simplistic. Many (almost all) recipes not regional Indian but fusion recipes invented by the author.
May 30, 2016
Good effort.. But the book just proved that he's a chef and not a writer..
July 1, 2015
If you want to travel all over India, at the same time taste the different food that this country can offer, by sitting in one place, here, Saransh Goila presents you a special 2-in-1 "India On My Platter". The way Saransh explains the beauty of the country covering almost all the important places is just splendid! Very few get a chance to travel the whole country like this young lad did, but I must say he used the opportunity pretty well - to explore the culture as well the cuisine! I had the opportunity to spend around twelve months of my life in the north in Rajasthan and during that period visit the state of Himachal and adjacent cities. He just brought in front of me the beautiful food that I also had the opportunity to taste. I could relive moments in Kullu, Manali and the Rohtang Pass.
Many of us travel all over the country, or even the world; but, only very few excel in the art of narrating our travel experiences. Saransh, take five stars for your narration alone! The way he could even spend time with road-side drivers and present a "Highway Style Dal" by those drivers in his book tells a lot about his passion for cooking and easy-to-mingle type. He got multiple opportunity to spend time with the whole families in many places including the royal lunch in Kangra, Leh, Srinagar, Amritsar and so on (I love his Amritsar experience!). For many of us, days are spent running and we don't have the basic luxury of having food with our own family; but this guy wherever he goes get a family and friends for himself! Lucky Guy indeed! Not only the traditional places, but also he has explored many religious places like Dharamshala, Mathura, ISKCON!
This book also comes with a bonus for its readers - about fifty different recipes that are traditional as well as his own experiments! Before I lost my bachelorhood, I used to cook myself. Now, though not very frequent, I do cook infrequently. Sure, I am going to try some of the recipes in this book. A small suggestion to Saransh and his publishers: Next time a new edition (or set of prints) is planned, please include a 'Table of Contents' section for the recipes presented. It is easy for those to go to a specific recipe instead of searching the whole book. One more thing I miss is that a state that is rich traditionally as well as in cuisines is not covered. Yes, I am talking about my own native state Tamil Nadu. I don't know how he travelled from Munnar to Puducherry without touching Tamil Nadu. And, in case he touched it, I don't know why he didn’t try Tamil Nadu food. Or, perhaps, he thought that there are so many good food types in Tamil Nadu and so didn’t want to try any specific food (still, people love the authentic saambhaar, of Tamil Nadu, nowhere else you will get such saambhaar)!
This book certainly has added lot of places in my travel list also. Not sure if I can visit all of those, but will certainly keep in mind on what Saransh highlights if I happen to visit these places.
All in all, a perfect blend of culture and cuisine, garnished with a beautiful narration! Sure, everyone will enjoy!
Many of us travel all over the country, or even the world; but, only very few excel in the art of narrating our travel experiences. Saransh, take five stars for your narration alone! The way he could even spend time with road-side drivers and present a "Highway Style Dal" by those drivers in his book tells a lot about his passion for cooking and easy-to-mingle type. He got multiple opportunity to spend time with the whole families in many places including the royal lunch in Kangra, Leh, Srinagar, Amritsar and so on (I love his Amritsar experience!). For many of us, days are spent running and we don't have the basic luxury of having food with our own family; but this guy wherever he goes get a family and friends for himself! Lucky Guy indeed! Not only the traditional places, but also he has explored many religious places like Dharamshala, Mathura, ISKCON!
This book also comes with a bonus for its readers - about fifty different recipes that are traditional as well as his own experiments! Before I lost my bachelorhood, I used to cook myself. Now, though not very frequent, I do cook infrequently. Sure, I am going to try some of the recipes in this book. A small suggestion to Saransh and his publishers: Next time a new edition (or set of prints) is planned, please include a 'Table of Contents' section for the recipes presented. It is easy for those to go to a specific recipe instead of searching the whole book. One more thing I miss is that a state that is rich traditionally as well as in cuisines is not covered. Yes, I am talking about my own native state Tamil Nadu. I don't know how he travelled from Munnar to Puducherry without touching Tamil Nadu. And, in case he touched it, I don't know why he didn’t try Tamil Nadu food. Or, perhaps, he thought that there are so many good food types in Tamil Nadu and so didn’t want to try any specific food (still, people love the authentic saambhaar, of Tamil Nadu, nowhere else you will get such saambhaar)!
This book certainly has added lot of places in my travel list also. Not sure if I can visit all of those, but will certainly keep in mind on what Saransh highlights if I happen to visit these places.
All in all, a perfect blend of culture and cuisine, garnished with a beautiful narration! Sure, everyone will enjoy!
August 14, 2016
It is not often that you see someone living a version of the very exact dream that you had. More often than not, dreams remain dreams. However, for a few lucky people like Saransh Goila, they get to live their dreams and perhaps that of a million others’ too. Travel across India through the many many different states and cultures is something that is on every traveler’s bucket list. To that, devouring every cuisine like there’s no tomorrow is perhaps a luxurious addition. And that is exactly what Saransh did.
Traversing the cuisine of India via his travel spread over a 100 days, Saransh tends to blend travel writing and recipe writing in a very delicious way (excuse the word pun here). Starting from Delhi and moving on to Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and beyond, Saransh packs in a wonderful list of things to eat in each of the places that he visits and at times their recipes too. It is no easy task to be able to document the experiences in each of the cities/towns, but Saransh seems to have been able to capture his experiences with the people, the culture and more importantly, the food in each of the places he visited during these 100 days.
Having been a fan of William Dalrymple’s travelogue-ish writing in books like Age of Kali and City of Djinns, this book ‘India On My Platter’ showed what travel writing could be if a person whose main profession is not writing one. The writing is definitely earnest and simple to read, and reads like individual blog posts for each place that Saransh visited. My favorite book that combines both travel and food is ‘Following Fish’ by Samanth Subramaniam (again someone who comes from a writing background) and this book ‘India On My Platter’ could have done with a little more research on a few of the aspects of the cuisine in a few places or the places itself.
But that said, the chapters are crisp, short and easy to read and relate to. This exactly is where Saransh’s strengths lie in and perhaps this book would be a welcome addition to someone’s set of books when they are traveling exploring different parts of India. The book serves very well as a standalone cook-book too, with the information about the region each of the dishes came from and I am sure there will soon be a day that I will be going back to this book often to be able to pick up recipes of different dishes I would want to explore cooking.
‘India On My Platter’ is worth a bite and it indeed is quite tasty!
July 7, 2015
My first encounter with a travelogue and it couldn't have been better than this. India on my Platter is not just fun but it's lovely too. The book is like an daily journal of Chef Saransh Goila while he was touring India in 100 days for his show Roti, Rasta aur India to be aired on FoodFood channel. Chef Saransh Goila won the FoodFood Maha challenge in the year 2011 and was offered this show aftermath. Only a fool will reject such an awesome opportunity and Chef Saransh Goila is no fool. And thank God for that, otherwise I wouldn't have got a chance to read this amazing book.
Chef Saransh Goila travelled around India in 100 days learning, unlearning and re-learning not just about Food but also about India. He travelled through villages, towns, cities meeting people from different backgrounds and walks, learning new recipes and sharing the same in this book. I liked the way he compiled this whole book by being honest and writing direct Dil se. There are around 50 recipes in this book both veg and non-veg, few of them like Dark Chocolate Kheer, Saffron Fruit Cream, Raw Banana Pakoras with Khakra Canapes, Baghate Baingan, Chandan ke Kebab, etc.. are already on my To Try list.
I have not seen his show and I don't know whether it was a hit or a flop show, but what I know is that this book is definitely a Hit.
Chef Saransh Goila travelled around India in 100 days learning, unlearning and re-learning not just about Food but also about India. He travelled through villages, towns, cities meeting people from different backgrounds and walks, learning new recipes and sharing the same in this book. I liked the way he compiled this whole book by being honest and writing direct Dil se. There are around 50 recipes in this book both veg and non-veg, few of them like Dark Chocolate Kheer, Saffron Fruit Cream, Raw Banana Pakoras with Khakra Canapes, Baghate Baingan, Chandan ke Kebab, etc.. are already on my To Try list.
I have not seen his show and I don't know whether it was a hit or a flop show, but what I know is that this book is definitely a Hit.
September 21, 2015
Saransh was excellent in this simplistic narrative style travelogue. It wasn't 'any travelogue' though. It was a food travelogue, across India (the country whose diversity could be as enriching as travelling across the glob, especially when you love food).
Having traveled and lived myself for years in some of the places that Saransh touched during his 100 days on the road, the book still took me to those hidden alleys and gems across cities in India, that makes me want to start travelling again, and see the country for a different lens.
Food, will always stay the centerpiece. He has given us a heady mix of recipes, ranging from some that he learnt on the road from specialists in the art of cooking what they are know for, to his own spin on traditional dishes, inspiring the people that he crossed paths with, his audience and his readers alike.
The recipes that he has showcased in the book are a heady mix of vegetarian, non - vegetarian and healthy spins on the food that we have grown liking so much.
The first recipe that I pick to try myself would be from Day 46: No Bake Coorgi Coffee Beans Brownies. Haven't, for all the time in my life, got the time to bake, so maybe, this is the answer. And as your Mom always says, "You can follow the recipes all you want, you should always leave room for instincts". Well, duly noted, and will get you taste when I do get to making it.
Having traveled and lived myself for years in some of the places that Saransh touched during his 100 days on the road, the book still took me to those hidden alleys and gems across cities in India, that makes me want to start travelling again, and see the country for a different lens.
Food, will always stay the centerpiece. He has given us a heady mix of recipes, ranging from some that he learnt on the road from specialists in the art of cooking what they are know for, to his own spin on traditional dishes, inspiring the people that he crossed paths with, his audience and his readers alike.
The recipes that he has showcased in the book are a heady mix of vegetarian, non - vegetarian and healthy spins on the food that we have grown liking so much.
The first recipe that I pick to try myself would be from Day 46: No Bake Coorgi Coffee Beans Brownies. Haven't, for all the time in my life, got the time to bake, so maybe, this is the answer. And as your Mom always says, "You can follow the recipes all you want, you should always leave room for instincts". Well, duly noted, and will get you taste when I do get to making it.
December 25, 2015
My first travelogue reading experience with India On My Platter was joyful to say the least. In some 300 odd pages, Saransh has managed to rightly capture the culture and cuisines of India and transport the reader to all the places being written about.
What's interesting to note is the simplicity of the narrative; the author's passion for food is palpable throughout the course of the book. It's adorable to see how the author managed to cook with ease at a dhaba, with the truck drivers, with families - you can feel all the same excitement making it seem like you're there in those places yourself. With a mix of recipes and sometimes the history to how some of them came into being, Saransh is able to create the setting in the reader's mind with immense ease.
The different recipes that have been put together in the book talk about the diversity of cooking culture that we have in different parts of the country. My favorite (of reading) remains the Hyderabadi Gobhi Mussalam Biryani - which my mom has made me promise to try out with her!
This book is for both food and travel enthusiasts out there. Surely will make you look at the same places and re-look at some of your cooking recipes in a new light!
What's interesting to note is the simplicity of the narrative; the author's passion for food is palpable throughout the course of the book. It's adorable to see how the author managed to cook with ease at a dhaba, with the truck drivers, with families - you can feel all the same excitement making it seem like you're there in those places yourself. With a mix of recipes and sometimes the history to how some of them came into being, Saransh is able to create the setting in the reader's mind with immense ease.
The different recipes that have been put together in the book talk about the diversity of cooking culture that we have in different parts of the country. My favorite (of reading) remains the Hyderabadi Gobhi Mussalam Biryani - which my mom has made me promise to try out with her!
This book is for both food and travel enthusiasts out there. Surely will make you look at the same places and re-look at some of your cooking recipes in a new light!
July 16, 2015
The simplicity of the narration, seasoned well with sharing of the emotional highs and lows and the background stories of the places visited make it a joyful read. It is not just a recipe book but an experience on its own. There are about 50 recipes from 25 states that have been written keeping in mind to share the terms in Hindi along with the English names, in an easy to follow format.
The narration is interesting and the travelogue captures the beautiful landscapes & food memories built while sitting on road or local eateries, on highway and many unique places too.
This book will also make for an engrossing read for people who enjoy reading travelogues with an insight into local culture and eateries and a great read for food lovers.
For a detailed review please head here: https://theerailivedin.wordpress.com/...
The narration is interesting and the travelogue captures the beautiful landscapes & food memories built while sitting on road or local eateries, on highway and many unique places too.
This book will also make for an engrossing read for people who enjoy reading travelogues with an insight into local culture and eateries and a great read for food lovers.
For a detailed review please head here: https://theerailivedin.wordpress.com/...
November 9, 2015
Got this during the Amazon's Diwali sale at a good discount. Bought it quite late after the launch I must admit. It is a decently narrated travelogue with recipes appearing in between. I will say I enjoyed reading the book, but nothing blown away or anything of sorts. The chapters were a bit too concise for me, I felt like the author just skimmed over the surface rather than diving it. Also, the recipes segment was a mixed bag. There are some excellent recipes that I am intending to try out soon, but there are a lot places where the recipes are tad bit underwhelming. I wasn't really interested in chocolate kheer and blue berry peda to be honest. I am okay with simple day to day recipes from across India, it's okay if they aren't fancy. But some places it was just a let down. Summing up, it's a decent read and a good job for the first time author. Kudos for the effort, Saransh Goila!
July 30, 2015
The book is just a piece of information and doesn't provide with good reading experience at all. Good for those who want to travel and are looking to discover places in india perfect for foodies
July 13, 2024
Detailed Review here https://www.anuradhagoyal.com/india-o...
April 27, 2019
A travelogue with recipes, this volume shows promise while delivering a very uneven account of the various cities visited in this road trip through India. It is the first book based on the first TV show of a young prize winner. It shows in that the author is very inconsistent in his selection of what information and recipes will be of interest to his audience. However, I will anxiously wait for him to mature as there is obvious and enjoyable talent.
April 29, 2020
Food never fails to attract my attention, and travel trails from all over India?? This book is the experiences of a chef who travelled all over mainland India in an attempt to learn about the varied diversity of food in our own country.. A gastronomic delight indeed..
January 11, 2019
Great...very insightfull
Takes you on a trip to india. And lets you learn the forgotten recipes. A must a foodies and travellers collection....
Takes you on a trip to india. And lets you learn the forgotten recipes. A must a foodies and travellers collection....
February 2, 2022
This is more than a recipe book, it has people, culture, hospitality and pretty much everything that defines India.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews