Chetna's 30-minute Indian: Quick and easy everyday meals

by Chetna Makan

80 brilliant, flavor-packed Indian recipes to make in 30 minutes or less

Chetna Makan's bestselling cookbooks combine her creative flavor twists with a love of simple Indian home cooking. Taking inspiration from the eclectic tastes of Indian cuisine, these tempting recipes can all be on the table and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes.

Featuring fabulous salads, traditional fast snacks, imaginative toppings for toasts, delicious dals, comforting veggie, fish and meat curries, all-in-one rice dishes, surprising raitas and dips as well as indulgent desserts, there are speedy options for every occasion.


With useful meal plans included, dishes can be enjoyed on their own or paired together and cooked quickly for an easy feast to enjoy with friends. No complicated methods, just delicious, vibrant and varied food that the whole family can enjoy every single night of the week and in little to no time at all.

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

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 10, 2021

About the author

I love to cook, whether its a simple chutney or a complicated recipe. I have been greatly inspired by my mum’s cooking who has taught me everything I know about flavours.

I trained as a fashion designer in Mumbai and moved to Broadstairs in Kent in 2003. I have always loved cooking but after having my 2 children I found my interest in baking grow. I am a creative yet meticulous baker, and find baking a perfect outlet for my creativity.

Trying out new techniques and challenging myself is what keeps me going. Being on Great British Bake Off 2014 has been an amazing journey and has given me the confidence to try new combinations of flavours. I will always cherish this experience and the time I spent in the tent with my fellow bakers.

Reviews

[Jan Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh the flavours.

I bought this book because I've greatly enjoyed Chetna's Healthy Indian Vegetarian, which has inspired me to cook more non-meat meals. I love her use of flavours, which I well remember from her Great British Bake Off days. With this book, Chetna aims to deliver ease and speed as well as flavour.

I started by making Amritsar-style fish, pieces of fish in a spicy batter. I made it with cod and it was utterly delicious. I'm about to make yoghurt chicken curry, and have several other recipes in sight. I've enjoyed reading the Fish and Seafood, and the Chicken chapters in particular.

Ingredients are for the most part readily obtainable, though a few, e.g. carom seeds, need a specialist supplier - for which I often fall back on Amazon.

The Kindle version is a proper ebook, easily navigable with a linked list of recipes at the start of each chapter. There's a photo to accompany each dish.

Enthusiastically recommended.

[John Fossett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner by Chetna. Filled with quick, nutritious, easy to make meals. If you like Indian food, this is a great resource!
I love the way cookbooks have evloved. They have great photos, lots of backstory about the recipes & ingredients, discussions about the cooking process and often times, information about the culture of the recipe authors. Cookbooks are more like coffee table books now, very interesting, even if you don't cook!

[Shelley Chastagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nine sections of delightful Indian cuisine. There is so much flavor! Beautiful pictures and easy to follow instructions make this an easy choice to explore Indian food. The author provides a UK/US glossary and ingredients are listed in both units of measurement. The Menu Plan section gives you fourteen meals listing recipe pages for easy reference. Brilliant.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is terrific--Chetna's great recipes but fast and easy enough for someone to pull off on a weekend. Many great veg recipes for me, and some good looking chicken ones to share with my son and his wife. Hungry just looking at the pictures. I only wish I knew how to find fresh curry leaves in a Midwestern town.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've made at least a dozen recipes since we got the book for Christmas and they have all been delicious. There are many spices you might not have in your cupboard, but I just skimmed the ingredients lists and took a trip to the Asian supermarket. Now I will always have them in stock because the food is so good!

If you like delicious food, this will not disappoint. 100% recommend!

[Cynthia Paschen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This woman has the most wholesome, delightful cooking videos. She is upbeat, and makes Indian cooking simple and delicious. I wish I had her as a friend. She is warm, and would be a great guest at a potluck or a book group. Library copy.

[Kristin Eoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I eagerly checked this out at the library because I recognized Chetna from The Great British Bake Off. Upon reading the book, I was amazed at the beautiful, colorful photos and end papers and charmed by Chetna's gentle introductions to each dish. The graphics and photos in this book are gorgeous. I tried one dish first, and it turned out so well that I got inspired to take a trip to my local Indian grocery story and bought a bunch of ingredients to try out more of the recipes in this book because so many of them look tempting and easy enough for a beginner to try. I was able to find all of the ingredients in the book at the Indian grocery except for star anise, chapatti flour, adzuki beans, fresh curry leaves, and nigella seeds. Luckily those ingredients can easily be omitted or have something else substituted for them. The dish I tried first (Kale, Carrot, and Bean Salad) took a slew of spices and longer than half an hour to make, but it was easy and tasty. I also made Pickle-Spiced Chickpeas and Spinach Onion Pulao, and they turned out well too. I very much appreciated the British-American ingredient glossary at the end, because many of the British cooking terms are different from American terms. My only suggestion/complaint about this book would be that the photos aren't labeled, and it's not always 100 percent clear which recipe is featured.

[MountainsMama · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book with varied, flavorful recipes. They are truly 30-minute meals, and like most reviewers have noted, most ingredients can be found in the local grocery store.

My only complaint is that the recipes I tried were fairly non-forgiving; tinned tomatoes rather than fresh (for example) didn’t quite work. Similarly, subbing tofu for paneer is absolutely not adequate. But despite that, I still found this to be a solid book that I’d recommend if friends wanted to get more into Indian cooking.

[Amber Latif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just made 3 recipes from the book-as it says on the cover they literally take 30 minutes and are tasty-I like things a bit spicier to add extra chilli 🌶

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book. I need to expand my pantry and spice cabinet.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to a curry filled January. Looks delicious and quick to make.

[Beth E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much! It's become my go-to for deciding what to cook. Everything in it is easy and delicious!

The more recipes that I make from this book, the more I love it.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hope for some big wins with 30 min indian meals.
I like the "meal plans" at the end.
I found only 1 recipe that seemed worth trying, but still i'll have to go buy a new rice i hadn't heard of.

fyi - the measurements are metric

[Kelly Hobs · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not great! Online she’s not very good at explaining to people what to do and then makes you feel stupid for asking and her book comes across the same! She’s a very unapproachable you tube creator, it would be strong to call her a chef or author quite frankly!

[Rachel Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great looking recipes, but I still feel a bit overwhelmed with what is required. I need to go to Indian cooking school.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice combination of simplified favorites (butter chicken, mattar paneer) and new-to-me curries and dishes. I look forward to trying a lot of these recipes.

[Kirk Dobihal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much here - that is, except recipes - I was hoping for some hints within.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original and fresh, Chetna presents a well curated collection of relatively easy to make Indian dishes with a contemporary dash. Worth reading.

[Kent Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this cookbook in a culinary book club.

[Karthika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a beautiful book, there are only about four recipes that I would make because most of them are not accessible with readily available ingredients.

[Angie Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm hungry!