This is an awfully difficult book to rate. Another review title might have been "Highly recommended, with strong reservations."
The top priority, of course, is the recipes. I've been using this book for three years, and with great success. It's particularly refreshing to see so many different aspects of Indian cooking, rather than just the North Indian curries that we know from restaurants.
Batra offers helpful guidance on the characteristics of regional cuisines, which are as different from each other as the cuisines of different European countries. The introductory chapters outline the basic philosophy of Indian dining, and provide information on spices and ingredients that may not be familiar to the average reader. There is also information -- probably not applicable for most, but certainly interesting -- on the uses of different spices according to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicinal system. In deference to the eating habits of many Indians (and many Westerners who might buy an Indian cookbook), vegan recipes are marked with a distinctive icon. So are recipes to be made in pressure cookers, which can dramatically decrease the cooking time for larger beans and certain tough vegetables.
The difficulties arise when one seeks out structure. Sadly, this book does not seem to have received as much editorial attention as was necessary. The index is badly disorganized, eschewing the subheader model used in other reference cookbooks in favor of a much more open, harder to navigate style. (There are 18 separate entries beginning with the words "griddle fried.") In the body of the text, some of the recipe titles do not match the recipes themselves. ("Garlicky Dried Green Peas Curry" [p. 389] contains no garlic, and is not made in a pressure cooker despite the presence of the pressure cooker icon.) Some of the cooking instructions do not make sense, and one should have some real kitchen experience in order to know what's what. (Some recipes call for reducing a sauce by half while covered. Where is the water supposed to go?)
A few things should be noted by anyone interested in this book. These are not criticisms or praises, but are important for any potential buyer.
1. This is not a book of traditional Indian cooking. The author has lived in Los Angeles for three decades, and many of the dishes presented (but by no means all) are adaptations of Indian culinary techniques to the produce available to her in California. This means that ingredients not normally used in India, most notably vegetables like zucchini, find their way into the food. The author also takes initiative in reducing the fat content of the recipes from that found in their native forms. (Anyone who objects to the latter can easily increase the amount of oil or ghee, or substitute whole milk yogurt for the nonfat yogurt called for in the recipes.)
2. The book panders to American tastes. Despite being predominantly vegetarian in its scope, only two of the ten proposed menus at the beginning are vegetarian. The chapter on vegetable dishes is called "Vegetables on the Side," even though Mrs. Batra herself points out that Indian food is not served in the manner of European food, with "main" and "side" dishes.
3. Before buying this book, make sure that you live within reasonable distance on an Indian grocer. One can hardly open to a random page without seeing an ingredient or two that cannot be found in ordinary American supermarkets.
