Customer Reviews

Ajanta: Regional Feasts of India

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have made five of the recipes so far and each has been a complete success. The only challenge, as another reviewer has mentioned, is compiling the necessary spices. Ajanta restaurant sells a spice box called "Shanti's Spice Box" for about $30 which is available on their web site. I've purchased two - one for myself and one for a friend. The ingredients in the box are in quantities proportional to their use in the cookbook, so pretty much everything you'll need is there. The spice box makes following these recipes really easy. The cooking techniques may seem a bit different, but they are well-explained and straight forward. Just read through your recipe completely and have everything ready before you start and it will be a success! Two favorites: the green bean and potato recipe shown on the cover and the prawns bhuna masala.

I bought this book after stumbling into the Ajanta restaurant in Berkeley. My friend and I were incredibly hungry and were craving Indian food- and Ajanta was the only restaurant left open on the top part of Solano Avenue.

I am soooo glad I accidently stumbled into that restaurant! That night they were having a party for Lachu Moorjani, who had just put out his cook book. I remembered really enjoying the cuisine (especially all of the dipping sauces used for the samosas), so I thought I should get the book and try recipes.

Me and my family have tried numerous Indian recipes from online as well as in other cookbooks, but the results are always substandard....sauces are drippy, no taste, spices aren't just right, etc. And when it is so easy to get good Indian food in Berkeley, I would just give up trying to cook my own Indian food...until I found Ajanta!

And now I live in a smaller Midwestern city with limited Indian restaurants (I think there are maybe one or two here)---I am soo appreciative of the book!

The Ajanta recipes are fabulous! Between my sister and I, we have made about 8 recipes- all of which turned out well, if not extraordinary. None were disappointing! And all were so tasty! I am so excited!! If anyone loves Indian food, this is the book for you.

This is a must-have cookbook for lovers of Indian/Pakistani food. I own over a dozen Indian cookbooks (including several by Madhur Jaffrey; Julie Sahni; Pat Chapman; Udit Sarkhel; Nella Paniz; etc.). This is clearly the best of the bunch by a wide margin.

As other reviewers have noted, author Lachu Moorjani is owner and proprietor of Berkeley's Ajanta restaurant. The recipes in this cookbook demonstrate why his is one of the best Indian restaurants in the country. Moorjani has done an excellent job in scaling down and adjusting restaurant recipes in a way that allows the home chef to achieve restaurant-quality results. Many cookbooks miss the mark on this score, failing to fine-tune recipes for the home environment. If you look recipes in most Indian cookbooks, for instance, you will see that many typically require the home chef to add a cup or more of water to achieve the moisture in a curry or other recipe. Even when one reduces the sauce mercilessly, the result is almost always a thin, watery curry. The recipes in this book usually derive their moisture not from adding water and reducing, but from using tomatoes, onions, and other sources of moisture. The result is a thicker, more flavorful curry or sauce, comparable to what you get when you order the dish in a restaurant.

Not only are the recipes wonderful, they are easy to follow. The book is beautifully designed and illustrated, with recipes divided by region and organized as "feasts" with various dishes designed to compliment one another. So far I've made about eight of the recipes, and I've yet to run into one that wasn't delicious. Highly recommended!

My first experience with Indian food was back in 94 at Ajanta located on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, and I've fallen in love with Indian food ever since. The problem was, however, everywhere I went-- NOTHING compared to the dishes Mr. Moorjani created at his restaurant and I always craved to return to the area just to try what delightful creations he's created for his ever changing menu. SO I was extremely pleased when he published this cookbook, AND even more impressed when a novice like me tried to make 4 of the dishes and it came out just like the flavors at the restaurant. The recipes seem complicated, but if you enjoy cooking and love Indian food, the directions are detailed, easy to follow and worth the time and effort. The dishes are perfect to feed 4-6 people and I think the appetizer dishes ( i.e. portobella mushroom/asparagus) are ideal for an impressive potluck dish. Not only do you get GREAT recipes, but I appreciate the variety of flavors that reflect the different regions of India.

My husband and I have been devoted weekly diners at Ajanta in Berkeley, CA since the restaurant first opened and have awaited publication of this cookbook for many years. Lachu Moorjani exceeded every expectation I had in AJANTA: REGIONAL FEASTS OF INDIA.

One reason I have dined weekly at Ajanta is that I adore Indian food but have never been able to come close to capturing the subtle qualities of the spices in curries or the delicious and unforgettable loveliness of perfectly prepared basmati rice. With this publication, Lachu has given us the keys to many of his most delectable dishes.

Moreover, Lachu has included many yummy recipes we have not seen at the restaurant, dishes my husband came to love during his extensive travels in India. The dish Lachu calls "Sufi Halva" is a perfect example of this. I have heard tales of this dish for 25 years and have never seen it offered anywhere. Recipes I've found have always let us down, but not Lachu's.

I have been told I'm a "good" cook, and I've mastered several cuisines, but despite the fact that I own several other Indian cookbooks, Indian cooking has always eluded me. Fortunately, Lachu's instructions are crystal clear, enabling me to finally "get" the flavors of this wonderful cuisine.

AJANTA: REGIONAL FEASTS OF INDIA is beautifully photographed and meticulously published and will make a great addition to your coffee table as well as your cookbook shelf. But above all, if you want a truly exceptional cooking experience, get this book. You will not regret it.

This is a wonderful cookbook because
-It offers entire meal plans with shopping lists.
-There are pictures so that you know exactly what each menu item will look like.
-The instructions are very clear, especially for people not familiar with various cooking techniques.

We started with the first menu and are working our way through the entire cookbook - all great so far!

I have tried several of the recipes from the book and all met or exceeded my expectations. A word of caution. Unless you have access to a pretty good supply of Indian herbs and spices, you are not going to be able to replicate most of the recipes found here. They are not what you would find at Safeway. Also, the author assumes the reader is not just a casual cook. There is a significant amount of prep work involved which is pretty common for this style of cooking. But that said, most require a good amount of work.

After being a big fan of Lachu's Ajanta restaurant for many years, my wife and daughter bought me the cookbook.

I've tried many of the recipes and they've all come out great. It seems like the author thoroughly tested the recipes, which is consistent with his engineering background. This is especially important with Indian cooking since many of the dishes take 1-2 hours to prepare. I want excellent results.

The recipes uses less butter, oil, cream and salt than most Indian recipes. As a consequence, I never end up with a "lead stomach".

The samosas came out great and we now prefer the ones we make at home to what you get at most Indian restaurants.

Highly recommended.

My husband and I have enjoyed the restaurant for years and we waited patiently for Lachu Moorjani to complete his book. I never thought I could produce such marvelous meals as we had at Ajanta at home, but I was wrong! I have now done three of the feasts and all have been quite a smashing success. These dishes are incredible. The flavors are wonderfully sophisticated and the recipes are quite accessible to the home cook. Now, that being said, I will not say that to cook an entire feast was a snap of the fingers. I used these occasions as get together time with friends. We cooked and chatted for several hours, had a wonderful time and then a great meal. I have also just picked a random recipe here and there and added rice and salad for simpler meals that were served to guests or even a weeknight dinner and have been equally delighted with the results.

I wanted to give a copy to my sister and her husband but wasn't sure they enjoyed cooking Indian food. My sister told me they used to dabble but found the ingredients too hard to find. So along with the book, I sent the spice box that is available from Ajanta, "Shanti's Spice Box", with enough ingredients for a number of the dishes.

I have used other Indian cookbooks in the past, enjoyed them, but no cooking I have ever done compares with what I have been able to serve using the recipes from this cookbook. Ajanta is simply amazing.

I'm so excited that this book is being published.
Ajanta has been my favorite restaurant for over ten years and serves truly delicious food.
We've made three of recipes that appear in this book: the instructions were easy to follow and the food was yummy.
I looked through a review copy of the book in the restaurant last night and can't wait to have my own copy.