Customer Reviews

Everyday Indian: 100 Fast, Fresh and Healthy Recipes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have only had the opportunity to make a half-dozen of the dishes. But every one of these has been delicious.

Some real favorites in there: My Mother's Chickpeas, Cherry Tomato & Paneer Salad, Tandoori Quesadillas, Bal's No-Butter Chicken.

Several things stand out.
1) Beautiful photography of the dishes.
2) Entertaining narrative for each dish. I felt like I know the author after just reading a couple of recipes. Very, very warm and personal.
3) Focuses on fast - fresh - and healthy... just as the subtitle says. She got me on the grapeseed & flaxseed oil kick when I cook.

One note. You should take the time to prepare her masalas and various spice blends as it will help prepare some of the dishes.

One small criticism. Give me a list of all of the recipes that use a given masala.

Still give it a 5 star. Please note the 3 star of another reviewer was a criticism that the book was not cut correctly. Not really a reflection on the content of this book and hardly the author's fault.

If we are thinking about healthy food with lots of flavor, we gravitate to the cuisines of China and Japan. They use meat, but chopped and sliced and diced so a little goes a long way. They make vegetables interesting. They have integrity --- their recipes don't call for Westernized industrial products. As for preparation, they're generally quick.

But why stop there? Why not go right on to Indian food?

Ignorance, mostly. We believe that Indian recipes call for enough spices to fill a walk-in closet. And we suspect that Indian recipes are complicated, requiring hours of preparation and constant attention.

Gandhi liberated India once. Now it's Bal Arneson's turn. And in "Everyday Indian", she really does present "100 fast, fresh and healthy recipes."

Fast? She was raised in a small village in Punjab, where a woman's day was filled with chores. There were no "modern conveniences" --- all chores were done by hand. Water had to be fetched from the pump. Cooking was done over an open pit, with cow dung patties for fuel. Better believe those women were swift.

Ingredient-heavy recipes? "Garam masala (a mixture of dried spices that can be found in most specialty stores) and turmeric powder were the only two spices I used to cook with on a daily basis."

When she was 20, an arranged marriage brought her to Canada. Now remarried and living in Vancouver, she was not challenged by the demands of raising two children and running a house. She went back to school, then started to teach cooking classes as a way of paying off her student loans.

Her culture has stayed with her, which is a fine thing for people who like interesting food without courting heart disease. Her recipes cut out butter, oil and cream; the depth in her food comes from the spicing. And she's still fast --- most of her dishes take less than 25 minutes.

What a lovely book - I've only had it a short time, but I've already made three of the recipies ("Chicken South Indian style" is particularly yummy), and read the book cover-to-cover . . . then again, I'm a cookbook nut - I read them like most people read romance novels. This is the first cookbook I've owned that is Indian-food themed - a terrific introduction.

I have been fortunate enough to catch a few episodes of Spice Goddess with Bal Arneson. This cookbook is a wonderful companion to her show. The recipes are straight forward and delightful. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone who is thinking about venturing into the world of indian food. Enjoy!

I love this book. I have done many of the recipes and they turned out great.

Easy to use and to create great tasting food. We've watch her TV show and enjoyed it. Many of the recipes seem to be from the show so this is a nice way to have them in one place. Plus nice background information about the recipes.

I am an Italian who married an Indian and my mother-in-law spent most of her life in the kitchen cooking Indian food as she learned growing up. I have learned a lot about Indian spices from her and love making her recipes. I decided to introduce my husband's family to healthier and faster Indian food so I prepared Bal's No-Butter Chicken with brown rice and my brothers-in-law and girlfriends, husband, and father-in-law went on so much about how great it was that I felt embarrassed in front of my mother-in-law. All she said was, "well it definitely doesn't have butter in it." I take this as a success and now this is the number one requested recipe whenever they come to visit! This cookbook has many other favorites and I recommend it to all of my friends and family. Thanks so much Bal for bringing a healthier and faster option for Indian food!

With some new spices added to my cabinet, the recipes in this book have offered a whole new direction for my cooking repertoire. Easy reading.

Everyday Indian is a great book for those who are trying to eat a diet with less meat. She puts lots of flavor into veggie dishes that make them tasty for those who are less inclined to eat more vegetables. The only problem is the the spices she uses. If you don't live in a major city with access to an Middle Eastern market, then you have to order the spices online. This, of course, takes time and you are never sure of the freshness of the spices. I have the feeling that some of the spices have been on the shelf far too long. I enjoy her TV show which got me turned on to trying Indian style cooking. She makes everything sound and look so delicious. If you are the adventurous sort when it comes to food, and you want to eat a more healthful diet, then try her book. I think you will be pleased.

Ever since I married a Pakistani man, I have been wanting to manage the Eastern cuisine. The wondrous spices, some of them almost enigmatic, seemed to me a remarkable feat to master. As I grew to trying the foods of India and the Far East at friends' houses and ethnic restaurants, I had a very difficult time handling the extreme heat these foods are sometimes prepared with. Yet, I needed - and wanted - to master the art of Indian cooking.

Spice Goddess show host Bal Arneson's approach is unique in the way that she suggests an Indian cuisine that is healthy, colorful and extremely flavorful. The recipes in this book will make anyone fall in love with Indian cuisine. I love the cherry tomato and panneer salad (page 60), refreshing just by itself with its hint of mint and slight touch of sweetness given by its lemon and warm honey dressing. It goes perfect with an accompaniment of cauliflower-masala parathas (pages 24 - 25), made at home from scratch in the simplest of ways, with a basic naan bread made out of whole wheat dough. For your protein intake, Bal's no-butter chicken (page 130) rounds up the perfect supper, hopefully with some leftovers for the next day - although this would be unlikely, as the curry sauce for this chicken is heavenly and everyone will clean their plates to the last drop. Prior to trying this recipe, I thought curries were so hard to make. Not anymore.

All these recipes are meant to be simple and full of flavor, and they accomplish these two tasks beautifully. In fact, Bal Arneson's forte are her most simple suggestions, such as the basic lemon dressing (page 73) used to accompany the tuna with greens (page 68). A basic preparation of sugar, coriander, cumin, salt and flaxseed oil, once the lemon juice is added, it turns bright golden yellow, making for a fantastic feast to the eyes and a delicacy for the palate.

There are so many more recipes I want - and will - try from this book, such as the ones that use buffalo meat, including mouthwatering pasta and burgers, as well as her lamb, a meat I personally love.

Besides eating all of these marvelous meals, what I enjoyed most since reading this book are my little exploratory trips into the local ethnic stores, as well as my searches on the net in order to find some of the spices and pastes needed to prepare them, although this poses in no way a difficulty to start cooking the meals in this book. I dare everyone to try their hand at Indian cooking in a healthy way on the hand of Bal Arneson, and thus become their own true Spice Goddess.