Customer Reviews

The Everything Indian Cookbook: 300 Tantalizing Recipes--From Sizzling Tandoori Chicken to Fiery Lamb Vindaloo (Everything: Cooking)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am Indian and have been cooking Indian food for very many years now. But have fallen into a rut with the things that I cook... the same few foods made the same way !!! I did try a number of different cookbooks to add some variety and flavor to my cooking... but to little success.
Then I came accross this book by Monica and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised - by the simple yet delicious recipes, easy layout and variety. There are so many things that I never dared to cook thinking that it would be really complicated or time consuming. But Monica's recipes are short, concise and very easy to follow.
I would definitely recommend this book to those who want to start cooking Indian food as well to those who want a change and variety in their collection.
Thanks Monica ( that comes from my family !!!)

I love this Everything Indian cookbook. It's a wonderful introduction to Indian cooking - especially for a novice like myself. I like the fact that it starts with basic techniques and basic recipes that you use throughout the book. The other thing I really like is that the recipes are less than a page - some of them sound complicated, but when you really examine them, you notice that the trick is really just to be sure to do the prep work in advance and things should move fairly smoothly. Thus far, I've only tried a few basic dishes - some vegetable dishes and a couple of chicken dishes, but I've been pretty happy with the results. The biggest trick often is tracking down the ingredients - especially the spices. I don't have an Indian grocery store nearby, but I've found quite a few things at my local Whole Foods and World Market. The author has also provided a list of resources to get some of the more difficult to obtain spices. I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about Indian cooking to try this book and try out a few of the recipes. Your tastebuds will be highly rewarded.

Monica Bhide has single-handedly produced a cookbook that will draw multitudes of homecooks to the rich rewards of Indian cuisine. This book could easily have been part of the "...For Dummies" series because Monica's recipes and margin notes make even the more complex preparations seem a breeze. If ever you wanted to try your hand at Indian cooking but never had the courage, this book is your guiding light. Thus far I have found every recipe I've tried to be easy, fun and incredibly delicious and exotic. I love, love, love, this cook book. Monica, you da WO-man! Namaste!

This cookbook is apart of "The Everything" series of books that helps teach its readers everything about cooking, sports, health and more. Monica Bhide's "The Everything Indian Cookbook" is a nice addition!

Monica Bhide is from India. She has been cooking Indian cuisine for more than 20 years, and has taken several formal cooking courses on Indian food. She is a caterer, home chef and is now offering online cooking classes! This is her second cookbook!

This cookbook offers delicious recipes to the Indian food lovers of the world! Each recipe is easy-to-read; gives the English name to the dish, as well as the Indian name; gives an approximate preparation time frame, as well as cooking period.

Each recipe offers ideas for serving, a substitution for a hard-to-find ingredient, or a piece of trivia about the dish. The chapters included in this book are: Basics of Indian Cooking; Basic Recipes; Glossary; Suggested Menus; Additional Resources; as well as chapters for each food item (starters, drinks, salads etc.).

Although there are no photographs in the cookbook, the dishes are so easy to prepare, one does not need a picture of the end-result.

Some of the delicious recipes you will encounter in this book are: Mango Yogurt Pudding, Shrimp Fritters, Dill and Potato, as well as Red Radish Salad.

This is a great cookbook filled with wonderful Indian dishes. Pick up a copy and learn about this wonderful corner of the world!

Disclaimer: Monica is a colleague of mind. Pedantry: If Monica were reviewing your book, she would spell your name right. Particularly if the name were found, y'know, right there on the same page where you type the review.

It's a tough trick for a cookbook to pull off to strike a balance between painfully authentic and complicated recipes (this kind of cookbook is important, of course, but mostly for reading in bed) and dumbed-down recipes that substitute ketchup for tamarind. Monica's book walks that line -- this is a nice collection of scrupulously tested recipes (the lead recipe tester is also a colleague of mine).

I like Madhur Jaffrey's books, too. I don't see why one has to be good and the other bad. To the negative reviewer: when you critique recipes, you need to be specific, or it doesn't help anyone.

Since I was a little girl I have loved Indian food. Growing up in central Maine, that meant waiting until we visited my grandmother outside Washington DC or an annual day trip to Boston. Gradually Mainers have discovered Indian cuisine and there are now two restaurants within a 30 minute drive of where I live. Sure, it only took ten years....
My mother did whatever a loving mother would do and bought an Indian cookbook. She did her best and made a few recipes. Once I was old enough to cook, she passed on the responsibility to me and I plodded my way through keema mutter. But it was so hard and took so long and was expensive in all the spices I had to buy. Years passed and I came to believe that Indian food was limited to restaurants and would never make a regular appearance in my kitchen.
Now, I'm older and last year revisited the idea. When my partner and I moved in together, our spice collection blossomed. It seemed like we might just have everything we needed minus some lamb and ghee. Therefore I made it known at the holiday season that I would love a basic Indian cookbook.
Behold "the Everything Indian Cookbook!"
These recipes are inviting, easy to understand, and include a very helpful glossary. Everything I've attempted in the first five months has been delicious. Not only that, but I'm cooking more in general which in this day and age means less convenience meals and processed junk. This has led to friends, neighbors, and family taking an interest in Indian food and more entertaining at our house. Add some wine and board games and you have the best darn way to spend a winter in Maine!
So, please buy this book if you are interested in Indian cooking. This is a great starting point for learning the various techniques and most importantly, getting to know the wide breadth of spices that make it all so exciting. Don't worry if you live somewhere where there isn't a "local Indian grocer." I was able to order many staples on-line, found some spices in bulk at our local health food store, and a trip to visit my sister in Waltham, MA, gave me TWO Indian grocers where I found those delicious Alphonso mangoes.
Enjoy!

This is my new favorite cookbook, for many reasons. For one thing, I never really knew how to use the Saffron that a friend brought me from India, before I read this yummy recipe for Kesari Chawal -- Saffron Rice. All the rice dishes I've made from this wonderful book are fun to create (and eat) because they're simple, tasty, and not at all intimidating. Tonight I'm planning to try the Malabari Coconut Rice recipe. I'm also a healthy food nut, so I love the fact that these recipes are teaching me creative ways to introduce healing spices into my family's diet, like tumeric, which is a natural inflammatory.

I also love the way this author has included the Indian names of every recipe, little stories about the various ways these exotic spices are used, and enticing tidbits about Indian culture and rituals. These little pieces offer practical instructions and a glimpse into Indian perspective and philosophy. You really get the feeling that she's standing next to you, cheering you on.

One of the most "user friendly" cookbooks I've ever encountered which showcases regional dishes from India, The Everything Indian Cookbook provides 300 authentic and easy-to-follow recipes for dishes that are the equal of anything you could order at your favorite Indian restaurant. From Pork Tikkas; Smoked Eggplant in Yogurt; and Green Beans with Coconut; to Cumin-Scented Rice; Carom-Flavored Flatbread; and Instant Saffron Ice Cream, Indian native, chef and caterer Monica Bhide has organized this outstanding collection so that even the most novice kitchen cook can prepare and deliver absolutely savory meals and menus, whether for intimate dining with a loved one or a celebratory party of dozens of guests.

If I had purchased this book first, I would not have purchased any other book on Indian cooking. The detailed explanations are wonderful as well as the concepts of Indian cuisine and balance are explained very well. I love this book and am using it every week and loving every recipe I have tried. It truly is Everything I
Wanted to Know and Learn About Indian Cooking!

Monica Bhide's book "Everything Indian" is a nice, neat, concise collection of Indian recipes with simple instructions, in a user-friendly format. Everything about the book is easy to use and comforting. 20 years ago when I first got serious about cooking, I really needed a book like this. Although there are no slick , glossy photos of the dishes , nor is there any elegant repartee discussing famous chefs or restaurants, nor recipe favourites of celebrities, there are basic and simple recipes and her sweet writing style which makes you feel as if your best friend is there in the kitchen with you. I have made quite a few of the recipes in this book and so far, none has turned out wrongly. These recipes are simple, not difficult. Perhaps one's mother in law from Hyderabad will complain that not all the pots and pans in the kitchen were used for the mirchi ka salan, but one may feel quite gratified that one did not have such a big mess to clean up!
It seems that Monica has not made an attempt to write an encyclopedia of Indian food, nor even an encyclopedia of the cooking of any region in India. She has instead offered a good selection of recipes from various regions (like the Sarson da Saag and the Makki di Roti , which every Punjabi will happily recognise), keeping the amount of chillies low enough that newcomers to Indian food may find them all very easy on the palate, and others who are accustomed to hotter food can easily up the heat .
This book is completely un-intimidating,cosy, loving and inviting. I would highly recommend it to any newcomer to Indian food, whether she be an ABCD suddenly faced with having to prepare some things of which she has no knowledge, or a non-Indian who wants to try out some new dishes but is a bit hesitant, thinking it will be too difficult.
Monica has included many fascinating tidbits of information as extras, such as tips on how to avoid the usual tumeric stains on your tupperware, or how to get them off of countertops,tips on handling and preparing familiar and not-so-familiar-to-westerners vegetables and fruits,and other interesting unexpected things. She also has included favourites from her own grandmother's kitchen.
I am keeping this book permanently in my library, and after my two daughters learn all the recipes, THEN they can go on to an encyclopedic volume like Yamuna Devi's "Lord Krishna's Cuisine-the Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking". Monica's book is a splendid start!! I give it an A+.