Customer Reviews

Indian Food Made Easy

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

 

 

I live in Mumbai now and have been watching Anjum's program on Discovery Travel and Living. Watching her make the recipes looked so easy, and since I am already in India, I figured finding the ingredients would be no sweat (it wasn't).

Anjum also lightens up the recipes (i.e. Potato and Pea Samosas made in Filo pastry dough and then baked) and the desserts at the end look divine--especially the kilfi (Indian style ice-cream). Anjum Anand is in London, so all the ingredients can be found in the west if you only take the time to look for them.

So far, I've made the Himalayan Lamb and Yoghurt Curry (page 50)and today made the North Indian Lamb Curry (page 54). Both times I used mutton on the bone as lamb is hard to come by in India!

Both were outstanding curries, but the North Indian recipe (from Punjab) turned out so well, I was compelled to write a review of the book. The paneer recipe is so simple that once I get myself a cheese cloth, I'll be making my own cheese from now on. Milk + lemon juice or yoghurt? How easy is that?

This is an outstanding book and the recipes are laid out in a simple, novice friendly way. There are gorgeous pictures of almost every recipe and there are a few glossaries to help those unfamiliar with Indian spices or terminology. I highly suggest making your garlic/ginger paste from scratch and not try to find any store bought. It makes all the difference!

This book delivers exactly what it promises--easy Indian food. I have other books, and I never use them because the recipes are daunting and have unpredictable results. I will be using Anand's book regularly.

The paneer is a snap to make. I've never made cheese before, and it came out perfectly the first time. Admittedly, by itself it is too bland for my taste (although my husband loves it just the way it is). But when it's mixed into the spinach dish, it is wonderful. It holds its shape nicely and soaks up the flavor of the dish.

The spinach dish is likewise astonishingly easy to make and is far more flavorful and fresh-tasting than the saag paneer served at any of the many local Indian restaurants.

Another thing that I like about this book is Anand's forthrightness. When she's taking a shortcut that could be viewed as sacrificing authenticity, she is upfront about it. She also explains that she recognizes it is better for people to take a few shortcuts if it means they will actually end up using the recipes. While I'm willing to spend hours baking, I'm rarely willing to spend the same time on making dinner, because the results just aren't worth it. With Anand's book, the results are worth it, and you don't have to spend hours to have a great meal. I'm recommending this book to all of my friends.

I bought this book on sale, and it's my first Indian cook book ever, so I was excited at the beautiful pictures and easy instructions. I made a list of Indian Spices and went to my local Indian grocery store to stock up. Here are the results of the four dishes I've tried so far:

*Home made paneer [cheese] - first try was a disaster - tasteless, bland, overly dry, unappealing crumbly white block - but I looked up methods online and the second attempt was much, much better after tweaking the recipe by adding a pinch of salt and sugar to the paneer, and kneading it before you let it sit with a weight on top to draw out excess moisture. It was a bit soft, though, but much more flavorful.
*Spinach and paneer - Deee-licous. The only small drawback was my paneer was too soft, maybe?, because it melted into the spinach instead of keeping it's shape, but otherwise, the flavor and texture were awesome.
*Spinach and Tomatoes - Another winner. The spinach is wilted, but retains it fresh flavor. The tomato puree and spices give it so much more flavor. Very tasty. And so easy to make!
*Chicken curry dish - I know, this doesn't help identify which chicken curry, but it was a lot of work, and the end product was -- just okay. It was good, mind you, but not good enough to be memorable, or for me to even try it again.

The book itself is in a clear, concise format. The recipes are easy, even if in some cases there are a lot of ingredients, and the author gives advice and tidbits of information to help you along in making the dishes. Beautiful pictures abound. Good explanation of all the spices used in the book. Overall, I am pleased with the book, even if my first attempts were not what I expected they would be.

I won't give up on the book, though; I'll keep trying more recipes, so my initial rating will probably change - I am hopeful and optimistic future attempts will be successful so I'll be able to revise my rating by adding more stars but for now, all I can give is 3 stars because 2 of the 4 dishes were a bit of a disappointment.

I picked this book up at B&N for cheap and boy am I glad I did. It has great pictures, easy recipes and the author is great. She writes as if you were a friend who asked for a recipe so there are hints and suggestions for changes and variations. If you like Indian food I suggest this one.

Like it says on the cover, this makes Indian food easy. It's easy to follow simple recipes produce tasty dishes.
I was so impressed I bought another copy for my daughter-in-law.