Customer Reviews

Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first flipped through this book when I was a teenager almost 18 years ago. I have to admit I was a little put off my the ingredients and techniques that were all so new to me. Years later I gave it another look through. Being a vegetarian at the time, I was missing Chinese food and wanted to try making some of my own. I bought this book and that was it for me. Every weekend I found myself exploring Chinatown, Little India, Japanese, Korean and Thai grocery stores. Afterwards I'd run home and whip up some outstanding meals.

Since then, I've collected most of Madhur Jaffrey's books and my kitchen has truly transformed. I fell in love with Asian food, so much so that I packed up my cases and headed over here to Asia.

This is truly an inspirational and indispensable book. Her Chinese dishes are among the best and her Indian ones are far better than any dishes I've ever had at any Indian restaurant. The tomato chutney is out of this world!

This book is a great launching pad if you're a vegetarian and want to learn how to cook. It's a great alternative to the gaseous bean-filled or heavy-handed cheese recipes in other Western veggie cookbooks. It's also a fantastic cookbook if you want to venture into Asian cooking. Give it a go!

There hasn't been one recipe from this book that I haven't loved. I found in my public library and started copying the first few recipes onto cards. After my third time of checking this book out, I realized that I would be copying the whole book if I continued. My personal favorites are the Very Spicy Chickpeas, Her recipe for Paranthas, tofu and Broccoli.
All I can say is don't be intimidated by the spice lists. It makes the ingrediants and recipe look twice as long and complicated as it really is.
I also love the artwork! It is beautiful and elegant to me.

I've owned this cookbook for more than a decade and the diversity of curious and interesting recipies never fails to captivate and inspire me. While her later cookbooks have beautiful color photographs, I can browse time after time to increase my understanding of how cuisine can be configured. I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner from this cookbook and regularly enjoyed one of my favorite breakfast meals - Blackeye Pea Pancakes rolled with chutney. Aging the mash overnight with the requisite jalapeno pepper in the mix allowed for a tangy, slightly fermented quality to the batter - just think about the collision with chutney in the middle! I generally don't cook by recipes, so this cookbook has allowed my sense of food to expand and be nurtured by creatively inspired, simple knowledge. Madhur Jaffrey's work will never let you down and this information source has long been a foundation stone of my understanding of how interesting food can be.

When I lived in a household with cooking shared among 7 adults, and over 5 linear feet of cookbooks, over half our meals came from this book. She's accessible and reliable: the worse recipe we tried was merely "good", and most were very good to excellent! Most recipes are easy, although some are only for the ambitious. My only complaint: it's a paperback, so the binding will fall apart from the heavy use you're likely to give this cookbook.

I have been a vegetarian for many years, and I eat mainly Asian style food. My cooking skill are about average. I don't normally cook from a book or follow exact recipes. However, I fell in love with this book at first glance. I had no difficulties with any of the recipes (and I have tried them all). All the recipes are well-written and clear, most are easy to follow even for beginners, and the results will please even non-vegetarians because they taste so good. If you are a beginner, the lists of ingredients and shopping advice will be very helpful, and not complicated or overwhelming. A great user-friendly introduction to a world of delightful vegetarian cooking.

This is the second Madhur Jaffrey cookbook I bought, and both are great, but this one has ten times the number of recipes. It's filled with great information about cooking methods, nice vignettes about the sources of the recipes, suggested pairings for dishes, and the most beautiful artwork of any cookbook I've seen. This is an ideal book for anyone who likes to cook Indian food, Chinese food, Japanese food, Vietnamese food, etc., etc., etc..

I am a fan of Eastern food. And since I am currently living in a more rural environment, it is often difficult to go out to a restaurant to satisfy my cravings for intense flavors and spices. This book helps me overcome my cravings. The ingredients are generally easy to find (even in the country) at the grocery store or health-food store, and the recipes are not too difficult to prepare. There are some elaborate recipes, but the author recommends that they be prepared for a special occasion. Most can be made on an everyday basis, after work.

There is a wonderful variety of ethnic groups in this cookbook, varying from Japanese and Chinese to Persian to Phillipino to Indian....on and on. A great book for people who are both new or experienced to this type of cuisine. And, everything I've made from this cookbook has been delicious so far. Try it!

I taught myself to cook Indian cuisine from this book. Although I now own a number of vegetarian cook books, I find myself returning to "World of the East.." again and again. I found the glossary of exotic ingredients extremely helpful. One of her recipes, apricot chutney, is a mainstay in my holiday gift baskets. The chutney has even been mistaken for "Major Grey's" before. I would recommend this book to anyone with a little cooking experience who wants to broaden their cooking horizons.

My first taste of Indian food was from a vegetarian recipe I made at home in the South 20 years ago -- and I was hooked. When I found Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, I was in heaven.
This cookbook vastly expanded my horizons on Indian food (I had no idea what I was doing until I read her descriptions and instructions).
I also learned how to make sushi and other Japanese dishes from this book. I think her selection of rice dishes is amazing.
When I finally moved to a place where there were Japanese, Indian and other Asian restaurants, I found the flavors similar to the recipes that Madhur Jaffrey had taught me to love.

If you want to make a wide variety of Asian dishes, this is a great cookbook for you.

These recipes are right on the money in terms of tasting like real indian food. The recipes are straightforward, ingredients are typical for indian food and cooking methods are straightfoward. By the way, there are SO many recipes covering so many facets of indian cooking - it's really a great resource.