From Mom with Love - A Complete Guide to Indian Cooking and Entertaining [Hardcover]

Pushpa Bhargava (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2007

From Mom with Love . . . originally written by a loving mother for her own children, is perhaps the only cookbook that contains: * 139 recipes for everyday meals that she grew up with in India, including fancy ones such as Goan Shrimp Curry and Palak Paneer * Super high protein low fat healthy recipes such as Mung Beans Dal, Sprouted Mung, Mung Beans Cheele, Scrambled Tofu, and Khichdi * Full-color mouthwatering pictures for almost every recipe * A complete list of spices, legumes, beans, and pots and pans you need to start cooking * A pantry list for beginners and another one for more committed and experienced cooks in a format that you can take right to the store with you * Ideas about foods you can cook and freeze ahead of time for when you need to produce a meal in a hurry or are too tired to cook * A complete list of menu combinations for different occasions, both special and everyday * Suggestions on how to deal with cooking crises such as a sauce that has become too thin * Tips for storing and preparing precooked masalas and efficient ways to freeze chutneys * Details on the pots and pans you need and serving suggestions including the suggested accompaniments for the recipe * Safety tips such as how to quickly put out a minor fire on your stove * Guidelines for cleaning and odor removal * Home remedies for minor ailments such as cough and colds, upset stomachs The most special and unique feature of this book is the TLC tips. These are little shortcuts and secrets that will make your cooking easier, yet delicious. It is an invaluable gift to give to anyone who loves to cook or would like to try. Ergonomically designed to open flat when lying on counter. Find more information at MomsIndianCooking.com.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A  treasure for amateurs and for seasoned cooks alike. The recipes are utilitarian, the photography makes it even more delectable and while the food cooks, one feels like re-reading the acknowledgements.  --India Abroad

The end result is a beautifully written book with recipes that a first time beginner can look at and create a multi-course meal, safety tips and home remedies thrown in as a bonus. All nervous questions are already answered.. --KavitaChhibber.com

As the Introduction says, this book "is a substitute for your Mom standing next to you ...lovingly helping you prepare ..Indian meals for every occasion."  It really is!  
--culinarialibris.blogspot.com/2011/03/lets-hear-it-for-ladies.html --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

The magical aroma of Pushpa Bhargava's gourmet and everyday cooking has welcomed innumerable guests to her beautiful home. The delectable taste of her cooking has enchanted even the most discerning of friends. The elegance and grace of her hospitality and the comfort of her food has warmed the hearts of many after a tiring, stressful day at work. Pushpa has offered her years of experience in the art of special and everyday cooking and entertaining to young people starting their own kitchens and to the young at heart wanting to add to their repertoire. She has been rewarded with truly heartwarming feedback from friends, family, and total strangers from around the globe.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Crest Books; 1st edition (March 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976185105
• ISBN-13: 978-0976185109
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Any American cook who longs to plunge deeply into the cuisine of India is bound to grow impatient with the cookbooks offered by major United States publisher....But mainstream cookbook publishers are no longer the only game in town." Anne Mendelson, New York Times - July 18. 2007

Pushpa Bhargava is a mother of two who came to the US in 1972 as a newlywed. Pushpa currently lives outside New York city with her husband Vikram. She has two children who are business executives in the greater New York area.

She has seen a whole generation of Indian Americans including her own two children grow from birth to highly successful professionals. As rich as their American experience has been, she felt they missed out on the warmth of the touch of mothers, aunts and grandmothers that she had the privilege of having grown up with in a traditional home in India.

Her book was initially an attempt to fill that gap that started as hand written recipes for her own children.

To her pleasant surprise, there was a huge base of mainstream US and
International customers who saw the same value in the book. In less than two years the first edition was completely sold out -mostly through street fairs and personal networking. It was replaced by the second edition - that was available through the main stream book outlets and websites. It also sold out in about a year. The third printing has been available since December 2010.

The book exemplifies a wonderful and unique trait of the American life... "If you will build it, he will come." (Movie - "Field of Dreams").

Pushpa dared to "build' a book. And the users came!

Thus, this is a story of a loving home maker mother and her engineer husband who had few resources and little knowledge of writing or publishing. Through sheer grit and determination lasting almost eight years and with the help of friends, family and a camera, they toiled on perfecting the recipes, designing the book, starting a publishing company, going to Book Fairs and finding a willing printer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

314 of 316 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only cookbook that gives my Indian husband a true taste of home!, December 6, 2009

By 

Holly Holly "Holly_Molly" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Mom with love: Complete Guide to Indian Cooking and Entertaining (Hardcover)

I purchased this cookbook about 8 months ago. I wanted to really give it a workout before writing a review. I'm a born and raised American who married a born and raised East Indian. My husband is a doll, but having been one of the fortunate few to have grown up in a wealthy Indian home, he was provided only the best meals and is extremely picky with food. So much so that his mother even warned me about it.

I have quite a few Indian cookbooks, my favorites being this one, "Quick and Easy Indian Cooking" by Mahur Jaffrey and "5 Spices, 50 Dishes" by Ruhta Kahate. Madhur Jaffrey and Rutha Kahate are both fabulous cooks and have some great recipes, but my husbands biggest complaints about both of their cookbooks is that many of the recipes are too mild or are "Americanized" Indian dishes. (The spice issue is easy to work with, I just double the chili powder or add additional green chilies.) So while the meals in both of those cookbooks are really great tasting food, my Gujarati husband was looking for the EXACT SAME taste he would get at home in every recipe of the book. (EEEK!)

I read the great reviews on this book and decided to purchase it even though it didn't have anything about "simple" or "easy" in the title. I really think Mahur Jaffrey and Rutha Kahate both introduced me to Indian style cooking and helped me get past that initial fear of all the spices, taking me from beginner to intermediate. Both are really great books and I highly recommend them for beginners.

Well, this is THE BOOK!! From meal one, this cookbook was a huge hit with my husband! I don't consider myself a naturally good cook, but this book is absolutely fabulous at guiding you every step of the way. Each recipe has a full color photo and they are non-intimidating. Most meals take under an hour and some are 30 minutes or so, including cooking time. Even the more complicated looking dishes aren't that bad. I did as suggested and pre-cooked and froze masala for use in later recipes and it's worked out great. My husband's favorite is the Tandoori chicken, which looks scary, but it's really not! Once you have all of the spices required it's a little time consuming but a snap.

The taste of the food is not really going to be much like you'd find in Indian Restaurants here in the US, it's actually better, more flavorful. Much more of a home cooked Indian meal you can only find either at the home of an NRI or in India itself. I have been fortunate enough to go to India and these meals are exactly like what I was served at the gracious homes of my husband's friends and family.

My husband often tells me the meals I make from this book are sometimes even better than what he eats at home. He credits this to the fact that (he thinks) I follow every single step to the letter, while his mother sometimes skips spices. (Critical, critical! She's a fabulous cook!!) But either way it is possible to (shhhh!) take a few shortcuts with this book. I don't always grind my coriander fresh (something I learned from Madhur Jaffrey) and will use coriander powder instead. I also get lazy and use garlic or ginger paste instead of messing with the real thing. The taste is still fabulous, and several of the recipes call for garlic or ginger paste anyway.

In order to cook most of the great Indian meals from this book, you really only need a few essential tools, some of which you probably already have. A food processor, a blender and a spice grinder. A pressure cooker helps but I don't remember if any of these recipes require one. There are usually alternate directions if you don't have one anyway.

If you are new to the idea of Indian cooking but really want to produce that authentic, home cooked Indian taste, GET THIS BOOK! It's NOT scary. Trust me, I'm not a natural in the kitchen. I'm easily intimidated and was delighted to find I could cook any recipe in this book to perfection. If you're absolutely new at this, just be prepared to blow at least $30.00 on some base spices right off the bat and be SURE to get a spice grinder.

The Indian ingredients I always keep in stock in my kitchen are as follows:

Amchur (Mango) Powder
Afoetida
Bay Leaves
Black Pepper (Whole)
Black Cardamon Pods
Black Mustard Seeds
Cinnamon Sticks
Cloves
Coriander Seeds
Coriander Powder
Cumin Seeds
Chili Powder
Fenugreek Seeds
Fennel Seeds
Garam Masala
Garlic Paste
Ginger Paste
Green Cardamon Pods
Green Chili's (Serrano Peppers)
Lemon Juice
Mustard Oil
Onions
Saffron
Tumeric
Urad Dahl
Vegetable Oil

I realize that is an extensive list and no one should just go out and buy all of those spices without several recipes to use them in. Also, keep in mind it was built up over time and I also cook Indian food at least 5 times a week. If I had to pick the five spices I use the most, it would be Coriander Powder, Tumeric, Chili Powder, Cumin and Garam Masala. These are very basic for most Indian dishes. I'd say the best way to do it is build as you go. Pick 4 or 5 recipes you'd like to cook, make a list and go from there. Your spice cabinet will build up over time.

Anyway, this is a fabulous cookbook for non-intimidating and fairly easy to prepare authentic Indian dishes. Don't let the spices scare you, it's not bad at all! Hope this helps!

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not daunting and easy to follow recipes, May 29, 2008

By 

Anjali Kapal (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Mom with Love - A Complete Guide to Indian Cooking and Entertaining (Hardcover)

I have over 10 cookbooks in my pantry that claim to be the 'best' Indian cookbooks around. So, skeptical of adding yet another book to an already overcrowded shelf of unused cookbooks, I made the purchase...mainly becuase the pictures and recipes just looked so delicious...and my strong desire to have good home-made Indian food. When I tried out a recipe...I noticed that the directions were easy to follow and were accurate (in my experience, Indian cookbooks are not accurate about all the ingredients necessary or the amounts or even the preparation times)! To my surprise, my dishes turned out just as the book described (unlike the results I got from some of those other cookbooks in my pantry). This book has given me confidence that I can actually cook Indian food...successfully. I especially like the recommendation at the beginning of the book that tells you the essential spices to have in your pantry. I hope Pushpa Bhargava will consider writing a Vol. 2!

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious and Mouthwatering Recipes!, January 25, 2008

By 

Ms. Balvinder Powar (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Mom with Love - A Complete Guide to Indian Cooking and Entertaining (Hardcover)

The `Complete Guide to Indian Cooking & Entertaining `From Mom with Love' by Pushpa Bhargava has everything I ever wanted to know how to make. It contains all those mouthwatering dishes you order at the restaurants and many more which I was not familiar with but sound so delicious. Being brought up with Punjabi food, I learned how to make the basics of North Indian cooking, now with this cookbook I have been able to make the dishes from the rest of India which I love too.

I had never successfully made a dish with cream, yogurt or spinach before. I recently had a dinner party and I took the plunge and made several dishes without attempting them in advance. I took a big risk by doing that but I really didn't need to worry. Everything turned out great and everybody loved what I had made and was even complimented by two of my guests saying my food tasted better than the restaurants. The combination of spices is perfect and the food tastes even better the following day!!

At the beginning of the book there is a glossary of indian ingredients. Some I had previously only known in Hindi and others I only knew in English. This list helps put it altogether and is particularly important when you go to buy the ingredients.

All the dishes have very simple steps to follow. There is also a website ([...]) which shows you some video clips which makes the instructions clearer still.

I like the fact there is a photograph of nearly all the dishes. They act as a useful guideline just to make sure your dish turns out the same.

Each recipe has a `serving suggestion' so you know which foods and condiments work together and a useful list of `preferred kitchenware'. You have to make sure you have the correct tools before you attempt any dish e.g. you can't really make good idlies without an idli maker.

I love this cookbook so much that I bought it as a gift for my sister-in-law who does not have an Indian background and has never attempted Indian cooking either but truly loves it. As I completely understand, she has not been able to put the book down and has read it cover to cover many times in anticipation of what she will make next. I have had the book much longer and she has now made more of the dishes from the book than I have and has been very very pleased with the results. It just goes to show you that anyone can cook Indian Food when you have a clear instructions in front of you.

So if you enjoy Indian food and cooking too I seriously recommend the `Complete Guide to Indian Cooking & Entertaining `From Mom with Love' by Pushpa Bhargava. You won't be disappointed!


Enjoying Cooking.

Balvinder (New York, USA, previously Coventry, UK)