Customer Reviews

La Porte Des Indes Cookbook

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Imagine a twist on traditional Indian faire, namely one with a resounding French influence. I was so taken by the outstanding cuisine of this London restaurant that describes itself as "Indian Cuisine with a Difference" I pined for their cookbook. My five year wait is over. Is it ever impressive!

I had never dreamed that I could create credible tandoori grilled salmon or prawns on my own outdoor grill at home by following the recipes described in the cookbook. The grilled prawns are such an absolute knock out that unsuspecting dinner guests who instinctively must reach for cocktail sauce find themselves instead reaching for yet another grilled prawn! The green fish curry made with monkfish, with its novel presentation, was another succulent dish expertly nailed.

Tadka Dal (tempered yellow lentils) and Yellow Lentil Soup are other dishes prepared that our guests readily savor. They also made delightful autumn themed additions to our table, what with the blend of yellows, reds and greens.

Mehermosh and Sherin Mody have compiled an exquisite work that is easy to follow and even includes recipes for a number of delectable chutneys and sauces that greatly complement certain foods. Many superb photographs visually accompany dozens of recipes. They sent me scurrying to my local Indian spice shop to round out my spice cabinet. And, I now keep on hand lots of fresh garlic!

Whether one's experience level with Indian cuisine is novice or sophisticated, one will find the cookbook easy to follow and informing. For me, it was well worth the wait. For my friends who cook, well, let's just say they have tasted their way into ordering their own copy of the La Porte des Indes Cookbook!

La Porte des Indes Cookbook is one of my favorite cookbooks and I have scores of Indian cookbooks, as I'm sort of a gourmet chef. I wrote a cooking column for a sailing magazine for a couple years and one of my favorite articles was my "Two Ways to Tandoori" which you can read in one of my "Amazon So You'd Like to Guides," if you want. Tandoori chicken is just delicious. Anyway, while I was making the guide, I listed fifty cookbooks from my collection. I have more. I know, I know, one would think a couple books would be enough, but it's sort of an obsession with me, making food taste great and I just love to see how others have done it.

While I was doing the guide, I pulled out all my Indian Cookbooks, had them all stacked around me. Then I decided to pull out all the ones I didn't think I could live without. It came to an even dozen and La Porte des Indes Cookbook was one of the books. The recipes are just divine. I've never been to India, been a lot of places, but never there. Delhi, Bombay, Ganges, names that just ring with adventure. I imagine I'm there every time I cook up something Indian. I can feel the smells as they wrap their delicious flavors all around the kitchen, or galley, if I'm cooking on board the sailboat my husband Dub and I live on half the year. You won't go wrong with this book. Check it out. Check out my other eleven too. Cook up something from India tonight, taste the adventure.

I've had this cookbook since visiting the London location back in March of 2006. Recipe's are from the "French" part of Inida if you can believe it. Menu is lighter on the sauces and have some very interesting new takes on generic Indian food. Tandoori salmon, carb malabar, scallops are a few of the mix. I break it out quiet often.