Customer Reviews

Salads of India

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

 

 

Oh, how I love this cookbook! For this author, a salad is far more than just the green salad we USAnians are used to.

Wonderful bean dishes, great cooked vegetables, delicious root vegetables, fruit mixtures, oh my, and lovely, lovely spices.

If all my cookbooks were to be taken away and I could keep only one, this would be it.

Well, of course it's a matter of taste, and there will be other people who are not at all enthusiastic. but I love this book, and the pages are all splattered with cooking oils and ingredients from my using it so much.

I found this book years ago - I can't even remember where or how I came across it. It is a wonderful volume: I've made many of the recipes and the variations listed. I have some real favorites in this book. There are many with raw vegetables that require little or no cooking, so, every summer, I keep this book handy in the kitchen. One of the other reasons I like this book is that there are "basic" recipes, then she lists ways you can vary it using the same spices and techniques, only with different veg combinations. One thing I usually do with these recipes is add a bit more spice - I think it was written when Americans weren't so interested in spice, so everything seems a bit mild to my taste (though delicious!) I also like the fact that her spice mixtures are not all the same: I have a couple of cookbooks where everything tastes as though it came from the same style of cooking. She has done a great job with variety. I could do an entire buffet from this book. And, just because it's "salads" doesn't mean it's all refrigerated food. Plenty of these dishes are served warm or at room temp so they are great for entertaining, or, as I said, hot summer days.

At about 96 pages including index, it's a slender little paperback. But there are plenty of recipes. Some of our family favorites include: cucumber salad with sesame chutney and yogurt (also in the carrot variation), cauliflower salad with peanut powder and grated coconut, chickpea salad with onions and dried mango powder (amchoor), and one of my all-time favorite recipes tomato salad with garlic and sour cream (getting hungry now..) I also like the mix she did of recipes which include just veg, some with carbs, and some with protein (legume). There are cooked and raw salads. Spicy and mild.. there are so many to choose from I'm sure you will find something to enjoy! So, I'd say it's one of the favorite cookbooks in my collection and, because you've probably never even heard of it until this review, a real hidden treasure!