5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices [Paperback]

Ruta Kahate (Author), Susie Cushner (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2007

The premise is simple: with five common spices and a few basic ingredients, home cooks can create fifty mouthwatering Indian dishes, as diverse as they are delicious. Cooking teacher Ruta Kahate has chosen easy-to-find spicescoriander, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper, and turmericto create authentic, accessible Indian dishes everyone will love. Roasted Lamb with Burnt Onions uses just two spices and three steps resulting in a meltingly tender roast. Steamed Cauliflower with a Spicy TomatoSauce and Curried Mushrooms and Peas share the same three spices, but each tastes completely different. Suggested menus offer inspiration for entire Indian dinners. For quick and easy Indian meals, keep it simple with 5 Spices, 50 Dishes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ruta Kahate teaches regional Indian cooking from her home-based school in Oakland, California, which has been featured on the Fine Living Network.

Susie Cushner is a Boston-based photographer whose work can be found in many cookbooks, including Martha's Vineyard Table and The New England Table.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081185342X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811853422
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Herbs, Spices & Condiments
  • #23 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Indian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Indian Home Cooking, July 14, 2007

By 

Bay Area Reader (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices (Paperback)

This is a great book. It's premise is simple, but not simplistic - take 5 spices combined in various ways and produce a variety of Indian dishes for any occasion. Everything I've made from it has succeeded, and I will certainly make again. The coverplate (chickpeas with dill) is total comfort food, and uses dill as a vegetable in a new and surprising way. I've also made and enjoyed the Cabbage Salad (a fresh take on slaw), Indian Fried fish (tasty and savory), Sweet Potato with Ginger and Lemon, Corn with Mustard Seeds, and the fantastic Mussels in a Green Curry. And anyone who thinks they don't like okra NEEDS to try the Okra Raita - my favorite of all favorites in the book.

Recipes are well-presented, clear and easy to follow. I cook a lot of Indian food, but in no way felt that these recipes were dumbed-down at all. Kahate wisely confines her recipes to simple, practical ones with accessible ingredients. Does Indian food offer complex biriyanis with 15 spices and many ingredients? Sure. But that's not what is offered here. This is fresh home cooking, bursting with flavor, yet able to be cooked quickly. The flavors of the ingredients is prominent. And Kahate is a good guide to ingredients and techniques.

Highly recommended. Mine is already stained from much use!

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes, poor quality binding, January 25, 2009

By 

D. Montgomery (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices (Paperback)

I've really enjoyed exploring some of the recipes in this book and getting a feel for the simple spice combinations. It's been a great addition to our broad ambitions for cooking styles to have learned, from this book, how to use these spices effectively. The shrimp and fish marinades alone are worth the price of the book.

The only problem is the binding. The pages totally fell out of the cover after about a dozen uses. Quite poorly made. 5 stars for content, 1 star for printing = 3 stars.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Recipes and Delicious Results, October 17, 2007

By 

Steven Muni "Foothills Bear" (Sutter Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices (Paperback)

I have made several recipes from this book and have been delighted with all so far. I cook a lot of Indian food, and am a fan of the books of Mahadur Jaffrey and Julie Sahni, but this book is going to be used as much as their books. The premise is simple but not simplistic. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are delicious. Particular raves at my house go to the carrot raita, with it's inclusion of walnut pieces and raisins, (I used dried cranberries.) And the Goan eggplant and shrimp curry is a winner, although I used a little more shrimp and eggplant than called for in the recipe and used a full can of coconut milk instead of the cup of water and cup of coconut milk called for. This is a worthy addition to anyone's collection of cookbooks.