The Everything Indian Cookbook: 300 Tantalizing Recipes--From Sizzling Tandoori Chicken to Fiery Lamb Vindaloo (Everything: Cooking) [Paperback]

Monica Bhide (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2004 | Series: Everything: Cooking

Indian cuisine constitutes the exotic blend of flavors from the Himalayas in the North to the Eastern Bay of Bengal. Featuring hundreds of recipes, such as Indian-Style Coleslaw, Rice Pudding, and Indian Corn Flatbread, The Everything Indian Cookbook guides readers through preparing delicious Indian cuisine right in their own homes.

From basic Indian flavors and spices to Indian cooking methods and meals, The Everything Indian Cookbook offers a diverse set of recipes perfect for both vegetarians and meat-eaters.

Featuring delicious recipes for:

• Appetizers, such as Paneer Tikka
• Breads, such Simple Naan Bread
• Salads, such as Spicy Papaya Salad
• Curry dishes, such as Goat Chicken Curry
• Seafood dishes, such as Shrimp Koliwada
• Special vegetarian fare, such as Lentil and Rice Kedgee
• Chutneys, such as Mint Cilantro Chutney
• Desserts, such as Mango Mousse

Whether cooks want to prepare a meal for one - or a flavorful feast for company - The Everything Indian Cookbook will have them serving up tasty Indian cuisine to tempt anyone!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in India, Monica Bhide moved to the United States in 1991. She has an engineering degree from Bangalore University and two masters in information systems technology from George Washington University. She is the founder of Spice is Right Culinary Consulting. Monica's cookbook, The Everything Indian Cookbook: 300 Tantalizing Recipes - From Sizzling Tandoori Chicken to Fiery Lamb Vindaloo (Everything Series) was published in April 2004. Bhide is also the recipient of the Susan B. Langhorne Scholarship for Food Writers at the Symposium for Professional Food Writers held at the Greenbrier. She currently resides in Washington, DC, with her husband, Sameer, and son, Jai.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (April 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593370423
• ISBN-13: 978-1593370428
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Indian

More About the Author

My name is Monica Bhide and I am an engineer turned food/travel/parenting writer based out of Washington DC. My recipes are fun, accessible and tasty. I have been published in many major national and international publications, including Food & Wine, The New York Times, Parents, Cooking Light, Prevention, Health, SELF, Bon Appetit, Saveur, and many more. I am a contributing editor to the AARP magazine, a syndicated food columnist for Scripps, and a frequent contributor to NPR's Kitchen Window. My work has garnered numerous accolades, including my food essays being included in Best Food Writing anthologies (2005, 2009 and 2010). I have published three cookbooks, Modern Spice: Inspired Indian recipes for the contemporary Kitchen (Simon & Schuster, 2009, which Padma Lakshmi called her personal "BESTS.BOOK.EVER" in Newsweek); Everything Indian (Adams Media, 2004), and The Spice is Right (Callawind Publications, 2001).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great job Monica February 24, 2005

By onecoolmom

Format:Paperback

I am Indian and have been cooking Indian food for very many years now. But have fallen into a rut with the things that I cook... the same few foods made the same way !!! I did try a number of different cookbooks to add some variety and flavor to my cooking... but to little success.

Then I came accross this book by Monica and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised - by the simple yet delicious recipes, easy layout and variety. There are so many things that I never dared to cook thinking that it would be really complicated or time consuming. But Monica's recipes are short, concise and very easy to follow.

I would definitely recommend this book to those who want to start cooking Indian food as well to those who want a change and variety in their collection.

Thanks Monica ( that comes from my family !!!)

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Intro to Indian Cooking February 21, 2005

By CH Reid

Format:Paperback

I love this Everything Indian cookbook. It's a wonderful introduction to Indian cooking - especially for a novice like myself. I like the fact that it starts with basic techniques and basic recipes that you use throughout the book. The other thing I really like is that the recipes are less than a page - some of them sound complicated, but when you really examine them, you notice that the trick is really just to be sure to do the prep work in advance and things should move fairly smoothly. Thus far, I've only tried a few basic dishes - some vegetable dishes and a couple of chicken dishes, but I've been pretty happy with the results. The biggest trick often is tracking down the ingredients - especially the spices. I don't have an Indian grocery store nearby, but I've found quite a few things at my local Whole Foods and World Market. The author has also provided a list of resources to get some of the more difficult to obtain spices. I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about Indian cooking to try this book and try out a few of the recipes. Your tastebuds will be highly rewarded.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Review is for the Kindle version of the cookbook February 14, 2011

By Brass Monkey VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Please note that my review is for the kindle version of this cookbook. I would rate this 4 star had I purchased this in the paperback version.

The problem with the kindle version is that no care was taken to modify the content of this book to accomodate an ebook format. As an example, the ingredient list for Chicken Tikka Masala includes the following items:

1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste (see recipe on page 13)
1/2 teaspoon Warm Spice Mix (see recipe on page 12)
1 recipe Chicken Tikka (page 24)

eBooks do not use page references like a regular book would, which means knowing the page number isn't very helpful at all (ex: "Page 13" of this book is really "location 320-327" in the ebook). One can incorporate a series of search functions or navigate through the table of contents to locate the recipes being referenced but this is very time consuming. Doing a search for "Page 13" will not yield results, doing a search for "Ginger-Garlic Paste" will yeild A LOT of results (not necessarily the ones you want or need) and navigating through the table of contents takes some guess work since the recipes are nested within broader categories. It would be nice if they at least hyper-linked cross-referenced recipes but minimally, page numbers should have been updated to reflect appropriate location numbers.

As for the recipes themselves, I'm very pleased. I would consider this an introduction to Indian cooking. As others have mentioned you may notice that some of your 'favorites' are otherwise missing (No Aloo Gobi :(??), however, this cookbook offers a nice collection of familiar dishes as well as lesser known dishes that are a true delight to try. The recipes are for the most part simple and easy to execute though I did take one star away because I'm not convinced that all recipes were tried and tested (some tweaking has been required in order to ensure proper consistency in several of the recipes I've tried). I also feel that better measurements could have been provided throughout the book. Sometimes a weight measurement is provided (ex: Meat Belli Ram calls for 1 and 1/2 pounds lean lamb) whereas in other instances it is not (ex: Chicken with Pickling Spices calls for 8 skinless/boneless chicken thighs). The first time I made the Chicken with Pickling Spices recipe, I used 8 skinless/boneless chicken thighs and realized too late that the meat to liquid ratio was way off because my thighs were so tiny! My finished dish was delicious but it seemed like such a waste to get little more then two servings. This recipe can easily accomodate at least 1 and a half to 2 lbs of chicken (if anyone is wondering).

To sum it up, although this recipe book has a few shortcomings, it does serve up many tasty recipes and helpful tips! My only recommendation? Skip the Kindle version and go straight for the paperback.