An Invitation to Indian Cooking (Paperback)

by Madhur Jaffrey (Author) "While India does not, as a nation, drink soup, we have, fortunately, many communities within the subcontinent that insist on being exceptions to the rule..." (more)
Key Phrases: sookhe aloo, unhulled urad, generous pinch ground asafetida, North India, Chicken Moghlai, Moti Mahal (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Written especially for Americans, this book demonstrates how varied, exciting, and inexpensive Indian cooking can be. Offering more than 200 recipes, Invitation to Indian Cooking shows how easily you can produce authentic dishes at home.

From the Inside Flap
Written especially for Americans, this book demonstrates how varied, exciting, and inexpensive Indian cooking can be, and how easily you can produce authentic dishes at home. Over 200 recipes.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 12, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394711912
• ISBN-13: 978-0394711911
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #437,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST Indian cookbook out there!, November 30, 1999

By	M. Bouchard (Trumansburg, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is really an excellent cookbook. I've used it for around 20 years, and the pages are well-stained. The nice thing is that the recipes are truly adapted to American kitchens, which is not always true for Indian cookbooks. And the recipes themselves are delicious. I have turned many friends on to Indian cooking through this book, some of whom have gone out & bought their own copies. A woman- from India- with whom I work copied several recipes, then decided she needed her own copy of the book. There is explanation of Indian customs and cooking methods, also, in a breezy style that is almost conversational. Thorough, interesting, and best of all-- tasty!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Cookbook of All Time!, January 21, 2000

By	Cheryl Fillekes (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Invitation to Indian Cooking (Hardcover)

We have a 1992 Tiger Books edition (UK), The Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook. This book combines Invitation to Indian Cooking and Eastern Vegitarian Cooking -- it's nearly a thousand pages long! We use it almost every day.

What I like best about it are the illustrations, the detailed descriptions of the cooking techniques and ingredients (I'm always overwelmed with my own ignorance at those packets of strange things in an asian grocer!) -- and effusive way she describes the context in which she discovered many of the recipes and how they're eaten in different parts of India and Asia.

Oh, and the recipes make for some incredibly good food. Although we're not vegetarians, we've found that the wide variety of vegetable dishes make for a more interesting way of getting enough vegetables, and having less and less meat in our diets--very good for the health, as are the spices!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Best Indian Cookbook, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

Fifteen years ago I bought An Invitation to Indian Cooking when Indian food was still hard to find. This was my first Indian cookbook and is still my favorite. Jaffrey explains the unusual (for an American) techniques and leads you through the recipes so carefully that you will lift the lid of the pot and smell the wonderful fragrance of Indian food with amazement! Just do as she says and you will have delicious Indian meals. I have served some of her recipes at parties and received wonderful compliments, even from people who thought they wouldn't like such food. I'm on my second copy of this book -- the only cookbook where that is the case! It's the best!