Easy Indian Cooking (Paperback)

~ Suneeta Vaswani (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

I enjoy Indian food... but usually, preparing it at home is just too much work. Until I discovered [this book]. -- Deborah S. Hartz, South Florida Sun-Sentinel 07/08/2004

Review

[Vaswani's] simple recipes and concise explanations made the cuisine embraceable. (Dai Huynh Houston Chronicle 20071114)

I enjoy Indian food... but usually, preparing it at home is just too much work. Until I discovered [this book]. (Deborah S. Hartz South Florida Sun-Sentinel 20040708)

After 26 years demystifying Indian cuisine... Vaswani has published her first book... aimed at beginners, as well as experienced cooks. (Tina Danze Dallas Morning News 20040526)

A nice introduction... The best thing about the book is that the dishes... are indeed easy to make. (Marialisa Calta Newspaper Enterprise Association 20040411)

Makes Indian cooking manageable... not only simple flavorful recipes but also an informative synopsis of a complicated subject. (Janice Schnideler Houston Chronicle )

Presents more than 130 authentic recipes and demystifies their preparation with concise explanations of the basic cooking techniques. (Trenton Trentonian )

Includes an excellent explantion of spices, spice blends, and herbs including garam masala. (Kathie Smith Toledo The Blade )

Impressively thorough. Vasvani displays a depth of knowledge about regional foods. (Tara Duggan San Francisco Chronicle )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Robert Rose (April 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778800881
• ISBN-13: 978-0778800880
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #230,704 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional, April 3, 2004

By	Jay P. Francis (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love the way the book is laid out, it is designed to make following the recipes fast and easy. There are three columns for each recipe, the left column has the measures listed in English units, the center column lists the ingredients, and the right column has the measures listed in metric units. The cooking instructions are excellent. The headnotes consist of information on the dish and tips for the dish. This is a cookbook by a teacher who knows how to put a recipe together.

Here's the beauty of the book, by way of example. How many times have you seen a cookbook recipe that calls for, say, "1 onion chopped"? What size onion would that be, exactly? Here in Texas an onion can be pretty big. In Europe, they aren't as big. What Suneeta has done is demystify the list of ingredients by using measures of cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons, or, metric weights. This is awesome! It makes the recipes foolproof. And it gives you a baseline for later changing the recipe up to suit personal tastes.

I own 5 Indian cookbooks, and I have read quite a few more. But this is the one that I default to.

I would recommend starting with the following:

Chicken in Cashew Saffron Gravy
North Indian Lamb Curry on Bread
Whole Baked Masala Cauliflower
Bell Peppers with Roasted Chickpea Flour
Dhokla (a fast and easy recipe using cream of wheat that produces beautiful results)
Split Yellow Peas with Tamarind Chutney
Gena's Kababs (flavored with green onions, ginger, cilantro, crisp fried onions)

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Indian Cookbook, November 6, 2004

By	Mary E. Harvill (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read an article in my local newspaper reviewing this cookbook with recipes. So I tried one of the recipes in the newspaper article..Chicken with Aromatic Spinach. My family loved it and they aren't Indian foodies. So, I bought this cookbook, my first Indian cookbook. It is a gem!

The recipes are easy to follow and recommend ingredients that are easily obtained at a "normal" American grocery store. The city where I live does not have a proliferation of "ethnic" grocery stores, so I especially appreciated this.

The recipes trend more heavily towards vegetables. There are short sections for chicken, seafood, pork and lamb. Though I am not good with breads and yeast, the bread recipes looked easy enough that I may venture an attempt at one or two of them.

I would have liked to see more chicken recipes. Perhaps the author is saving them for a second cookbook which I will definitely buy.

I heartily recommend this cookbook!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great recipes!, November 25, 2004

By	H, Grammer (Lynn Haven, FL) - See all my reviews

This cookbook has many of the traditional flavors I was looking for. Having never cooked Indian before, I appreciated the clear directions, and listing of spices, foods, and terms used in indian cooking. I use this book the most out of my four Indian cookbooks.