Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking (Paperback)

by Madhur Jaffrey (Author), Philip Salaverry (Photographer) "This soup may be served as an elegant first course at a grand dinner or as part of a simple lunch accompanied, perhaps, by a..." (more)
Key Phrases: fresh green coriander, fine half rings, homemade garam masala, Pommery Moutarde de Meaux, Fresh Green Chutney, Indian Mashed Potatoes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Ever get a midnight hankering for onion fritters, or for a plate of lamb stewed in coconut milk? The recipes for these Indian delicacies are widely considered to be on the forbidding side. Yet Madhur Jaffrey, an international authority on Indian food and the host of several tandoori-driven TV shows, makes it all seem relatively easy. The kicker: more than 70 of the dishes can be prepared in a half-hour or less.

Product Description
In a new collection of sixty easy-to-follow recipes, the author of A Taste of India shares the secrets of fine Indian cuisine, presenting a variety of delicious rice dishes, chutneys and relishes, drinks, curries, and desserts. Original. IP.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811811832
• ISBN-13: 978-0811811835
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,135 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost 100% successful recipes, January 12, 1999

By	Adam C. Engst "TidBITS/Take Control publisher" (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Overall, this is a fabulous cookbook, and we've made most of the recipes with great success. The person who reviewed it above complaining about the onion fritter recipe is correct - that's one of two confusing recipes in the book.

(Add 1/2 cup water for the onion fritters, normal flour works fine, and if you're using a deep fat fryer, try 380 degrees. Once you do these things, the onion fritters are great.)

The other dangerous recipe is the fish fillets in a curry sauce, which is hard because it doesn't scale well and the heat is highly dependent on your curry powder.

Otherwise, though, the recipes are stunningly good, and generally easy after the work of cutting everything up and measuring spices. Even ingredients I don't like normally, like spinach and cabbage are wonderful when cooked in Indian food.

Highly recommended.

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Indian Cookbook period., January 24, 2005

By	Owen Linderholm "owenl" (Lafayette CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been eating Indian food for over 30 years and cooking it for over 20. I can't believe the few negative comments about this book. You do NOT need a pressure cooker. You will very soon be making food better than any Indian Restaurant in the US. I have made about 15 of the recipes without a single dud and four of them are now absolute regulars at our house. It is FAR better than all the other books with fancier photos or millions of recipes.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Madhur Jaffrey - the Savior of expat Indian students!, December 22, 1996

By A Customer

I am a graduate student in the United States, by definition of which, I have to economize on both, the time and the money I spend on cooking. Besides, an important factor in keeping a cheerful countenance is tasty (!) food. This is where Ms. Jaffrey steps in.

Before I started using "Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking," I relied on a few recipes handed down from my Mom and my sister. Some of Ms. Jaffrey's recipes are refreshing renditions of old favorites (e.g. red lentil `tarka', whole green lentils with cilantro and mint, hard boiled eggs masala,...), and some creative delicacies, like fish in green sauce, and stir fried shrimp in an aromatic tomato cream sauce, simply grilled tomatoes,... ah, the list is seemingly endless!

To give a sampling of Ms. Jaffrey's creative prowess in whipping up culinary delights, it is instructive to discuss a recipe that I recently used. `Fish in Green Sauce' (p.69) is a recipe that calls for cooking a green sauce made of onion, garlic, cilantro (the "green"), tomato, ginger, and lemon juice, and then simmering the fish steaks in the sauce. I admit I was skeptical at first. I am a cilantro devotee, and the thought of mixing cilantro and fish never ever occured to me (I guess this is where her creativity comes in). I have just one thing to say about the end result--wow!

I think deep down Ms. Jaffrey is a sentimentalist. Her recipes are peppered with such homey, down-earth musings about her childhood memories as, "... I remembered how much I had loved it [fresh green mango chutney] as a child. Memories of breakfasts and lunches with fresh pooris, vegetables, and this chutney came flooding back." This book evokes similar feeings in me, as I flip through it now, wondering what to cook for dinner tonight, of course, not worrying at all that I have my study group meeting in about one hour.