Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsexcellent cookbook, one of the best of all time!
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2018
This recipe book has got to be one of the best recipe books ever. And I mean - the instructions are exactly on point. If the book says you'll fry onions for 15 minutes, you'll fry them for 15 minutes. I love to cook, and nothing gets under my skin more than recipes that say "fry an onion for 2 minutes until golden" and you KNOW that it takes at least 15 minutes to have a golden fried onion, and then in reality, you spend 15 minutes instead of 2 minutes as the recipe called for. So, with this book, it says 15 minutes, it's 15. It says 2-3 minutes, it's 2-3 minutes. I love it. All quantities are also exact. I've made a lot of recipes from this book already, and they have all been 100% on point. Meera Sodha has got to be simply the best recipe writer.
The recipes themselves are delicious and fairly easy to make (probably too complicated for a person who only knows how to boil an egg, but if you've done an entree before, then you'll be able to follow these recipes just fine). That said, this is an Indian cookbook, so you'll need the spices (and a spice grinder to make it really top-notch) to make these dishes. This cookbook also has recipes on how to make things like paneer (cheese) from scratch or make your own spice mix (garam masala), and I've done both, and it was incredibly straightforward. I'm amazed that I managed to make my own paneer, and it's all thanks to this book.
Lastly, the author lives (and was born) in the UK, and she has a Western understanding of ingredients (i.e. limit the butter, etc). In her recipes and the short notes above each recipe, she explains how she deviates from the traditional recipes, if she does, and I like her honesty and her humor.
If you want a great book on Indian cooking, get this one. It is one of my favorite cookbooks of all time, and I have a hefty collection of cookbooks.
