My sister, Rebekah, knew from a very young age that she wanted to go to India.  As a teen/young adult, she visited there several times to teach English and love on the children in a children’s home through Bless India Ministries, on some occasions for months at a time.  Once or twice, my sister, Anna, went with her.  The husband and wife responsible for the children’s home/school have visited our family’s home several times when they’ve been in the United States.

All of this means that India has a special place in our hearts, and I was eager to try (the second edition of) Easy Indian Cooking when given the opportunity to review it.

A section at the beginning discusses common ingredients, most notably spices, spice blends, and herbs.  As the beginning of this portion states, “understanding spices and herbs and their correct use is the essence of understanding Indian cuisine.”  A good deal of information is provided about each commonly-used Indian spice (or herb).  Recipes for spice blends are provided, too.  (This can be really helpful, as some blends, like garam masala, may not be readily available in local grocery stores.)

The vast majority of the recipes are traditional ones, edited/translated primarily to provide actual measurements, where “guesstimates” are traditionally used.  There are a few exceptions, though.  This second edition has added an entire section for “street foods” (like from street vendors’ carts), as this type of food has become quite commonplace in India in recent history.

Formatting

The format of the bulk of the book is much the same as in other Robert Rose cookbooks.  Each recipe is on its own page, with a title section and a sidebar.  The sidebar specifies the number of servings, gives a brief descriptions and, often, provides cooking tips relevant to the recipe.  The main portion of the page provides the ingredient list and cooking instructions.

Most of the book is in black-and-white, with a handful of color photo pages.  As is the case with the Mexican cookbook, some of these are not food photos, but they are gorgeously colorful and help provide a bit of the “feel” of India.

It is well-indexed, too.

Conclusion

I felt that this book did an excellent job removing the “mystery” of Indian cooking and making it accessible to a fairly average American cook.  Although some of the ingredients are a bit “strange” to American palates and may require special ordering, the recipes themselves are not difficult.  The author has done an excellent job of converting traditional Indian recipes to modern American cooking methods, so that you don’t, for instance, require a tandoor to prepare them.

Summertime is a great time to enjoy this refreshing beverage:

Mango Lassi

Suneeta Vaswani

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Beverage

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 c. canned Indian mango purée or to taste
• 1/2 c. whole or 2% milk

Instructions

 

• In a blender, combine yogurt, mango purée, milk, and 1-2 c. ice cubes and blend until smooth.
• Pour into 4 tall glasses and serve.

Notes

from Easy Indian Cooking

Disclosure: Robert Rose provided me with a copy of Easy Indian Cooking to facilitate my review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.  Mango Lassi recipe reprinted with permission.