Indian Cuisine

Indian food has enjoyed a surge of popularity during the last few years, so Vivek Singh’s Indian Cuisine: Authentic Flavors from the Land of Spice is very timely. Singh is a renowned Indian chef, and has included contributions from other Indian chefs to make this not only an excellent cookbook, but also everything anyone needs to successfully prepare good Indian food at home.

Singh includes mouthwatering vegetarian dishes, as well as good curries and other dishes using poultry, fish, and meats. Lamb is featured in many dishes, and there are even a few goat dishes. Some of the most familiar and trendy Indian dishes like Vindaloo and Biryani are included, as well as delicious dishes using paneer. A favorite chapter is the one on breads – Indian breads are delicious and absolutely critical to serving with the spicy main dishes and these breads work well and are quite easy to make. There is also a chapter featuring different and luscious rice recipes. Although there isn’t a photograph of every recipe, the book is filled with beautiful photos of many of them.

Anyone interested in learning to cook excellent Indian cuisine at home will want to pay attention to the ingredient list in the cookbook, and visit a good Asian or Indian grocery store to stock up. Once a kitchen is well-stocked with the proper ingredients, the recipes in this book will be easy-to-follow. Unfortunately, most of the dishes are not quick – the ingredient lists in the recipes are quite long – and most are a bit time consuming. The upside is that once prepared, the recipes are absolutely worth the time spent preparing great Indian food. Anyone who loves being in the kitchen will enjoy following the recipes and savoring the smells and flavors of India. The cookbook includes recipes from several regions of India, which are extremely varied, and the prose will help in educating unfamiliar cooks on India. Highly Recommended for Indian food lovers.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.