 |
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
"Food & Wine"category
Indian Home Cooking
There's much to like in this informative cookbook,
which offers an accessible take (if, inevitably, not a comprehensive
one) on one of the world's most vast and complex regional cuisines.
It's a natural development for Saran, who teaches Indian cooking
classes and opened the New York restaurant Amma last year.
Such expertise is welcome in a book that cherry-picks freely
from Moghul meat dishes, Gujerati dals, Hyderabadi greens and
Punjabi tandoor dishes. That said, many of the curries are
familiar, like Chicken Tikka Masala and Simple Lamb Curry with
Coriander and Garam Masala. Surprisingly straightforward vegetable
dishes include Smoked Spiced Eggplant, and Crisp Whole Okra
with Fennel and Coriander. Rice dishes range from simple (Cumin-Scented
Rice Pilaf) to elaborate (Sweet Saffron Pilaf with Nuts and
Currants). Lassis, raitas, breads and some unexpectedly Western-sounding
desserts (e.g., Blueberry-Lemon Pie and Gingersnap Pudding)
complete the volume. Unfortunately, the book's minuscule print
poses a nuisance for home cooks, who may be called upon to
dash back and forth, adding spices to the pan every 30 seconds.
Just taking the time to find one's place on the page can result
in smoke and burnt seasonings. Still, Saran and Lyness fill
a crucial niche in the cookbook market; their work should be
avidly welcomed. 75 color photos.
Book Description
With its exotic aromas and complex flavors, Indian
cuisine is one of the world's best. It's no wonder that so
many people adore it--and also no surprise that it could seem
daunting to cook Indian food at home. Now, acclaimed chef and
cooking teacher Suvir Saran cuts out the fuss, sharing casual,
home-style Indian dishes that are perfect for everyday cooking.
Indian Home Cooking is a celebration of
the food Indians cook in American kitchens today, using ingredients
found in most supermarkets. With streamlined techniques and
intense, authentic flavors, Indian Home Cooking heralds
a new generation of Indian cookbooks. From slow-simmered
curries with layered flavors to quickly sautéed dishes,
these approachable recipes explore the wide world of Indian
cuisine, including:
*Irresistible snacks and appetizers, such as
Puff Pastry Samosas with Green Peas, and Spinach-Potato Patties
*Seductively spiced lentil dals, from the North Indian classic
flavored with whole cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves to a Southern
Indian version with dried red chilies, mustard seeds, and curry
leaves
*Aromatic meat and seafood curries, like Coconut Chicken with
Cashews and spicy Goan Shrimp Balchao
*An incredible range of vegetable dishes, including Stir-Fried
Green Beans with Cumin, and Cauliflower with Sautéed
Green Peppers, Tomato, and Yogurt
*Easy, colorful chutneys and pickles to fill your pantry
Filled with gorgeous photographs, fresh flavors,
and practical advice, Indian Home Cooking is an illuminating
guide to real Indian food.
Excerpts from the introduction
"I was once asked by a student why my food
tasted so different than other Indian food he’d eaten
in America. My first response was that there really isn’t
any one such thing as “Indian food”. The
food that most Indian restaurants in America serve is northern
Indian cuisine, the meat cuisine of the Moguls – Muslim
Turks who invaded India in the 16th century and built the great
Mogul empire. But I, a Hindu and a vegetarian, also teach
a lot of meatless Indian cuisine, dishes that I have adapted
from the largely vegetarian communities of northern and southern
India. Some of these dishes are spiced quite differently
than Mogul food and are unfamiliar to many Americans.
But perhaps more importantly, my food is very
definitely Indian home cooking. By that I mean first
that it is the food that we Indians make in our homes; not
the food that we eat in restaurants. It is also not the
food that is served in most Indian restaurants here in America,
which I find to be comparatively heavy and unidimensional tasting.) It
is, however, the food that I, as an Indian expatriot living
in New York City, working a full schedule and entertaining
several times a week, cook in my own home. When I entertain,
often last minute, there are often a dozen or more guests. This
lifestyle has given me the knack of finding smart ways to
prepare Indian cuisine without compromising its brilliance.
With some exceptions it is simple, tasty, satisfying food,
not fancy.
|
I do not pretend to have compiled a collection
of “classic” Indian recipes. There are several
excellent examples of such on the market, published by writers
to whom I am indebted for doing the hard work of bringing a
foreign cuisine to America at a time when even French food
was still exotic here. Those writers have written extensively
about our Indian culture, foods, ingredients and techniques. You
can read and cook out of those books to get a taste of classical
northern Indian dishes such as Roghan Josh, a lamb
stew thickened with ground almonds, or the northern Indian
chicken dishes Murgh Mussallam (a whole chicken, marinated
then stewed) and Chicken Moghlai (chicken in a rich,
saffron flavored sauce). While delicious, these dishes
require days of marinating and use ingredients that are exotic
even to contemporary Indian pantries. This is not the
kind of everyday cooking that makes sense for a busy schedule.
• • • • • • •
My family and I belong to the Kayastha community. Our
traditional cooking has powerfully influenced my own. Ours
is a close knit, religiously inclined community committed to
fighting social injustice and to the tolerance of all religions
and faiths. Kayasthas were the first Hindus to create
close relationships with the Muslim rulers (the Moguls), including
intermarriage. My ancestors became the clergy, accountants,
advisors and legal aid to the Mogul dynasties. This fusion
of Hindu and Muslim cultures has been a rich source of cultural
creativity in India. The beautifully poetic language
of Urdu, the gorgeous, sensuous dance form that we
call Kathak and Mogul foods (largely Kayastha with
Muslim influences), all result from this successful marriage
of cultures. Kayasthas live well and richly and are famous
for the excellence of our food, dance, music, poetry and hospitality.
• • • • • • •
I’ve organized this book in the same way
that I teach my classes, by starting with straightforward recipes
that my students can learn to embroider. Most (but not
all) of the chapters begin with a simple recipe, followed by
one to three variations. So while I believe that the
recipes are uncomplicated enough that you can pick up the book
and start cooking from anywhere, I also think that you’ll
be more satisfied if you start at the beginning and cook your
way through it. Soups give you a very easy first taste
of Indian cuisine. Those recipes show you how to play
with spices and to make a tarka, or tempering oil,
a spiced oil that is added to the food just before serving
to give a fresh layer of spicing. The dal chapter gives
you more experience with spices and tarkas and shows how to
cook onions until they are very brown and flavorful, one of
the few techniques there is to learn in Indian cooking, called bhunao.
|
The vegetable chapter is organized in strictly
alphabetical order (using the techniques in the preceding
chapters) and introducing a model for quick, stir-fried vegetables
that you can use to invent your own vegetable dishes. The
rice chapter gives what I think will be brand new techniques
for cooking rice that you can serve as main courses or side
dishes. The meat and chicken chapters begin with recipes
for basic stews, or curries (with variations), followed by
recipes from all over India. And so on.
I want readers to be able to cook these recipes
easily, so, wherever possible, I’ve written them using
common supermarket ingredients, easy to find and familiar to
use. For those recipes that use more exotic ingredients,
I’ve listed substitutions wherever possible and/or made
ingredients optional, if I thought the dish could possibly
be made without. Occasionally, as with the south Indian
soups called rasams, there simply is no substitute for the
south Indian spices that are critical to the taste of the dish. You
can buy those ingredients at Indian or Asian grocery stores,
or on the Internet. And eventually, when you find yourself
cooking Indian food regularly, you may want to set up a pantry
of some Indian ingredients. I hope that you will use
this book to experiment as lavishly and with as little fear
as possible. You will in that way fill the food, and
therefore your guests, with your love and spirit of adventure.
• • • • • • •
SIDEBAR: You really don’t
need any special equipment to make the food in this book, outside
of a spice grinder, a blender, and a food processor. I
use an attachment on my Osterizer blender that is perfect for
grinding spices as well as small amounts wet ingredients such
as garlic, herbs, and coconut for the occasional spice paste. I
also use a piece of Indian cookware called a kadai – a
wok-shaped, two-handled pot, available in a range of sizes. A
kadai is particularly useful for deep-frying because its
rounded shape allows you to use less oil than needed in a
pan with a flat bottom, but a wok or saucepan will work fine
too."
• • • • • • •
Praise for Indian Home
Cooking
Suvir Saran speaks the language of the home cook,
yet his food rivals that of top chefs everywhere. Marked by
the clarity and precision that reflects years as a teacher,
Saran's recipes easily demystify this world-class cuisine,
and focus particularly on bringing the aromas, flavors, and
culture of its irresistible home cooking to our kitchens. Food
and its meaning are universal. To see the common thread, we
have only to open our mouths, and our minds. Guided by Suvir
Saran, we effortlessly, and delightedly, do both.
— Art Smith, Private Chef to Oprah Winfrey and James Beard Award
winning author of Back To The Table
For pure, unadulterated pleasure, just try Suvir
Saran's food. It
is the stuff of midnight yearnings. Never has Indian food tasted
this fresh, this exciting, and rarely has it been this easy
to do. He is as generous a teacher on the page as he is in
person. If you've ever considered an Indian cookbook, this
is the one. It will be happily stained and dog-eared within
weeks.
— Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of public radio's food show, The
Splendid Table
“This is one of the most interesting and
accessible Indian cookbooks ever written. Suvir’s food
is fresh, delicious, authentic, and straightforward, and the
input of veteran Stephanie Lyness virtually guarantees recipes
that will work for home cooks, even those who’ve never
attempted Indian food before.”
— Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything and New
York Times food columnist
I really like this book—a fine collection
of light, vibrant, fresh and easy-to-make authentic Indian
home cooking, The resulting flavors are complex and sophisticated
without being fussy or difficult. The writing is friendly,
the instructions are practical, and the food is exciting.
Bravo!
— Paula Wolfert, author of The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen:
Recipes for the Passionate Cook
You have GOT to cook this book! Much as Rick
Bayless opened people's eyes years ago to the underappreciated
wonders of Mexican cooking, Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness
are poised to do the same for the rich and fascinating cuisine
of India. Not only does this volume reveal the mysteries of
this vibrant food in an exciting and affectionate voice, it
makes it attainable to the home cook--and that makes this book
a triumph.
— Ted Allen, food and wine specialist
Indian Home Cooking is a marvel. The dishes
are magnificent, easy to prepare, and healthy as can be.
They make "eat
your vegetables" an absolute delight. This is natural
healthful cooking at it's most delicious. I want to make
everything in this book.
— Marion Nestle, nutrition professor and author of Food
Politics and What To Eat
• • • • • • •
Chapters:
with links to recipes.
Recipes with photos.
CHAPTERS
Soups
Dals
Vegetables
Rice
Meats
Poultry
Fish and Shellfish
Appetizers and Snacks
Raitas
Flatbreads and Crackers
Pickles and Chutneys
Sweets
Drinks
Glossary
Index
Back
to the top. |
|
 |
