Vegetarian India

Starred review from September 7, 2015
Jaffrey (At Home with Madhur Jaffrey and Flavors of India), a seven-time James Beard Award winner for her stellar cookbooks, explores vegetarian home cooking in this exceptional new collection. In a culture where vegetarianism is prominent, Jaffrey explains that home-cooked Indian dishes are seasoned with an array of spices that both taste good and help treat or prevent ailments such as colds and nausea. In this enticing collection, she focuses on traditional dishes that make up a typical Indian vegetarian diet. The country’s size and the vastly dissimilar cuisines in its different regions make this a nearly herculean task. Jaffrey’s recipes, learned from locals in all walks of life, emphasize regional ingredients and influences. In addition to an appealing selection of soups, appetizers, vegetables, and desserts, she offers chapters on eggs and dairy, chutneys, and drinks. Chickpeas in a simple northern-style green lentil curry with kale, and Indian-style bean sprouts with onions, ginger, and garlic, highlight a substantial chapter on dals. Grains are also amply represented: flattened rice with cauliflower and peas; a “risotto” of dal, rice, and vegetables; and a variety of pancakes made with rice flour, chickpea flour and tomatoes, or mung dal. Jaffrey takes readers on an appetizing journey through the best vegetarian cuisine India has to offer, and it is decidedly worth the trip.

Starred review from August 1, 2015

James Beard Award-winning author Jaffrey (Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian) made multiple trips to India to collect the 200-plus vegetarian recipes presented here, the U.S. version of Curry Easy Vegetarian, which came out in the UK in 2014. Intent on seeing foods prepared in front of her, Jaffrey visited private kitchens, where she was introduced to dishes such as Kodava mushroom curry with coconut, Goan potatoes, and toovar dal with spinach and sorrel. She has successfully translated these for Western home cooks, whom she urges to go the extra mile to seek fresh curry leaves, sooji (Indian semolina), ajowan seeds, and other Indian ingredients. Readers who take the time to prep and measure the many spices called for in each recipe will be richly rewarded at mealtime. VERDICT Jaffrey's fresh compilation features extraordinary variety and achieves approachability without oversimplification. Highly recommended for vegetarians and Indian food enthusiasts.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2015
Who else but Jaffrey, the undisputed maharani of Indian cuisine in the West, could create yet one more attractive and accessible cookbook? Her latest effort appeals not only to vegetarians but also to any home cook looking for new ways to fulfill a daily quotient of vegetables. Countless Indians have chosen to eliminate meat from their diets for culinary, cultural, nutritional, behavioral, and ecological reasons that they act as a beacon for the balance of the globe. Jaffrey combs the subcontinent from Nepal to Goa to Sri Lanka for inspiration. Given Americans' growing fondness for peppery foods, she offers a startlingly easy version of spicy matchstick potatoes that will delight any nibbler. Heartier dishes make use of all sorts of dried beans, from black-eyed peas to lentils. Vegetables' often-bland flavors profit from the full array of Indian spices. Cooks lacking immediate access to Indian markets can readily order such items from online resources.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)