“I want to cook everything in this book.” ―Nigella Lawson
"The best Indian food is cooked (and eaten) at home." -Meera Sodha
Real Indian food is fresh, simple, and packed with flavor. In Made In India, Meera Sodha introduces you to the food she grew up eating every day. Unlike the fare you get at your local Indian takeout joint, her food is vibrant and surprisingly quick and easy to make.
Meera serves up a feast of over 130 delicious recipes collected from three generations of her family. On the menu is everything from hot chapatis to street food (chili paneer; beet and feta samosas), fragrant curries (spinach and salmon, or perfect cinnamon lamb curry) to colorful side dishes (pomegranate and mint raita; kachumbar salad), and mouthwatering desserts (mango, lime, and passion fruit jello; pistachio and saffron kulfi). Made In India will change the way you cook, eat, and think about Indian food forever.
Why Gneiss Spice recommends this book: Indian recipes can be daunting for a new cook. These recipes are simple to follow, use mostly common ingredients and focus on fresh vegetables.
To cook all of the recipes in this book, you will need the following spices. *Indicates spices used most often.
- ajwain
- amchur
- asafoetida
- bay leaf
- cardamom (ground)*
- cardamom (pods)
- chili flakes
- cinnamon (sticks)
- cinnamon (ground)
- chaat masala
- clove (ground)
- cloves (whole)
- coriander (ground)
- coriander (seed)
- cumin (seed)*
- cumin (ground)
- fennel (seed)
- fenugreek (seeds)
- garam masala*
- ginger (ground)
- kashmiri chile* - Lots of this! Referred to it as "red chile" in this book.
- mustard (black seed)*
- nigella*
- nutmeg (whole)
- pepper (black)* - Grind fresh!
- peppercorns (black)
- rose petals
- sesame seeds (tan)
- saffron
- sea salt
- star anise
- turmeric*
- vanilla extract
Other items you may not have in your pantry: tamarind paste, Eno fruit salt, fresh curry leaves, kasoori methi, lime pickles, chana dal, hard paneer, chick pea flour. For many of these ingredients, she notes them as optional if you don't have access to an Asian grocery store.