# Reccomend for me a good beginner's Indian cookbook **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749 "2005-01-08T15:52:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/1 "2005-01-08T15:52:53Z")
Specifically India Indian, not American Indian. I want my naan, and I want it to be proper not this heavy stuff I’m getting from my Joy of Cooking recipe. (Mind you, it’s still good. Just not quite _right_) I’ve seen a number of recipes for naan online but, without knowing anything about the person suggesting the recipe - well… I’d rather stick with something I know works for tasty, if not quite for the right effect. (Nothing sucks worse than working for hours on some new dish, doing the recipe as best one can, and then finding out, after it’s all done, that it sucks. Especially since I can afford to throw food out.) Of course, a bonus with such a cookbook is that I’d also get saag paneer (sp), too. I want me some of that, too. 😃 (As an aside, does anyone else wonder whether Shelley Winters was a farm brat? Lampchop? :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/2 "2005-01-08T15:58:43Z")
Madhur Jaffrey writes pretty good Indian cookbooks. You can find any number on Amazon. My mom is my cookbook so I don’t use any but I was on epicurious one day laughing at the Indian recipes (not the recipes themselves but how low they’re rated…like bhel puri, which is the nectar of gods) and I came across a Madhur Jaffrey recipe for this beet coshimbir (raita) that I adore and know is a reasonably obscure Indian food (i.e. you won’t find it at your local Taj restaurant or whatever). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/3 "2005-01-08T17:32:02Z")
Jaffrey is pretty good, but Julie Sahni’s [Classic Indian Cooking](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0688037216/qid=1105204851/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5766572-7629640?v=glance&s=books) is my choice. This is the one that got me started making Indian food, and the New York Times picked it as one of six all-time cooking “bibles.” ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/4 "2005-01-08T17:56:12Z")
Most of the recipes in [Madhur Jaffery’s Quick and Easy Indian Cooking](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0811811832/qid=1105207209/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-3898252-6468120?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) are designed for a pressure cooker, and if you have one, it’s absolutely amazing. Super fast, super delicious—and the use of the pressure cooker is completely authetic, according to my friends from the Subcontinent. It doesn’t have a recipe for paneer, but her book of [Asian vegetarian cooking](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394748670/qid=1105207295/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/102-3898252-6468120?v=glance&s=books) does, and lots of other amazing yummy stuff besides. ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/5 "2005-01-08T20:17:04Z")
May I reccommend [Sanjeev Kapoor?](http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com) He is one of the famous chefs in India and also has the most popular cookery show on TV. I am a student away from home and use his books sometimes. The website has some free recipes but a subscription is worth it and you can get loads of recipes that way. [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=stripbooks:relevance-above&rank=relevance20041029rank&field-keywords=sanjeev%25252Bkapoor&search-type=ss&bq=1&store-name=books/ref=xs_ap_l_xgl14/102-8605957-8526559) has books by Sanjeev Kapoor. I think some his recipes use harcore Indian cooking terminologies but you can always turn to the dope for that. Also, you can find Paneer in any self respecting Indian store. You can also make it at home it pretty easy. ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/6 "2005-01-08T20:19:22Z")
Damn my grammar for the previous post. The third para should say “I think some **of** his recipes…” and the last line is "You can make it at home pretty **easily**. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/7 "2005-01-08T23:17:26Z")
Is he the one on the Indian channel (that’s broadcast in the US…zed-tv or whatevs)? Because my parents used to watch that religiously and made one of his recipes, a fusion Indian Thanksgiving casserole (last year). It was pretty amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Shutterbug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Shutterbug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shutterbug)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/8 "2005-01-08T23:52:02Z")
I checked out a book from the library called _Indian Home Cooking_ by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness. It doesn’t have a recipe for naan, but it has Saag Paneer and some other good recipes. You can visit the author’s website at [www.suvir.com](http://www.suvir.com). ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/9 "2005-01-09T00:07:23Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > Is he the one on the Indian channel (that’s broadcast in the US…zed-tv or whatevs)? Because my parents used to watch that religiously and made one of his recipes, a fusion Indian Thanksgiving casserole (last year). It was pretty amazing. Yes \*\*anu-la[\b], he happens to be the same guy. He has a program on Zee TV called Khana Khazana (translated - Treasure of Food). Most of his stuff is really very good. And [this](http://food.sify.com/recipe.php?id=13262866&cid=) looks like a good recipe for naan. Bon Apetit! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/10 "2005-01-09T05:07:26Z")
Thanks, everyone, for some great suggestions. -Mike ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/11 "2005-01-09T05:16:35Z")
> [@maleinblack](#): > > And [this](http://food.sify.com/recipe.php?id=13262866&cid=) looks like a good recipe for naan. In regards to that recipe, what are curds? Here’s a couple of more questions: Is regular butter used in authentic Indian cooking or is Ghee mainly used? Also, how does one pronounce Ghee correctly? Gee? Hee? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/12 "2005-01-09T05:22:22Z")
> [@Bad News Baboon](#): > > In regards to that recipe, what are curds? I can’t promise this is an authentic interpretation, but curds are what you get when you begin turning buttermilk into cheese. One way to get those at home is to simmer some buttermilk. The clumps of stuff you get that way are one form of curds. I don’t know whether that would suffice for use in the recipe, but I’d be willing to give it a try. Of course, some of the better supermarkets will sell curds directly to customers, too. Either in the premium cheese section, or in the dairy section. (I love me my Wegmans.) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/13 "2005-01-09T05:24:14Z")
By the way, as a complete aside: WTF is up with “lowfat buttermilk?” How can you do that? All I can think of is that it’s where Alpine Lace comes from. \ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/14 "2005-01-09T06:02:19Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > By the way, as a complete aside: WTF is up with “lowfat buttermilk?” > > How can you do that? > \ Funny thing is, I don’t think I’ve seen anything _but_ lowfat buttermilk on the market these days. All it is is buttermilk made with lowfat milk & live cultures, instead of whole milk & live cultures. And I third (or fourth or whatever) the Jaffrey series of cookbooks. They’re perhaps the definitive texts on Indian cuisine in the English language. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/15 "2005-01-09T14:23:14Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > Jaffrey is pretty good, but Julie Sahni’s [Classic Indian Cooking](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0688037216/qid=1105204851/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5766572-7629640?v=glance&s=books) is my choice. This is the one that got me started making Indian food, and the New York Times picked it as one of six all-time cooking “bibles.” It’s a good book, but not, I suspect, for _beginners_. Aside from the simpler side-dish recipes like naan, most the dishes mentioned are pretty complex, and the language targeted at experienced cooks. Considering how it’s so easy to blow a meal with, say, a badly cooked gravy or undercooked rice, a book needs one of those simple but effective recipes that ease the learning curve and adds to one’s feeling of accomplishment; and I know, I’ve been trying to follow its basic basmati rice-cooking procedure for ages now, and it never works. The size and complexity of the recipes – plus, the near-absence of chicken dishes – means it’s not the book I reach for when I just want to make dinner for myself. For beginners all over, I heartily recommend the [Basic](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1930603002) series of books (which includes [Basic Asian](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1930603657), which I haven’t read), which includes some excellent, _easy_ Indian recipes. These are colourful, well-written, pragmatic, and wonderfully no-nonsense books particularly suited to the bachelors among us. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/16 "2005-01-09T14:55:28Z")
I’ve noticed that the “gh” sound is really hard for Americans…it’s in my real name and most people mispronounce it. Basically it’s a strong guh-huh (together) that comes sort of out of the back of your throat. So the pronounciation is “GH-eee.” It’s also called “toop” in other parts of the country so that might be easier 😉 “Authentic” Indian cooking is hard to pin down…regional cuisine can vary widely. Also Indians tend to be a bit more health-conscious these days…my parents have replaced everything that calls for toop with dabs of olive oil (including on chapatis) and has gone to extensive lengths to find subs for coconut (substituting everything from apples to whatnot). ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/17 "2005-01-09T20:16:59Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > I can’t promise this is an authentic interpretation, but curds are what you get when you begin turning buttermilk into cheese. One way to get those at home is to simmer some buttermilk. The clumps of stuff you get that way are one form of curds. I don’t know whether that would suffice for use in the recipe, but I’d be willing to give it a try. That almost sounds like cottage cheese. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/18 "2005-01-09T20:54:11Z")
> [@Bad News Baboon](#): > > That almost sounds like cottage cheese. Yeah, drained cottage cheese would be one form of curds. Curds can come in bigger sizes, too. You folk from Wisconsin know what I’m talking about. Curds are the beginning of the cheese-making process. After rennet is added to warm milk, the milk is allowed to sit and the curds seperate from the whey in a fairly homogenous semisold mass atop the milk. The curds are then cut, drained, pressed, and aged to make hard cheese. I assume the curds in the recipe come from this step in the process, but I’m not sure specifically what kind of curds Indian cooking would use. Wisconsin cheese curds have a different texture from cottage cheese curds, which have a different texture from fresh curds scooped off the top of milk. ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/19 "2005-01-10T01:08:00Z")
> [@Bad News Baboon](#): > > In regards to that recipe, what are curds? > > Here’s a couple of more questions: > > Is regular butter used in authentic Indian cooking or is Ghee mainly used? > Also, how does one pronounce Ghee correctly? Gee? Hee? The closest substitute to curds is unflavored yoghurt. That what I use now and it works pretty well. Well, ghee is not that widely used in Indian cooking anymore, pretty much as **anu-la** noted, more and more people use different oils (varies by region- coconut oil in some,groundnut and mustard oils in others). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749/20 "2005-01-10T02:07:10Z")
> [@gentle](#): > > It’s a good book, but not, I suspect, for _beginners_. Not for beginner _cooks_. For beginner _Indian_ cooks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-for-me-a-good-beginners-indian-cookbook/283749.md?page=2)