Pushpesh Pant

Publishers are too quick to write things like 'the only book on Indian food you'll ever need'. In fact, if you don't have other books on Indian cooking, don't buy this one. It is not for the beginner.

On the down side:
Quantities are ridiculous. Only a very large kitchen could ever use the amounts of spice mixtures given. Recipes calling for a kilo of boneless meat are said to feed 4.
There are no descriptions or comments on the various recipes. This makes it hard to decide which of several show more chicken recipes to tackle. Many of the ingredients are difficult to find, and the notes leave me with no better idea of what I am looking for than I was to begin with.

What makes this cookbook worth owning alongside the others is the sheer number of recipes. It may be a disadvantage that many ingredients are hard to find, but should something unexpected fall into your hands - you will find one, probably several recipes for cooking it.
Thie final group of recipes - from guest cooks running Indian restaurants around the world - is a real treasure. Chefs trained both in modern Western cuisine and steeped in the Indian tradition have come up with ideas that beg to be cooked. Vikrant Kapoor's Baked Salmon is on the menu here tonight. show less

This is a beautiful cookbook. The photos make everything look outstanding. However... I think some of the recipes are untried (there seem to be typos and steps left out of some) and I wouldn't recommend this as a "beginning" cookbook for Indian food. Still, I requested it for Christmas and I'm glad I've got it now so I can search it at my leisure.

Too many recipes here to even decide on a few to photocopy. It's a little overwhelming. Although there were a few unfamiliar ingredients, most of the recipes seem fairly easy to achieve. I'll check it out of the library again when I get ready to do an Indian feast for friends.

Beautifully illustrated.