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From Mom with Love - A Complete Guide to Indian Cooking and Entertaining
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9 new or used available from $21.99
Average customer review:
Product Description
From Mom with Love . . . is perhaps the only cookbook that contains:
- Recipes for everyday cooking such as dal, roti and chawal, in addition to fancy food such as Goan Shrimp Curry and Rajasthani Chicken
- A complete list of spices, legumes, beans, and pots and pans you need to start cooking
- A pantry list for beginners and another one for more committed and experienced cooks in a format that you can take right to the store with you
- Ideas about foods you can cook and freeze ahead of time for when you need to produce a meal in a hurry or are too tired to cook
- A complete list of menu combinations for different occasions, both special and everyday
- Suggestions on how to deal with cooking crises such as a sauce that has become too watery
- Tips for storing and preparing precooked masalas and efficient ways to freeze chutneys
- Details on the pots and pans you need and serving suggestions including what the recipe goes best with
- Safety tips such as how to quickly put out a minor fire on your stove
- Guidelines for cleaning and odor removal
- Home remedies for minor ailments such as cough and colds, upset stomachs
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #415087 in Books
- Published on: 2007-03-31
- Binding: Hardcover
Customer Reviews
Not daunting and easy to follow recipes
I have over 10 cookbooks in my pantry that claim to be the 'best' Indian cookbooks around. So, skeptical of adding yet another book to an already overcrowded shelf of unused cookbooks, I made the purchase...mainly becuase the pictures and recipes just looked so delicious...and my strong desire to have good home-made Indian food. When I tried out a recipe...I noticed that the directions were easy to follow and were accurate (in my experience, Indian cookbooks are not accurate about all the ingredients necessary or the amounts or even the preparation times)! To my surprise, my dishes turned out just as the book described (unlike the results I got from some of those other cookbooks in my pantry). This book has given me confidence that I can actually cook Indian food...successfully. I especially like the recommendation at the beginning of the book that tells you the essential spices to have in your pantry. I hope Pushpa Bhargava will consider writing a Vol. 2!
Delicious and Mouthwatering Recipes!
The `Complete Guide to Indian Cooking & Entertaining `From Mom with Love' by Pushpa Bhargava has everything I ever wanted to know how to make. It contains all those mouthwatering dishes you order at the restaurants and many more which I was not familiar with but sound so delicious. Being brought up with Punjabi food, I learned how to make the basics of North Indian cooking, now with this cookbook I have been able to make the dishes from the rest of India which I love too.
I had never successfully made a dish with cream, yogurt or spinach before. I recently had a dinner party and I took the plunge and made several dishes without attempting them in advance. I took a big risk by doing that but I really didn't need to worry. Everything turned out great and everybody loved what I had made and was even complimented by two of my guests saying my food tasted better than the restaurants. The combination of spices is perfect and the food tastes even better the following day!!
At the beginning of the book there is a glossary of indian ingredients. Some I had previously only known in Hindi and others I only knew in English. This list helps put it altogether and is particularly important when you go to buy the ingredients.
All the dishes have very simple steps to follow. There is also a website ([...]) which shows you some video clips which makes the instructions clearer still.
I like the fact there is a photograph of nearly all the dishes. They act as a useful guideline just to make sure your dish turns out the same.
Each recipe has a `serving suggestion' so you know which foods and condiments work together and a useful list of `preferred kitchenware'. You have to make sure you have the correct tools before you attempt any dish e.g. you can't really make good idlies without an idli maker.
I love this cookbook so much that I bought it as a gift for my sister-in-law who does not have an Indian background and has never attempted Indian cooking either but truly loves it. As I completely understand, she has not been able to put the book down and has read it cover to cover many times in anticipation of what she will make next. I have had the book much longer and she has now made more of the dishes from the book than I have and has been very very pleased with the results. It just goes to show you that anyone can cook Indian Food when you have a clear instructions in front of you.
So if you enjoy Indian food and cooking too I seriously recommend the `Complete Guide to Indian Cooking & Entertaining `From Mom with Love' by Pushpa Bhargava. You won't be disappointed!
Enjoying Cooking.
Balvinder (New York, USA, previously Coventry, UK)
Couldn't be more aptly titled...
As a vegetarian and a longtime Indian food enthusiast, I bought "From Mom with love..." last year, and it has since become one of our most dependable and beloved cookbooks.
The book seems to fill a particular void in the market: An Indian home cookbook that is very accessible, personal, fairly thorough, with great recipes, and loaded with the practical tips and bits of helpful information that one tends to wish for in a cookbook but seldom finds. It's like having an experienced guide there with you as you plan and cook. Ms. Bhargava additionally goes the extra distance of maintaining a website with videos of cooking techniques to supplement the content in the book.
Even if you like to experiment as you cook, I've found that this collection serves as a great reference guide of sold, trustworthy standards to work from.
I have a particular pet peeve that many cookbook authors overreach to try to bulk up large volumes (or multiple volumes) with recipes that are rough and unperfected, and that don't flow from the author's heart and benefit from their long-experience in working with them over time. Clearly this was not at all the case with "From Mom with love..." These home-style recipes bear a much-appreciated personal touch. It's been a delightful experience for us working our way through this aptly titled labor of love.
