(Part 2) Best indian cooking, food & wine books according to redditors

This book by Madhur Jaffrey has a palak (saag) paneer recipe. There's no mention of yogurt though. Perhaps the fat in the yogurt is curdling from acid content in the recipe you're using. Another book of her's uses yogurt in lamb do pyaza (could be spelling that wrong), and you have to add a bit of water to the yogurt first a tablespoon at a time and whisk it to prevent curdling. I made it once and skipped that step and wound up with curds in watery sauce instead of thicker consistent sauce.

Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TCI48GS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_fy.lDb8MZBTMH

Madhur Jaffrey has a new cookbook, actually. I just read about it today. I've never had one of her recipes go south on me.
https://www.amazon.com/Madhur-Jaffreys-Instantly-Indian-Cookbook-ebook/dp/B07GD2J1CM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FWVR0D3905C2&keywords=madhur+jaffrey+instant+pot&qid=1556759135&s=gateway&sprefix=Madhur%2Caps%2C243&sr=8-1

I cook mostly Asian food, although I'm not Asian. Here are several cookbooks I couldn't live without...

Real Thai (McDermott)

I have David Thompson's epic Thai cookbook, but that's more for special occasions. McDermott's book has excellent recipes from many regions of Thailand. The homemade curry pastes are really worth the effort.

Chinese (Sichuan): Land of Plenty, Dunlop

Chinese (Hunan): Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, Dunlop

I can't recommend Fuschia Dunlop's cookbooks highly enough. You will have to search for some ingredients, but these days this is pretty easy.

General Asian: Complete Asian Cookbook (Solomon)

Charmaine Solomon's book is hit or miss sometimes, but it has so many recipes in it that it's worth it, from Sri Lanka to the Philippines to Japan, etc.

My favorite new, specialty cookbook is

Cooking at Home With Pedatha (Giri & Jain)

which has delicious Indian (specifically, Andhran) vegetarian recipes.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

This one is written by Vikram Vij, a well-know chef who owns a popular restaurant in Vancouver.

http://www.amazon.com/Vijs-Elegant-Inspired-Indian-Cuisine/dp/B00EBFKUL4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382217315&sr=8-1&keywords=vikram+vij

India specific answer. Based on Indian Food - A Historical Companion by K.T. Achaya, Indian food seems to have retained similar flavor profiles and overall techniques and meal composition.

Spices used were similar, except long pepper and black pepper were used more heavily for spicing rather than New World spices such as chili peppers. Native ingredients such as gourds, sqashes, tubers, starchy roots, shallots, were similarly used a lot more than New World vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, onions etc.

When it comes to meats, a lot more wild game and sea food was used in cooking, as well as a lot of domesticated animals like horse and cow. They were mostly roasted on open fires.

Rice based dishes such as rice and lentils and clarified butter are also largely the same.

From what i have read, it seems like the old Indian dishes would be quite palatable today as well.

I have found Curry Easy by Madhur Jaffrey to be excellent and accessible.

some of the best curries I've had are straight from this book

I can't believe no one has mentioned Vegan Richa's cookbook (Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OSTXCW2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Much of Indian food is naturally vegetarian/vegan, so her recipes aren't that much different from traditional Indian recipes. I also recommend you check out her blog to give you an idea of what her recipes are like:

http://www.veganricha.com/

In case you are interested, there is also an AMA by the author on this subreddit :-)

For Indian food, r/IndianFood is a helpful community. This is a list of various cookbooks by Indians, aimed at Indian home cooks.

https://www.amazon.com/INDIAN-Cookbook-Maharashtra-Watering-Cuisines/dp/151908997X
https://www.amazon.com/Saraswat-Brahmins-Cookbook-Annapoorna-Nayak-ebook/dp/B01EDUWGMC
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Marathi-Cookbook-Kaumudi-Marathe/dp/0143068024
https://www.amazon.com/Culinary-Treasures-Marathwada-Mai-Deshpande-ebook/dp/B012FC31RE
https://www.amazon.com/dp/9384625213
https://www.amazon.com/dp/817991755X
https://www.amazon.com/dp/8175251743
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1596636629
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0141000872
https://www.amazon.com/dp/9381626995
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140271848
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Sindhi-Cookbook-Aroona-Reejhsinghani/dp/0143032011
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0615676073
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143029509
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140255656
https://www.amazon.com/dp/9351567079
https://www.amazon.com/Kerala-Kitchen-Hippocrene-Cookbook-Library/dp/0781813441
https://www.amazon.com/Dastarkhwan-e-Awadh-Cuisine-R-K-Saxena/dp/9351773884
https://www.amazon.com/Benares-rasoi-Cuisine-Collection-Varanasi/dp/8171676103
https://www.amazon.com/Ruchira-Selected-Maharashtrian-Vegetarian-Recipes/dp/8129129736
https://www.amazon.com/Raschandrika-Saraswat-Mahila-Samaj/dp/8171542905
https://www.amazon.com/Bengali-Five-Spice-Chronicles/dp/0781813050
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-North-East-Cookbook/dp/0143030272

This is a set of cookbooks from the 1950s, and has limitations in language (but extensively covers the Tamil Brahmin cuisine).

https://www.amazon.in/Cook-See-Part/dp/819297605X
https://www.amazon.in/Cook-See-2/dp/8192976068
https://www.amazon.in/Cook-See-3/dp/8192976076

Happy reading.

Just got this one: Rasika: Flavors of India and it's pretty great, though maybe not "authentic." Rasika (and Rasika West End) are world-class restaurants here in DC. Made for an epic Thanksgiving...and one totally destroyed kitchen. :)

I'll have to go home and see if I can dig up some more.. TBH, I get my recipes from 1000 Indian Recipes. My book is falling apart! XD

There is a whole art to creating them like restaurants.

I can suggest two starting points for restaurant style curry:

1. http://bircurries.co.uk/
   
2. https://www.youtube.com/user/MistyRicardo & https://www.amazon.com/Indian-Restaurant-Curry-Home-Ricardos-ebook/dp/B079WJSNWZ

All indian curries that I cook have to be cooked on the stove for an additional 30 minutes or so to remove the water and concentrate the flavors. You could try to take out some of the water, but sometimes the water is needed to prepare the ingredients.

For instance, in punjabi chicken curry, you cook the curry, then add water, stir and boil the rest of the water off.

I would get a book that has recipes that are meant to be cooked on the stove top. I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Anjums-New-Indian-Anjum-Anand/dp/0470928123

If you don't want to get a new book, try taking out some of the water and see how it goes. :)

the chefs from Rasika wrote a cookbook! It's pretty!

​

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Somebody already mentioned 'Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan'. There's also Lost Recipes. 'Raja, Rasoi..' is available on Netflix. It's very informative. Brilliant stuff!

I found a blog which mentioned some books about ancient Indian cooking.

This book looks good. A blog summarising the author's work.

Some interesting links I found:

http://southindianfoods.in/ancient_recipes.html

http://www.thehindu.com/seta/2004/10/21/stories/2004102100111600.htm
http://www.thehindu.com/seta/2004/11/04/stories/2004110400061500.htm

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/ajeats/2016/01/chronicler-indian-food-160104113715853.html

http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/the-dead-recipes-society-111040200021_1.html

https://mumbai-magic.blogspot.in/2014/12/the-archaeology-of-food-ancient-indian.html

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/idli-saga-a-study-into-the-origin-of-the-south-indian-dish/articleshow/1969178.cms?intenttarget=no

Goan Beef Roast: Recipe from Beyond Curry Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through India

This recipe was picked to coincide with the cuisine of the week.

• 2lb Beef Roast
  
• 1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste
  
• 1.5 teaspoons of lime juice
  
• 2 teaspoons of white vinegar
  
• 15 garlic cloves
  
• 2" piece of ginger
  
• 8 peppercorns
  
• 5 whole cloves
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
  
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
  
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
  
• 2 tbsp of oil
  
• 1.5 tsp of sugar
  
• 1 red onion
  
• Chiles to taste
  
  So, score the beef and marinate in the ginger-garlic paste in the fridge for 20 minutes. While that sits make a paste of lime juice white vinegar, garlic, ginger, peppercorn, clove, cinnamon, turmeric, and cumin. Smear that all over the beef and let rest for up to overnight. Sear the beef, brown the onions, and then braise it. Make a sauce out of the braising liquid. Serve.
  
  FINALLY THE PICTURE

This is vegetarian and does the no-onion and no-garlic thing, but it's quite big and covers a lot of material - a good starting point. It really teaches a lot about the what and the whys of Indian food. It was written by the (American) personal cook of the Hare Krishna founder, she followed him around all over India when he travelled there, learning recipes from his hosts.

• http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Krishnas-Cuisine-Vegetarian-Cooking/dp/0525245642
  
  Some easy to get into books
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Home-Cooking-Introduction-Recipes/dp/0609611011
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Indian-Cooking-Recipes/dp/0778801705
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Street-Food-India-Greatest-Complete/dp/184885420X
  
  This is a classic Indian cookery books that grannies used to have
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Balbir-Singhs-Indian-Cookery/dp/0263700194
  
  Tarla Daral was a popular food writer in India
  
  
• https://www.youtube.com/user/TarlaDalalsKitchen
  
  Something from Punjab
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Punjabi-Khana-Tarla-Dalal/dp/8189491547
  
  This is not a beginners book, but very interesting
  
  
• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Grand-Trunk-Anirudh-Arora/dp/1847739687
  
  These Kerala restaurants do lovely modern cookbooks
  
  
• http://www.rasarestaurants.com/rasa_books.html
  
  More from South India
  
  
• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dakshin-Vegetarian-Cuisine-South-India/dp/9625935274/
  
• http://www.nimmypaul.com/html/nmy_recp_01.html
  
• http://www.kamalascorner.com/
  
  SOURCE: have been collecting books and shared cooking tips with Indian friends for a while

Curry roughly means 'sauce' - it is just stuff cooked in sauce, but in the Uk we take it to mean a vast array of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi dishes of meat, vegetables and pulses in spices sauces (and we also use it for similar dishes from SE asia etc).

Curry powder is an abomination the Brits took to, a generic and almost always stale blend of identikit spices people put in such dishes. If you want to learn this set of dishes, go buy a bunch of whole spices and a cheap coffee grinder to grind them up.

There are many 'real' curries as well as many anglicized versions that are common in the UK (famously, Tikka Masala is a Brit thing not an Indian one). There are also things like Rajma Chawal (probably mispelled) which are common in india.

In terms of commonalities - toasted or tempered spices, an onion base and probably cumin/coriander/turmeric as the most basic spices, with some more liquid ingredient (tomato, coconut milk etc) and some meat or veg is the basic makeup.

If you want to learn how to make curries i can suggest some books. Indian Vegetarian Cookery by Jack Santa Maria is one i liked and he has oen on non veg cookery too. Madhur Jaffrey is well known in the Uk for popularising hoem cooked indian food. More modern, Anjum's New Indian is not bad (based on a BBC series I think) though i find her a bit annoying on TV.

Some great new upcoming cookbooks have been posted to Amazon, including the 10th anniversary edition of V'con!

Veganomicon, 10th Anniversary Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-10th-Anniversary-Ultimate-Cookbook-ebook/dp/B06VV29BR9/

Vegan Richa's Everyday Kitchen

https://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Richas-Everyday-Kitchen-Anytime-ebook/dp/B06X6BW6PJ/

Baking Magic with Aquafaba

https://www.amazon.com/Baking-Magic-Aquafaba-Revolutionary-Substitute/dp/1612437214/

Vegan Recipes from the Middle East

https://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Recipes-Middle-Parvin-Razavi/dp/1910690376/