Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen: Traditional and Creative Recipes for the Home Cook Paperback – Illustrated, May 19, 2015

I will first preface this by saying that I am not a vegan, I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian of over 15 years. I am a big fan of Indian cuisine and bought this book looking for another good Indian vegetarian cookbook to add to my repertoire. This one very quickly became my favorite to date. I bought this book back in April of this year (It is now July- same year) and have made probably about 10 recipes out of it- a couple I have made multiple times and had an opportunity to get better at some of the more complicated ones.I'll start with the overall look of the book itself. The size of the book is very practical- not huge like some of my cookbooks but large enough enough to make the pictures and text very easy to read and interpret. I do not believe that every single recipe has an associated photo but many of them do and they definitely inspire you to cook.Organization is very important with any cookbook- from the standpoint of technique, I think this is where this book really shines. Most "ethnic" cookbooks start with an introductory section that covers the basic ingredients- particularly those that may be a little more unusual to their target audience. Richa takes this a step further, this section is chapter 1- she breaks it up into sections and gives an overview of what each ingredient is and what it actually contributes to the cuisine. I also appreciate that she gives both the English names and the Hindi for the various ingredients. This is very helpful when shopping for two reasons:1) Some of the ingredients given do not actually have a meaningful English name that are widely used2) Some of the ingredients do have an English name- but it is shared with something more common here (e.g. There is both a "Bay Leaf" common in the US, and a "Bay Leaf" used in Indian cuisine- tejpatta which is more closely related to Cinnamon than to Sweet Bay common in the US)The last thing I will say about this section is that she tops it off with a shopping list of Indian ingredients broken down into "Must Have" ingredients, "Good to Have" ingredients, and "Nice to Have" ingredients. I found this incredibly helpful when I started because I was able to go online to an Indian grocer and simply add one of everything from the "Must Have" and one of each of the harder to find locally items from the "Good to Have" list. I spent less than $100 and don't anticipate needing to buy Indian spices for a long time.Now for the recipes. The first thing I will say is that this is not the best cookbook to buy if you are looking for recipes which are quick and easy- done in 30 minutes. This is a book you buy if you are looking for quality and an authentic flavor. The biggest thing I appreciate about this book is the apparent commitment to authentic ingredients. Richa seems unapologetic about the relative obscureness of some of the ingredients and I like that (and really she should be unapologetic- this is the 21st century, everything in her book can be found online or at an Indian Market if you live close to one). For those without a local Indian market, she does provide some links to online grocers. She does provide suggestions for substitutions with regard to some of the ingredients but I have not found it necessary to use them.The books contains a lot of the classics (Vegan styled) you would expect to see at your favorite Indian restaurant (Particularly one which draws from Punjabi cuisine)- Palak Tofu (Palak Paneer), Chana Masala, "Dad's Favorite Cauliflower Potatoes" (Gobi Aloo), Tempeh Tikka Masala (A veganized version of Chicken Tikka Masala). Additionally, she adds in a few recipes which seem to demonstrate her creative side a little more (e.g. Avocado Naan).I found the recipes to have a lot of depth and complexity to them. They do take a considerable amount more time than I think some people might be used to putting into a recipe; however, if you prep your ingredients ahead of time it really makes your life much much simpler in this respect (Most of the recipes I have worked with to date have over 20 ingredients each- most of which are spices of some kind). Many of the recipes take longer but most of this it time spent simmering or boiling down rather than attention demanding time. Again, prepping ahead of time really makes a huge difference.The only negative I can think of is that some of the recipes were not clear on some points (or I missed a detail somewhere) such as when to boil with the lid on and when to do so with the lid off. Sometimes she specifies this and sometimes I think she assumes it is clear from context. Given how much time is spent boiling things down this distinction is pretty important but I did find as time went on and I got used to the recipes I found myself reading between the lines and sort of intuitively knowing what to do. My best advice is when in doubt- either try to find the recipes on her website or find a similar recipe elsewhere and see what they do. I also found that some of the recipes seemed to call for too little water or other liquid- admittedly this may have been my misinterpretation of technique. There have been recipes which I questioned but tried out and had great results.Overall, if you are looking for something leaning in the authentic flavor direction and plant based then you can't go wrong with this book. My recommendations based on the recipes I have worked through so far-1) Start on the low end with salt and add to flavor toward the end. Many of these dishes can become overly salty pretty easily. This is especially true with the black salt which adds a wonderful flavor to dishes like Channa Masala but if you add too much can quickly make your dish taste "eggy".2) Man of these dishes can burn very very easily if you are not careful. It will take a little getting used to but when you are cooking down be sure to keep an eye on things and deglaze with water before you get to the burning point if needed- I found that my cooking times often varied from what the book stated.3) Definitely read the entire recipe ahead of time and make sure you understand each step. It is also very much worth your time to read chapter 1 before you make a single recipe (18 pages- many of which are charts or pictures)4) I like to prep my ingredients ahead of time according to step. I put all of my step 1 spices into a cup, step 2 spices and vegetables, etc... that way when the time comes I just have to pour them into the pot.5) These techniques take practice. I would suggest not trying a new recipe on guests. Make it a time or two for yourself and see how it goes first. Many of my first attempts ended up in the trash (Gobi Aloo being a good example- first try was a smoking disaster).Happy Cooking!

Richa provides stunningly delicious vegan Indian recipes in an easy to follow format. Follow the steps, using the options provided to suit your needs and tastes, and you will look like a genius. I've made about 1/3 of the recipes, and we've rated every one A+ to S level. Not only will you find familiar Punjabi and North Indian dishes, but also marvelous foods from other regions that will probably be new to you if you've only had Indian food in restaurants. Spice up your life and buy this book (but not from Amagazon).

Wonderful recipes. So glad we got this.

delicious recipes

This is a good book. The recipes so far have been very tasty. And the pictures are *gorgeous*! My wife loves "Smitten Kitchen" and has that cookbook, partly because of the lovely photos. Well, the photos here are almost comparable, although they don't come with the fun, personal narratives that Smitten Kitchen is famous for.That said, my main gripe with this book is organization and some details. For instance, in the introduction the author mentions several easier recipes to try. But she neglects to include page numbers by those recipes, so you have to go to the index to find each recipe. THEN, it turns out that she used a slightly different name for the recipe in introduction and the index, so a little hunting is required.Anyway, that's a minor gripe that will just make it a bit harder to get into this book. A huge upside is how much time she spends discussing the spices you'll need (and whether each one is *essential* or just useful).All in all, this is a great book for getting into home-made vegan Indian cuisine.

I enjoy reading new cookbooks while trying new recipes from them. Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen has been my favorite find of this year. I understand that many cookbooks have an introduction for the perfect kitchen as a reference, but the first 20 pages are informative, well laid out, colorful and fun. My well-stocked pantry has new spices and spice mixes because of this introduction.The book likely has a picture every other page. I think the inspiration of seeing first hand what I’m trying to create in terms of Indian spice color and presentation makes the book worth the price of purchase. I’ve tried a variety of the recipes including Potato Veggie Balls in Garlic Fenugreek Sauce (Lasooni Methi Kofta). The instructions are clearly laid out for everything. I felt the first time I made these they were time/labour intensive, yet I did things I hadn’t done previously. She suggested cumin-scented rice which I haven’t done before. It was great. I have used my blender numerous times to puree items which I haven’t done much in cooking (in this case the pureed items with coconut milk; for the Tempeh in Onion Sauce (Tempeh in Do Pyaaza) round one of the two parts of the “double” onion sauce).I made Naan for the first time. My first 1/3 of a batch was good, but I hadn’t let the naan rise long enough or perhaps the stone wasn’t hot enough so it was good but not amazing. When I came back to bake the rest of the dough (naan) 30 minutes later the naan I made was the perfect texture! It was incredible soft and spongy (I’m guessing time and stone’s heat made the difference). My next batch a week later was perfect.I brought various meals to work to share and people loved them. I’ve made and shared enough of recipes my co-workers have asked to read the book for themselves. Many have purchased the books. One colleague found that the chickpea recipes were a favorite of her daughter.I guess anyone can find a recipe on-line or in any cookbook. One of things I’ve found more important is the process for cooking the foods with a new approach of muddling new spice combinations, sautéing some of the spices before blending them, and approaching my kitchen differently. I will purchase Richa’s next book after it’s release as well. Get this book!