Menus & Memories from Punjab Hardcover – August 1, 2009

Definition of SUBLIME! : VERONICA'S CHOCOLATE BURFEERight before a cooking class in Rani's kitchen, I reached across the table and picked up a square of what looked like chocolate fudge....As I put it into my mouth, the chocolate touched my tongue and melted into almonds and cherries and this wonderful mass of sweetness. Ah, heaven!It was my introduction to the Indian sweet Burfee! But how did Veronica come up with this amazing candy? I reached out to take another piece and discovered that half the plate was gone......did I do that? And she made it in only 12 minutes? Impossible! Now how do I take the rest of the plate with me? Veronica seeing the look on my face promised she would make some more for me to take another time.Well, true to her word, one day after a lunch filled with more amazing recipes she had prepared for my welcome, she produced a box of chocolate burfee and told me it would last up to 6 months in my freezer! Hah! Little did she know! It was so delicious that first one piece then another slipped out of the box into my hands and mouth! In less than a week I had promptly eaten everyone in every way possible!I have made fudge in my lifetime but never did it taste "sublime" before. Yes, that recipe is in Rani's cookbook. (My copy is here at last! ) Her mango rice pudding!? I usually hate rice pudding, but after 3 bowlfuls, I promptly and unabashedly asked to take all the leftovers home! Do you get the idea these recipes are amazing!?Yes, this is a cookbook unlike any other....and here I am a simple American girl in love with Rani's Indian cooking. Now all my friends will love these recipes as well. They are simply extraordinary!I urge you to buy this cookbook and I guarantee you will be licking your fingers as you read!

As a food blogger who is full-blooded Punjabi and also married into a Punjabi family, I highly recommend this book! Veronica "Rani" brings fully immerses herself into the recipes and culture, and that produces something remarkable- a book that reveals information that someone who grew up in the culture might not notice. Though I learn from the book rather than cook from it, the recipes are highly informative in themselves. Thank you for doing this work, Rani!

Outstanding authentic recipes with beautiful stories-This book has been so beautifully written and the recipes are so authentic can cover the whole gamut of homestyle Punjabi cooking-The author is done an amazing job and doesn’t need the glass and glitter off multiple photographs to back up her work -As someone who has grown up eating Punjabi food I have to say that this book has all and more of the recipes that we are familiar with-She makes it very simple to follow and the recipes that I have tried so far come out beautifully. I truly commend her on this masterpiece and recommend anyone interested in true Punjabi cuisine to get this book

Just received my copy of "Menus" and couldn't put it down. Read right through Rani's entire memoir as told in conjunction with tempting new-to-me recipes. But this is more than a cookbook. It is the gripping lifestory of a beautiful, innocent American/Irish/Hungarian girl who goes off with her baby son to live with the family of her Sikh husband in rural Punjab, India in the mid-1960s. Learning to cope with the clash of cultures and deeply immersed in the forefront of the Easternization of the Western world movement (still so revalent today), Rani shares her wisdom garnered through a lifetime of travails. In dealing with devastating loss, she shows how to stay in the present, the here and now, that comes from nourishing meals for the heart and tummy. As she says, "A healthy body is integrl to a balanced spiritual life," and vice versa. Now, I'm off with my shopping list of new ingredients needed to satisfy my much anticiipated new taste delights, like Kewrda flavor, fenugreek leaves, rose syrup and the wonderful cardamom spices and lots of other goodies. signed -- [...]

I bought my copy several months ago, and I have been thoroughly enjoying this book. As others have mentioned, it is more than just another cookbook, it captures the spirit of Indian cooking with plenty of recipes set against the backdrop of Veronica's life experiences. One thing that I look for in any good cookbook is detailed recipes that can be reproduced in a home kitchen. The recipes here are clearly described, and can be prepared by someone with little prior experience in learning Indian cooking. I prepared "Cheese Squares in Creamy Gravy, Khoa Paneer" on page 91 for a party at work, and my coworkers simply raved about this recipe.This book makes a great gift, and I recently ordered a copy of this book for my friend who is battling obesity. Although many of the recipes are very flavorful and rich, there are plenty of recipes here for someone who wants to make tasty, healthy food.I looked for a book like this for a long time- I'm delighted I found it, and it carries my highest recommendation.

This is the only modern Punjabi cookbook I own and the only one anybody really needs for hearty, honest, "down-home" Punjabi food. A perfect beginner's book as well as a book full of heartfelt family reminiscences and culturally significant detail, anybody can cook from this book and end up with a dish that tastes as if they had a Punjabi "Auntie" hiding in their pantry who did it for them.Incidentally, I am also perennially fascinated by the ways foods become instruments of cultural cohesion or cultural exclusion. My love for Punjabi food began many years ago when, as a young girl, my friends and I were able to draw simple lines of connection between Punjab and its foodways and some Syrian and Lebanese foods I'd eaten growing up. As a result, so many years later, one particular story having to do with Chicken Paprikash really struck a chord in me! Thanks, Mrs. Sidhu for a really great read!

It’s a book you want to go back to both for the menus and the memories! The recipes are so easy to follow. I would have never thought of making Dahi Vadas/Savory Sundae if it wasn’t for this book. And they are so many more...recipes and memories to bring a smile

Excellent - recipes are very authentic and I like the narrative.