Indian Cookbooks

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Kerala said:

The second link doesn't work for me. The first link to Minnie Matthew looks authentic from the recipes shown. How good the recipes are, I have no idea!

 

Second link does not work for me either.  Let me try again...

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

[Kerala]

I just bought this while in-country. The writer takes a systematic approach to different types of dishes and then variations. He pays attention to regional and communal variations without getting bogged down. The recipes are approachable and the ingredient lists are achievable in any large UK city. There are a few line drawings, but no photographs. I have no idea about the availability of this book abroad. I am so looking forward to cooking from this when I get back to England.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Kerala said:

I just bought this while in-country.

It is certainly available from Amazon in Canada. 

[liuzhou]

I see it's published by Penguin Books, the company which first popularised paperback books in 1935. They are worldwide. I'd be very surprised if it wasn't available most places.

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, Kerala said:

I just bought this while in-country. The writer takes a systematic approach to different types of dishes and then variations. He pays attention to regional and communal variations without getting bogged down. The recipes are approachable and the ingredient lists are achievable in any large UK city. There are a few line drawings, but no photographs. I have no idea about the availability of this book abroad. I am so looking forward to cooking from this when I get back to England.

Once you cook from it a bit, can you please let us know your thoughts about how the recipes come out? 

[Kerala]

I fully intend to cook from it, and to report back! The limiting factor is the real-life audience for my food, who don't like it hot. The family I was born into like Asian food hot. We'll see.

[Kerala]

 

Well, I have done a couple of dishes from Flavours Of The Spice Coast, and they have come out delicious! Mrs. Mathew has simplified the recipes in Spices, or some editor has, but they have done a good job.

 

 

Tonight, mutton red curry.

 

It took me two and a half hours after getting back from work and opening the book to getting the food on the table.

 

Mise

 

 

Did I cook the recipe as stated? No. I halved the amount of chilli, and I used Kashmiri chilli powder which is not as hot but is more red- for my chilli sensitive girls.The amount of garlic and ginger seemed way too little for a kilogramme of meat, so I doubled the quantities.

 

No pics here of the final dish but it tasted good. Authentic, meaning I would not be surprised to taste this at a home in Kerala. The family loved it, and actually, so did I.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2024 by Kerala
Photo bleurghhh! (log)

[Smithy]

@Kerala, that looks wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

For anyone in the U.S. Amazon market interested in the book, it comes in two formats:

Flavours of the Spice Coast, in paperback (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

and Kindle format (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

[Tempest63]

There only appears to be one Mrs K M Matthew book on Amazon UK.

I have in excess of 150 Indian Cookbooks, most from the U.K. but some sourced from India but, from memory, none by this particular author. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Mrs-K-M-Mattew/author/B0CBZHFRYK?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

[Tempest63]

On 2/27/2024 at 10:28 PM, Kerala said:

 

Well, I have done a couple of dishes from Flavours Of The Spice Coast, and they have come out delicious! Mrs. Mathew has simplified the recipes in Spices, or some editor has, but they have done a good job.

 

 

Tonight, mutton red curry.

 

It took me two and a half hours after getting back from work and opening the book to getting the food on the table.

 

Mise

 

 

Did I cook the recipe as stated? No. I halved the amount of chilli, and I used Kashmiri chilli powder which is not as hot but is more red- for my chilli sensitive girls.The amount of garlic and ginger seemed way too little for a kilogramme of meat, so I doubled the quantities.

 

No pics here of the final dish but it tasted good. Authentic, meaning I would not be surprised to taste this at a home in Kerala. The family loved it, and actually, so did I.

 

 

 

 

 

This is definitely one to try at home.

I have a freezer full of venison that needs using up so I will try it with that to start off with.

 

T63

[Tan Can Cook]

Namaskar. Adaab from Northern California (USA). I wanted to share with you my list of regional South Asian (Desi) cookbooks I've been saving up and acquiring. Some as direct purchases from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. This list is my current and formatted in Chicago Manual of Style bibliographic.

 

Regional Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Provincial Iranian (Persian) Cookbooks

 

I guess I got lucky and found a professional independent bookseller going as "Table Top Art" on Amazon Marketplace and "Cold Books" on Biblio. They are one and the same, using difference names on various platforms. They are also "Books Puddle" on AbeBooks.

 

• Abdulla, Ummi. A Kitchen Full of Stories: Mappila Kitchen Treasures. Self-published, Bengaluru, Karnataka: Tholasi Prints India, 2018.
• Ali, Meera. Dining with the Nawabs. India: Lustre Press, Roli Books, 2017.
• Alikhani, Nasim, and Theresa Gambacorta. Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.
• Batmanglij, Najmieh. Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies. 4th ed. Chevy Chase, MD: Mage Publishers, 2021.
• Batmanglij, Najmieh. Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets. 2nd Updated ed. Chevy Chase, MD: Mage Publishers, 2022.
• Bhatnagar, Sangeeta, and R. K. Saxena. Dastarkhwan-e-Awadh: The Cuisine of Awadh. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India: HarperCollins Publishers, 2015.
• Choudhurani, Renuka Debi. Pumpkin Flower Fritters and Other Classic Recipes From a Bengali Kitchen. Ranikhet, Uttarakhand, India: Orient Blackswan, 2011.
• Das, Jyoti. Ambrosia from the Assamese Kitchen. Daryaganj, New Delhi, India: Rupa & Co., 2008.
• Das, Jyoti. Essence of North East. New Delhi, India: National Book Trust, 2019.
• Das Gupta, Minakshie, Bunny Gupta, and Jaya Chaliha. The Calcutta Cookbook: A Treasury of Recipes From Pavement to Palace. Gurugram, Haryana, India: Penguin Books, 1995.
• Husain, Salma Yusuf. The Mughal Feast : Recipes From The Kitchen Of Emperor Shah Jahan. New Delhi, India: Lustre Press, Roli Books, 2021.
• Husain, Salma Yusuf. Flavours of Avadh Journey from the Royal Banquet to the Corner Kitchen. New Delhi, India: Niyogi Books, 2022.
• Husain, Salma. Alwan-E-Nemat: A Journey Through Jahangir's Kitchen. India: Penguin Random House India Private Limited, 2024.
• Hussain, Jafar Mirza. The Classic Cuisine of Lucknow: A Food Memoir. Translated by Sufia Kidwai. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India: Sanatkada Publications, 2016.
• Kalra, J. Inder Singh, and Pushpesh Pant. Classic Cooking of Punjab. New Delhi, India: Allied Publishers, 2004.
• Kalra, J. Inder Singh. Classic Cooking of Rajasthan. New Delhi, India: Allied Publishers, 2006.
• Kannampilly, Vijayan. The Essential Kerala Cookbook. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books, 2003.
• Kapoor, Sanjeev, and Harpal Singh Sokhi. Royal Hyderabadi Cooking. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: Popular Prakashan, 2009.
• Karan, Pratibha. A Princely Legacy: Hyderabadi Cuisine. Gurugram, Haryana: HarperCollins Publishers India, 1998.
• Khan, Noor, and Sufia Kidwai. Lucknowi Bawarchi Khane: Recipes from Lucknow Homes. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India: Sanatkada Publications, 2022.
• Khan, Tarana Husain. Degh to Dastarkhwan: Qissas and Recipes from Rampur Cuisine. Gurugram, Haryana, India: Penguin Books, 2023.
• Khatau, Asha. The Best of Epicure’s Gujarati Cuisine. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan, 2012.
• Koranne-Khandekar, Saee. Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens. Gurugram, Haryana: Hachette India, 2019.
• Latif, Bilkees I. The Essential Andhra Cookbook with Hyderabadi Specialities. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books, 1999.
• Manekshaw, Bhicoo J. Parsi Food and Customs: The Essential Parsi Cookbook. Gurugram, Haryana, India: Penguin Books, 1996.
• Marathé, Kaumudi. The Essential Marathi Cookbook. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books, 2009.
• Mehendale, Aditya. Rare Gems: A Non-Vegetarian Gourmet Collection from Maharashtra. India: Om Books International, 2015.
• Menezes, Maria Teresa. The Essential Goa Cookbook. Gurugram, Haryana, India: Penguin Books, 2000.
• Misra, Prachi Raturi. Uttarakhand Cuisine: Food and Folktales From The Hills! India: Om Books International, 2024.
• Murugappan, Meyyammai, and Visalakshi Ramaswamy. The Chettinad Cookbook. Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: Meyyammai Murugappan & Visalakshi Ramaswamy, 2014.
• Nandan, Anjani. Beyond Litti Chokha: Flavours of Purvanchal and Mithilanchal. Siliguri, West Bengal, India: Inspiria Knowledge Campus, 2024.
• Narain, Priti. The Essential Delhi Cookbook. Gurugram, Haryana, India: Penguin Books, 2000.
• Osman, Shawkat. Bangladeshi Cuisine. Kolkata, West Bengal, India: Mapin Publishing, 2008.
• Prasada, Neha. Dining with the Maharajas: A Thousand Years of Culinary Tradition. India: Lustre Press, 2013.
• Radhakrishna, Sabita. Annapurni: Heritage Cuisine from Tamil Nadu. New Delhi: Roli Books, 2015.
• Radhakrishna, Sabita. Paachakam: Heritage Cuisine of Kerala. New Delhi: Roli Books, 2022.
• Reejhsinghani, Aroona. The Essential Sindhi Cookbook. Gurugram, Haryana, India: Penguin Books, 2004.
• Shaikh, Razique Hosain. Ama Rajya Ama Khadya: The Traditional Food Lab of Odisha. Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India: Walnut Publication, 2022.
• Singh, Digvijaya. Cooking Delights of the Maharajas: Exotic Dishes from the Princely House of Sailana. 14th ed. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: Vakils, Feffer & Simons, 2022.
• Tripathy, Usha Rani. My Odia Kitchen. Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India: Amadeus Press, 2016.
• Waza, Sharief, Shafi Waza, Rafiq Waza, and Rocky Mohan. Wazwaan: Traditional Kashmiri Cuisine. New Delhi, India: Roli Books, 2020.
• Zaman, Niaz. Bosha Bhat to Biryani: The Legacy of Bangladeshi Cuisine. Dhaka, Bangladesh: University Press Limited, 2012.

[C. sapidus]

Nice library, @Tan Can Cook

 

Do you have favorites?

[Tan Can Cook]

4 minutes ago, C. sapidus said:

Nice library, @Tan Can Cook

 

Do you have favorites?

 

Books on Awadh, Rampur, Hyderabad, Bengali (West Bengal and Bangladesh), and Kashmiri Wazwan books are my favorites. Mainly because my cooking interests are following the Mughlai and Mughlai-adjacent cooking styles.

 

Dastarkhwan-e Awadh: The Cuisine of Awadh is my first-ever cookery book that I saved up from cooking tips. I remember it cost me close to 45 USD for the paperback version bought in 2022. Now it seems that book is out of print and the hardcover (used) cost around 400 USD?!?!

 

Long story short, that book has been on my list to buy, because it contains a recipe for Lazzat-e-Taam, a super masala mix comprising of around 25 ingredients of spices and herbs. This thread here on eGullet mentions this spice recipe or people talking about where to find mentioned ingredients. 

A Princely Legacy: Hyderabadi Cuisine is another book that is now out of print and people are selling for hundreds of dollars used! This book boasts the rich and affluent culinary history of the former princely state of Hyderabad. Today, Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana State, India. I like this book, because it contains the recipe for Hyderabadi Potli ka Masala. It basically look and smells like potpourri. It makes you feel like you're cooking with food perfume and imparting strong, aromatic floral sensory elations to the dishes cooked.

 

The fun part is cooking recipes from all those books I have. I rotate my books. Spice blends are also made in small batches, because a "garam masala" recipe for cooking foods in Delhi will be different "garam masala" for foods cooked in the book for Sindhi (Pakistani) cuisine.

[Tan Can Cook]

On 10/6/2021 at 8:56 AM, blue_dolphin said:

 

Dishoom: The first ever cookbook from the much-loved Indian restaurant (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Shamil Thakrar, his cousin Kavi Thakrar and chef Naved Nasir

 

It's quite a wonderful book. It's full of photos and stories (and even a fold-out map) that paint a picture of the cafés, restaurants and vibrant cosmopolitan life of south Bombay.  It's written as a day long tour beginning with breakfast and going through multiple dinners, snacks, sweets and cocktails.   All the recipes are from the Dishoom restaurants in the UK and many tend to be on the rich side - their signature house black daal is finished with a healthy dollop of double cream! 

It's a wonderful read.  I just started cooking from the book and prepped some ingredients yesterday: 

 

 

For information purposes, I want to point out that Dishoom: The First Ever Cookbook from the Much-Loved Indian Restaurant isn't a monolithic cookery on "Indian food and cuisine." On the contrary, Dishoom—both the restaurant and cookbook are based in Parsi cooking in the context of Irani cafes in and around Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Parsi people and community are Zoroastrian Iranians who have fled Iran to avoid religious persecution in the times of the Arabic conquest of Iran (starting of Muslim rule of Iran) and found refuge in the Indian state of Gujarat.

[Tan Can Cook]

On 10/3/2021 at 5:06 PM, KennethT said:

 

Received as a gift years ago.

 

I am being picky—the size of that book and the word "Complete" on the title is an inconsistency. Regardless, have you tried any of the recipes?

[Tan Can Cook]

The following books are not in my personal library; however, I am thinking of adding them down the line. I have fallen into the "rabbit hole" that is regional Indian cuisine and I want to vacuum as much information on this topic as I can. Because these books are sourced as imports from India, they can get expensive.

 

Baniya Legacy of Old Delhi Culture and Cuisine by Gunjan Goela (ISBN: 9788183862073) cost around 37.28 USD while The Lucknow Kayastha Cookbook: Ganga Jamuni Traditions & Recipes by Prakriti Srivastav and Smriti Srivastav Bhargava (ISBN: 9788183862127) cost 25.94 USD.

 

Unless I overlooked, the Baniya Community are strict vegetarians.

 

You can find these books on the Biblio platform from the seller "Cold Books". I am waiting for them to source a newer book on Sindhi cuisine published by the large HarperCollins India.

 

The authors are considered respective culinary doyennes and member of the community on which they are writing. Both the Baniyas (Banias) and the Kayastha are communities within the gigantic diversity that exist in India today.

[KennethT]

55 minutes ago, Tan Can Cook said:

 

I am being picky—the size of that book and the word "Complete" on the title is an inconsistency. Regardless, have you tried any of the recipes?

Not picky at all - completely accurate.  Yes, I tried a few - awful.