Best Veg Indian Recipe sites...

[eEpicurean]

Hello eGulletters,

I am Lakshmi & am from Atlanta,USA. I am a housewife & cooking is my passion. I enjoyed eGullet.com a couple of days ago.I have been browsing around & this site is truly amazing..!!!

Recently i have been too obssessed with cooking & i am now into trying Veg Indian recipes the "RESTAURANT" style. I do visit www.bawarchi.com & other few sites but not always do i get the SAME taste to satisfy myself & my taste buds.

I just don't understand why i can't prepare like the same way. I sometimes long for the foods i had & i do love trying out the recipes in different ways.

I would appreciate if anyone could give me any pointers in this regard.

Looking forward to all your posts.

Thanks,

Laks

[deliad]

Let me be the first one to welcome you here.

Just trying to understand your question. What exactly do you mean by "Restaurant" style. Is it the taste or the presentation of the restaurant that appeals to you?

In my opinion, not all restaurants make tasty dishes, however almost all present them very well. You will surely have to experiment with almost all recipes to suit your taste.

You will find a lot of recipe threads here in eG also. Some of other sites that come to mind right now are sanjeevkapoor.com, ndtvcooks.com.

Enjoy!!

[gingerly]

hi Lakshmi.you might find something useful here though i don't know how much of it is vegetarian.there's also something with a similar title that you can download but (it's not free)i don't know anything about it.

[rajsuman]

Hello Lakshmi,

Tarladalal.com would be a great place for all-vegetarian recipes although only a limited number of recipes are accessible free of charge. sanjeevkapoor.com also is accessible via paid membership only. I have the book that gingerly mentioned, but that doesn't contain a huge selection of vegetarian recipes. If you're looking for one particular dish, the best thing to do would be to post its name here, so we can all collectively brainstorm.

Hope this helps.

Suman

[scott123]

Welcome Lakshmi.

I'm not sure that there is a website that will provide you with the exact recipes you're looking for. I have more than a hundred links that I'd be happy to share with you, but I can't vouch for any of them. Much like your experience with Bawarchi, none of the websites that I've come across have produced the results I've looked for. And I can't steer you towards any cookbooks either. I know of some good Indian cookbooks, but not cookbooks that will faithfully replicate typical Anglo-Indian restaurant food at home. They may exist, mind you, but I've been earnestly looking for 10+ years and come up with nothing.

This isn't to say that the code can't be cracked. It's just that it's a little more complicated than finding the right recipe source. It's more about acquisition of knowledge. Understanding the history of a dish, regional influences, classic flavor combinations, geographical impact, the reasoning behind using a particular ingredient, potential variations - these all put you in a better position to make better culinary decisions. Where do you find this kind of information? Right here.

I think you're better off, as Suman suggested, posting your questions about your favorite dishes to the forum. The experts here might be able to clue you in to special ingredients/procedures that the restaurants might incorporate.

[Monica Bhide]

Hello eGulletters,

I am Lakshmi & am from Atlanta,USA. I am a housewife & cooking is my passion. I enjoyed eGullet.com a couple of days ago.I have been browsing around & this site is truly amazing..!!!

Recently i have been too obssessed with cooking & i am now into trying Veg Indian recipes the "RESTAURANT" style. I do visit www.bawarchi.com & other few sites but not always do i get the SAME taste to satisfy myself & my taste buds.

I just don't understand why i can't prepare like the same way. I sometimes long for the foods i had & i do love trying out the recipes in different ways.

I would appreciate if anyone could give me any pointers in this regard.

Looking forward to all your posts.

Thanks,

Laks

Thanks for your earlier emails Lakshmi and welcome again. There are so many experts on this forum.. do post specific questions and I guarantee you will get answers

Welcome

[eEpicurean]

Hello Everyday,

I appreciate for all the responses given to my post..

I am actually looking for recipes, which give me the Restaurant TASTE..i just can’t figure out how the chefs can prepare so deliciously..i do feel jealous of them to be honest..!!

I do try the recipe several times using different methods but every time the taste is different than the Restaurant taste that I long for..

For ex:- I guess a month back I had Paneer Butter Masala as a main dish along with Thali for my dinner & the curry was so tasty..

The color was royal orange & the consistency was perfect & I can hardly describe the taste..it was heavenly & piping hot..!!

Even the paneer chunks were just great & guess wht I finished the complete curry,thts obvious though..!!

I remember having Punjabi Lassi & Hara Bhara Paratha in SFO last year..even till date the taste is lively in my memories..

Its like the list is endless..!! the recipes I prepare r good but not enough to satisfy my taste buds completely.!!

I hope I am not boring u all too much…Once again thanks for all ur comments.

Have a nice day,

Laks.

[Episure]

Welcome Lakshmi,

We needed a Lakshmi, how could we not have a Lakshmi in our midst.

For that restaurant taste, just use forbidden quantities of Oil/Ghee/Butter/Cream and you've got it made.

One cookbook that comes close to this formula is Jiggs' 'Prashad'.

Everybody has to go through this stage of wanting the Restaurant taste, I went through it also and am back to Home taste. It's a necessary journey that results in enjoying both.

[scott123]

I've been trying to recreate a butter masala gravy for a few years now. If you could describe the dish you ate in the restaurant and post the recipe you tried, I'm sure we could get to the bottom of the mystery.

[eEpicurean]

Hi,

I usually try recipes from Bawarchi.com & for Paneer Butter Masala i tried this recipe.. http://food.sify.com/recipe.php?id=13260091&cid=

& the taste is good..!!

Someday i might cook well..!!

Bye,

Laks.

[rajsuman]

Anyone interested in producing restaurant-like food at home should get hold of 'The Super Indian Cookbook Vols I & II' in addition to Prashad. The only catch is, it's not easily available and you need to know someone in Dubai to obtain it. Like many of my other cookbooks, this came free with some magazine. It has a good selection of recipes and wonderful pics, plus all the recipes I've tried have received much praise.

Edited to add this link: http://www.godubai.com/telelife/book.asp?m_id=2444

Suman

Edited August 1, 2004 by rajsuman (log)