Madhur Jaffrey's 'World Vegetarian' Book

[Druckenbrodt]

It's great! I love the way it's organised, the fact that it also covers more unusual ingredients (rather than focussing on bland supermarket staples) and it's packed with unusual/surprising recipes that I'm dying to try out. So often with cookbooks I find the recipes given are variations on a theme that I'm already quite familiar with. I love the fact with this book you'll find things like 'Greek semolina pancakes', 'Peruvian Potatoes in the Huancayo style', "Okra with tomatoes' as cooked by the Indians of Uganda, 'Poached Eggplants with a Korean Hot Sauce', 'Boiled Peanuts, Indonesian Style' and Mango curry from Trinidad!

It's exciting and unpretentious and does what a great cookbook should do; open up new worlds for you. I feel very inspired to go through the whole book and try everything out.

I had a 100% success rate with a bunch of recipes I tried out on friends last night. My particular favourite was an Iranian puree of zuchini which involved tumeric, cumin, cayenne, garlic and a smidgin of tomato paste.

Anyway probably everyone on this forum is already familiar with it, but if not, I heartily recommend it - particularly for meat eaters who are racking their brains as to what to cook for vegetarian dinner guests. (Hopefully triggering an end to the mushroom risotto/ratatouille/pasta with home-made pesto/roasted vegetables cliches of recent years - delicious though they can all be.)

[maggiethecat]

The book has been on my shelf since it came out in paperback, and I agree that it's a real treasure trove -- in fact I think it's hands down, the best vegetarian cookbook ever published.

[moosnsqrl]

I'm not brave enough to make a "best of" statement, but if the cracks in the spine and the stains on the pages of my copy are any indication, it's certainly near the top of the list.

If you haven't tried making panisses, either traditionally or her Indian version, you still have at least two undiscovered treats awaiting you.

[mizducky]

Wow--I must have been hiding in some alternate bookstore-dimension, because I didn't know about this particular book.

(Oh wait--I'm no longer living in bookstore-rich Seattle but bookstore-deprived San Diego--okay, that's my excuse! )

Jaffrey's "World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking" is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks in the universe, so now that I know she's written another about the rest of the world, I'll certainly be getting my hands on it ASAP!

[Milagai]

Jaffrey's "World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking" is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks in the universe, so now that I know she's written another about the rest of the world, I'll certainly be getting my hands on it ASAP!

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ITA!!

I too love my "World of the East...." cookbook and it's also one

of the few books I use very very frequently, the spine

has almost disintegrated and I've lost the first few pages.

Any time I want

something new / interesting, I am not disappointed with that.

Some of her other cookbooks have some oddities in the recipes

but not this one. She has another World Veg cookbook out?

I must look out for it. Thanks for the heads up!

Milagai

[torakris]

I think everyone is talking about this one.

I am a huge Madhur Jaffrey fan and bought this hard cover when it came out. I too, love the variety and the way it is set up. Though there were a couple recipes I found to be slightly on the bland side there was nothing I hated and quite a few that I loved.

Some favorites are (page numbers might be different between hard and soft cover versions):

Poached eggplants in a Korean sauce (pg 182)

Stirfried eggplants with tomatoes and Parmasan cheese (pg 185)

Sri Lankan sweet potatoes with cardamom and chiles (285)--my favorite in the book!

[Druckenbrodt]

That's the book, Torakris. I think Yamuna Devi's "Lord Krishna's Cuisine: the Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking" is perhaps more exciting in terms of mind boggling flavours. But it has a very specific focus and cooking some of the recipes is a bit of an event and requires dedication.

I love Madhur Jaffrey's mad global mix of really unexpected things and her emphasis on food that's relatively easy to just throw together. To borrow a fashion analogy, she's more 'ready to wear' whereas Yamuna Devi is perhaps a bit more 'couture.'

Looking forward to trying out the panisses too...

Also, I think this is the prefect answer to meat eaters who think a vegetarian diet is boring/involves variations on the same aubergine theme.

I was eyeing at that poached egg plants in Korean sauce recipe before you mentioned it... will definitely have to give that a go now.

The other one I really liked, p. 273 of the paperback, is Gujarati-Style Hot Sweet and Sour Potatoes which involves tamarind paste

[helenjp]

I was interested to hear about this too, thanks to Druckenbrodt for creating the thread!

I guess what I like best about her recipes is that they almost always go well with rice.

[Sugarshoc]

I just borrowed this book from my school library and I love it. I made the Eggplant with Minty Tomato Sauce and Yogurt (p. 193), which I served with couscous. I also made the Israeli Couscous with Asparagus and Fresh Mushrooms (p. 504) which was served with a microgreen salad. I'm going to definitely buy this book. There are so many interesting, tasty looking recipes in here.

[zoe b]

Great! I just had to go order this book on Amazon after reading your post! And I'm trying to downsize on cookbooks....

But it does sound good--she's a wonderful cookbook writer. And the fact that used copies are not much less than new shows that it's asought after book.

Zoe

[Gruzia]

you must try the Sri Lankan Eggplant curry - so yummy........

[llc45]

I have had this cookbook for several years and love it. I try to make several different vegetable sidedishes every weekend to increase the amount of vegetables my family eats. This book and the Alice Waters vegetable cookbook are my two favorites. One weekend we ended up making the bean curd sandwich spread for lunch because tofu was one of the few things we had left in the fridge. It is both tasty and healthy!

[run2eat]

Her "World of the East" was one of my first cookbooks, and to this day remains on my "favourites/most used" shelf (and my ~30 year old paperback copy is in pretty rough shape!). It's joined up there by "World Vegetarian" but I tend to open "World of the East" more often, for old favourites (Bitter Melon with Eggs!)

If you're a fan of her anecdotes, she's recently published a memoir of her childhood that's well worth reading:

(here's hoping the egullet amazon thingy works...)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/140004295X/ref=no...ulletsociety-20

[TarteTatin]

Try her beet and tomato soup recipe.

YUM.

[llc45]

you must try the Sri Lankan Eggplant curry - so yummy........

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Finally tried it this weekend with the eggplant my hubbie had leftover from making eggplant parm. Two thumbs up for the curry. Only had basil leaves - can't wait to try it with curry leaves.

Try her beet and tomato soup recipe.

YUM.

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Is this in World of the East? Could not find it in World Vegetarian. Sounds really interesting.

[foolcontrol]

I use this book quite a bit. Especially for the Eggplant and Okra recipes.

[Pat W]

Once again, Egulleteers have led me astray and I want to thank you all. After reading this thread I ordered my copy & it arrived yesterday. I've already spent a couple of hours reading through it. It's hard to put down.

Curry leaves are a mystery to me. It seems like quite a number of the recipes call for them. Can anyone give me an idea what they are like? Do the basil substitutions work out well?

There are so many interesting recipes in this book that the only problem I'm having (besides the curry leaves) is deciding where to begin.

pat w.

[llc45]

Curry leaves are a mystery to me.  It seems like quite a number of the recipes call for them.  Can anyone give me an idea what they are like?  Do the basil substitutions work out well?

I haven't been able to find curry leaves by me so I use basil. Love the results but always wonder what the flavor difference would be...

[infernooo]

Once again, Egulleteers have led me astray and I want to thank you all.    After reading this thread I ordered my copy & it arrived yesterday.  I've already spent a couple of hours reading through it.  It's hard to put down.

Curry leaves are a mystery to me.  It seems like quite a number of the recipes call for them.  Can anyone give me an idea what they are like?  Do the basil substitutions work out well?

There are so many interesting recipes in this book that the only problem I'm having (besides the curry leaves) is deciding where to begin.

pat w.

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Sorry to say but no :-( ... basil as a curry leaf substitution is one of the worst substitutes I have heard of. It is like saying replace cumin with black pepper in a recipe - both are quite strong flavours, but nothing alike. Even dried curry leaves are worlds apart from their fresh variants.

[MelissaH]

Once again, Egulleteers have led me astray and I want to thank you all.    After reading this thread I ordered my copy & it arrived yesterday.   I've already spent a couple of hours reading through it.  It's hard to put down.

Curry leaves are a mystery to me.  It seems like quite a number of the recipes call for them.  Can anyone give me an idea what they are like?  Do the basil substitutions work out well?

There are so many interesting recipes in this book that the only problem I'm having (besides the curry leaves) is deciding where to begin.

pat w.

←

Sorry to say but no :-( ... basil as a curry leaf substitution is one of the worst substitutes I have heard of. It is like saying replace cumin with black pepper in a recipe - both are quite strong flavours, but nothing alike. Even dried curry leaves are worlds apart from their fresh variants.

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But does it really matter, as long as you like the results and as long as you're not trying for absolute authenticity?

MelissaH

[Dianabanana]

Try the karhi recipe (sorry I don't have the book with me for the page number--it's a vegetable stew made with chickpea flour)! One of my favorite things ever.

[Pat W]

Try the karhi recipe (sorry I don't have the book with me for the page number--it's a vegetable stew made with chickpea flour)! One of my favorite things ever.

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I found it. Page 36. Have you used the basil leaf substitution? And if so, do you stir them into the hot oil as if they were curry leaves?

Even though the author frequently says substitute basil for a completely different but equally interesting flavor, I wish I could get my hands on some curry leaves. Until that happy day, I'll be giving the recipes a try with basil leaves.

pat w.

[run2eat]

Try the karhi recipe (sorry I don't have the book with me for the page number--it's a vegetable stew made with chickpea flour)! One of my favorite things ever.

←

I found it. Page 36. Have you used the basil leaf substitution? And if so, do you stir them into the hot oil as if they were curry leaves?

Even though the author frequently says substitute basil for a completely different but equally interesting flavor, I wish I could get my hands on some curry leaves. Until that happy day, I'll be giving the recipes a try with basil leaves.

pat w.

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Are there no Indian food stores in your area? I just had a google and found this list on http://www.searchindia.com/search/groc.html

Nebraska Indian Grocery Stores

# Indian Asian Bazaar  2401, J St Lincoln, NE 68510 Ph 402-435-6102-

# Indian Asian Bazaar  159, N 72nd St, Omaha, NE 68114Ph 402-556-3309

# India Bazaar  1322, South 72nd St, Omaha, NE 68124 Ph 402-397-9030

# Indian Grocery  3029, S 83rd Plaza Omaha, NE 68124Ph 402-391-0844

# Indian & Intl Spice  4352, S 87th St, Omaha, NE 68127 Ph 402-592-4474

[Pat W]

Are there no Indian food stores in your area? I just had a google and found this list on http://www.searchindia.com/search/groc.html

Nebraska Indian Grocery Stores

# Indian Asian Bazaar  2401, J St Lincoln, NE 68510 Ph 402-435-6102-

# Indian Asian Bazaar  159, N 72nd St, Omaha, NE 68114Ph 402-556-3309

# India Bazaar  1322, South 72nd St, Omaha, NE 68124 Ph 402-397-9030

# Indian Grocery  3029, S 83rd Plaza Omaha, NE 68124Ph 402-391-0844

# Indian & Intl Spice  4352, S 87th St, Omaha, NE 68127 Ph 402-592-4474

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Actually, the Lincoln store has been out of business for some time, but thanks for getting me thinking. We have an Indian restaurant near our shop that I'm very fond of. I'll ask them for suggestions.

pat w.

[Dianabanana]

Try the karhi recipe (sorry I don't have the book with me for the page number--it's a vegetable stew made with chickpea flour)! One of my favorite things ever.

←

I found it. Page 36. Have you used the basil leaf substitution? And if so, do you stir them into the hot oil as if they were curry leaves?

Even though the author frequently says substitute basil for a completely different but equally interesting flavor, I wish I could get my hands on some curry leaves. Until that happy day, I'll be giving the recipes a try with basil leaves.

pat w.

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Hi Pat, no, I'm lucky to have access to curry leaves, so I haven't tried the basil version. Hopefully an Indian restaurant will help you out, but if not, you should see if you can't find someone to send some to you in a package with a freezer pack. Or if you don't mind spending the money, I bet it would work to just pop them in a FedEx envelope and overnight them even without a freezer pack. They are very dry, leathery leaves and they don't so much wilt as just sort of curl up and dry out. My mom sometimes brings them to me when she comes to visit, which means they are in her suitcase for about 10 hours, and they're always perfectly fine. Get a bunch and then keep them in your freezer. They keep for ages.