Title: Made in India
Author: Kunal Vijayakar
Dear Foodies, I know you all love to have mouth-watering food and some of you may also like to cook them, but what about rest? Yes, I ‘m talking to those who are glutton but don’t know cooking. Well, if this is the case, then why not give it a try? Maybe you can yourself cook smart foods and then you would be all independent to have any food at any time you desire.
Chef Kunal Vijayakar’s latest book ‘Made in India: 60 mouth-watering recipes from desi kitchens and bylanes’, is a collection of recipes that are simple to cook and mesmerizing in looks that satisfies your tummy with a lot of flavor and delicious taste.
As the back cover says:”
This book is a buffet, an electric spread of some iconic, some forgotten and some beloved food that India has to offer. The recipes are often simple and tweaked to suit today’s fast-paced life, though some need the effort, perseverance and love that good food demands.
In his inimitable style as a food writer of many years, the author has jotted down his thoughts, including some nuggets of information and his mouthwatering experiences alongside his recipes. The dishes in the book are also beautifully photographed, including pictures of some of the author’s favourite food moments.”
The book consists of nine sections that hold more recipes under it. Following are the sections or the food corners it has: Vegetarian, Egg, Chicken, Fish, Mutton, Beef, Dessert, Sides and Masala. So you can see a complete package is ready to be tasted by you. Being a vegetarian, I was more interested to visit Vegetarian, Dessert, Sides and Masala Centre. Although, I went for other sections as well, but it was just for the sake of knowledge.
Before we think about how the recipes work, let’s first check out what is there in the menu. Vegeterain section has 19 recipes in it, feather in my cap (:p). Nineteen recipes include Brinjal Fritters, Tamilian Kotthu Paratha, gajar Koshimbir, Bhindi fatafat, Phodnichi Poli, Kashmiri Pundit Dam Aloo, Madras Onion Sambhar, double Bean Sukka, Channe ka Pulao, Pakistani Dal tadka, sookha Vatana, Akki Roti, Bhopali Roti, varias, aloo Paratha Tadkewala, Hingatelache Vatane, Goan Potatao Curry, pakoda Dahi Khadi and Charcharleli batati.
Under the section “Egg” comes: Akoori on Toast, Pizza Sunny Side Up, Indian Scotch Egg Curry,Fugias and Goan Egg Drop Curry.Under the section “Chicken” comes : Esperanza’s Chicken Curry, kaju Chicken Korma, Chicken Pasta Curry, Kori Chicken Sukka, Bombay Chicken Curry and Gomes Cafreal.Under the section “Fish” comes: Pomfret Moile, Prawns Atwan, chinchoni, Fish Kujit, prawn Pathwad ,Prawn and Drumstick Curry.
In the “MUTTON” shelf, recipes are: Shikari Pulao, Kheema Paratha, Green Kheema, Abeda’s Nihari, egg Fried Mutton Chops,Mutton Do Piaza, Mutton Khuddi, Mince Potato Chops with Mint and Eddie’s Mutton stew. In the BEEF shelf, recipes are: Pakistani Pot roast Fillets, Kerela Beef Fry and Chorizro pulao with Dry Fruits.
Coming to my favourite corner DESSERT, the five mouth-watering recipes it tells about are: Sev Badam Burfi, Tipsy Pudding, Vanilla Sheermal, Croissant Pudding and Anday ka halwa. SIDES corner has in store recipes like Chutney, Ginger Garlic Chutney, Pear Chutney, Lagan nu Achaar, Pathare Prabhu Chutney and Panchamrut Drink. The concluding segment MASALAS holds Bottle Masala and rechad Masala.
Here ends the menu card. Coming towards the implementation, how well does this book work for me.
All the recipes mentioned in the book are easy to cook or it seems because of the narration fashion adopted by the author. A very simple language has been used so that readers from any corner who has little knowledge about English could go through it very easily. Apart from finger-licking recipes, Kunal has shared some interesting anecdotes from the book of his life in order to create a comfortable ambience for the reader.
The thing that I found missing in the book is pictures. Not all the recipes have pictures with them. It’s obvious that before going through the procedure as how to cook pictures caught their sight. So, I think pictures are must, because reader needs to know how the dish would look before they learn how to cook.
Combination of simple recipes, easy to cook, easy to learn, guide to learn complete meal!
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer : Shweta Kesari