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Indian Food Made Easy
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First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 7, 2013
So I've always been trying (over the course of many years) to cook Indian food (because I love to eat Indian food), however it's not the easiest thing- all these spices- sometimes 15 spices to make 1 curry and it's a long and detailed process. Until now! A friend loaned me this book and I'm definitely going to buy a copy. It is amazing! and it is Indian food made easy!!! I've already tried the honey roasted spicy leg of lamb, the oven fried chilli chicken, the spiced okra, the strawberry lassi and the mango smoothie and they were all fabulous. What I love most of all is that most of the recipes stick with the core spices of Indian food and I don't have to go on a wild goose chase for some obscure ingredient that I'll never use again. I also tend to improvise a lot with recipes, I hardly ever use specific measure and I'll leave out or improvise on ingredients depending on what I have available and these recipes were very flexible with my haphazard ways - yay- everything still tasted awesome! Officially my holy grail of Indian cooking - and the food photography is gorgeous as well.
April 4, 2023
This is the first curry cookbook I ever bought. Though I find Ms Anand a bit stiff as a TV presenter, her recipes are good and certainly easier to prepare than some of the other cookbooks I've read. If you want good Indian food without a lot of fuss, start here. You will find well-explained, simple recipes that can be adapted to your needs, with no flash "cheffy" bits. You won't need a huge kitchen, or a houseful of technogadgets, or a degree in cooking, to make delicious food.
My one complaint is with the layout of the book...unfortunately the introductory comments to each recipe are printed in much larger type than the method, which seems a bit backward to me. But then I bought it to use, not to read through and leave on the shelf. Also some recipes in the middle of the book are crammed 3 to a page, looking like something from the Home and Living section of a 1980s newspaper.
However, of the three well-known-chef curry cookbooks I own, this is the one I turn to the most.
My one complaint is with the layout of the book...unfortunately the introductory comments to each recipe are printed in much larger type than the method, which seems a bit backward to me. But then I bought it to use, not to read through and leave on the shelf. Also some recipes in the middle of the book are crammed 3 to a page, looking like something from the Home and Living section of a 1980s newspaper.
However, of the three well-known-chef curry cookbooks I own, this is the one I turn to the most.
December 22, 2022
Over the past year or so I've made 39 of the 70 recipes in this book, some of them multiple times, so I feel like I'm in a reasonably good place to review it. I was given this book as a hand-me-down, and have never watched any of the TV series it accompanies.
The experience of making recipes from this book was revelatory: having never made a curry from scratch before I found the intensity of the flavours incredible compared to shop bought, takeaway, and even many restaurant curries. Making dishes from this book led me to seeking out other cookbooks, making better and more interesting meals, and therefore improving my quality of life. For that, I will always be thankful to this book, regardless of the fact that it is probably not the best Indian cookbook available: the photography is of inconsistent quality, some of the instructions could be better written, and personally I was not interested in the fusion dishes.
The book serves its purpose well as a gentle introduction to Indian cooking. I imagine those with prior experience will find little of interest here, and will likely consider the recipes very basic, but if you are new to Indian cooking then regardless of your skill level this is a good place to start.
__________
Some of the author's comments in the book's introduction have dated and now seem a bit bizarre. Apparently, it used to be accepted wisdom that Indian food was unhealthy, an allegation the author hopes to refute. There is also a much wider array of Indian food available now in shops and restaurants compared to the situation Anand describes. Perhaps, we could therefore see the book (first published 2007) as part of an extremely successful cultural shift around Indian food over the past few decades.
Recipes are divided into nine sections: Light Meals & Snacks, Chicken, Meat, Fish & Seafood, Vegetables, Lentils & Beans, Bread & Rice, Raitas & Chutneys, Drinks & Desserts.
The vast majority of the recipes I cooked just for our household of two, but we also had friends over to sample our favourites as part of a larger meal consisting of a chicken or meat curry, a prawn or vegetable dish, a lentil curry, and rice or naan or both, and sometimes a raita. It was easy to adapt the recipes for vegan or vegetarian friends with only simple substitutions of fake chicken and vegan yoghurt.
Light Meals and Snacks (4/10 recipes made)
This section contains recipes which are the gentlest introduction to Indian cooking, and may be more fusion than traditional. Chicken Tikka Wraps, Tandoori Lamb Wraps, Paneer & Mushroom Wraps, Chilli Cheese Toast, Masala Scrambled Eggs. Tortillas are used rather than Indian flatbread in the wraps, and the chicken wrap even contains cheddar cheese - Anand says that the cheese was first introduced to please tourists but has now become standard.
I didn't think these recipes sounded particularly exciting and only made the Cheese on Toast and Scrambled Eggs, which were both fine, but if you are already aware that seasonings can be added to these dishes then they are nothing special. However, I can imagine them being a pleasant introduction to the spices for someone more accustomed to blander food.
Of the more traditional sounding recipes in this section, I made the Semolina Pilaff and the Savoury Semolina Cake (Handvo).
The pilaff was an excellent quick snack which I would happily make and eat again. I made the cake to take to a work fuddle as a bit of gamble, and both myself and my colleagues were initially sceptical of the idea of a savoury mixed vegetable cake, but were quickly converted after the first mouthful. It tasted incredible and was texturally divine: the crispiness, the sponginess, and all the vegetable textures. I absolutely want this to become a regular in my household.
Chicken (8/9 recipes made)
Recommended Chicken Recipes: Goan Coconut Chicken Curry, Oven-Fried Chilli Chicken, My Chicken Korma, Classic Northern Chicken Curry, Mangalorean Chicken. The Northern and Mangalorean dishes I have made on multiple occasions, and all the rest listed here I intend to make again at some point.
The remaining chicken dishes - Chicken in Creamy Yoghurt, Green Coriander Chicken, and Chicken with Peppercorns and Shredded Ginger - were not unpleasant but did not stand out compared to the better dishes.
I had no interest in making the Chicken Burgers fusion dish.
Meat (4/9 recipes made)
This section should really have been called Lamb, because no other meat is used - apart from chicken which gets its own section?
I found the Himalayan Lamb and Yoghurt Curry extremely disappointing, though at some point I do intend to try making it again with better quality lamb. The supermarket lamb I used was probably not good enough to give this simple dish enough flavour. I used lamb from a butchers for the Easy All-In-One Lab Curry, and it was great, so I do think that is what went wrong with my attempt at the Himalayan recipe.
Both the Honey-Roasted Spicy Leg of Lamb and Herby Lamb Chops sounded incredible, and they were certainly pleasant, but I didn't think either was good enough to justify the effort of making it or the cost of the meat.
I would still like to make other recipes in this section - in particular, North Indian Lamb Curry and Dry Coconut Lamb - if I can justify to myself the cost of lamb from a butchers.
This section also contains an overtly fusion dish (Lamb Burgers with Herbed Yoghurt) and something which looks like a fusion pasta dish but is described as traditional (Curried Lamb Meatballs - served with noodles not pasta), neither of which I was interested in making.
Fish & Seafood (6/12 recipes made)
The two prawn curries I made - Mangalorean Prawn Curry and Prawn Balchao - are my two favourite recipes in this book. Gorgeous mixtures of flavours and spices that work incredibly with the both the texture and and taste of good quality prawns.
The Coconut Mackerel Curry was also excellent, while the North Indian Fish Curry and Green Fish Curry were both pleasant but underwhelming. The Coconut and Chilli Pan-Fried Halibut was a definitely superior to plain battered/bread-crumbed fish, but is not something I am likely to cook regularly.
Vegetables (6/14 recipes made)
The Southern Indian Mixed Vegetable Dish (Avial), Fried Spiced Okra (which we nicknamed 'Okra Chips'), and Paneer with Spinach are excellent as part of a feast, providing great textural contrast to other dishes, though I would not recommend them as meals in themselves.
The Spinach with Tomatoes, Stir-Fried Spring Onions, Aubergine Cooked in Yoghurt were underwhelming.
The other recipes I've not tried include two peanut salads, two sweetcorn dishes, two potato dishes, stir-friend cabbage, and stuffed jalapenos. I'm tempted to make the Five-seed Potatoes as well as the Stir-Fried Nigella Cabbage in future.
Lentil and Beans (5/6 recipes made)
I was very happy with the curries in this section, and the toasted spiced chickpeas make a decent side dish. However, the Broad Bean Thoran was extremely bland and is probably the dish I liked least out of the entire book.
On my second time making the Spinach and Lentil Curry, I used tomato puree as a substitute for the 'small tomatoes' and used ready chopped frozen spinach leaves, which made the recipe even simpler and, in my opinion, tastier and more aesthetically pleasing.
The first time I made the Garlic and Chilli Slit Pigeon Pea Curry, I accidentally burnt the garlic which made the dish very bitter. On the second try, the garlic was unburnt and it was great.
I've still to make the Buttery Black Lentils (Makhni Dahl), but I intend to make it in the next month or so.
Bread & Rice (3/9 recipes made)
I've made the Basmati Rice, Spinach Pilaff, and Mushroom Pilaff. The Spinach Pilaff is our favourite so far as the bright greenness of blended fresh spinach makes it stand out on the table. Looking through the rice recipes again while writing this review has made me realise that I should make the other rice recipes: Lemon Rice, Coconut Rice, Creamy Rice & Lentils, Simple Pilaff.
I cannot be bothered to make my own bread.
Raitas & Chutneys (1/5 recipes made)
The Cucumber and Mint Raita is refreshingly cooling, and I might get round to the other recipes in this section in future.
Drinks and Desserts (2/14 recipes made)
The Masala Tea wasn't for me, and the Coconut Sweets were delicious but I didn't cook them for long enough so they didn't set properly. Hopefully I'll get round to making some of the other recipes in this section; friends I've spoken to have said that they've never used the desserts sections of the Indian cookery books they own, and I would like to break that trend.
The experience of making recipes from this book was revelatory: having never made a curry from scratch before I found the intensity of the flavours incredible compared to shop bought, takeaway, and even many restaurant curries. Making dishes from this book led me to seeking out other cookbooks, making better and more interesting meals, and therefore improving my quality of life. For that, I will always be thankful to this book, regardless of the fact that it is probably not the best Indian cookbook available: the photography is of inconsistent quality, some of the instructions could be better written, and personally I was not interested in the fusion dishes.
The book serves its purpose well as a gentle introduction to Indian cooking. I imagine those with prior experience will find little of interest here, and will likely consider the recipes very basic, but if you are new to Indian cooking then regardless of your skill level this is a good place to start.
__________
Some of the author's comments in the book's introduction have dated and now seem a bit bizarre. Apparently, it used to be accepted wisdom that Indian food was unhealthy, an allegation the author hopes to refute. There is also a much wider array of Indian food available now in shops and restaurants compared to the situation Anand describes. Perhaps, we could therefore see the book (first published 2007) as part of an extremely successful cultural shift around Indian food over the past few decades.
Recipes are divided into nine sections: Light Meals & Snacks, Chicken, Meat, Fish & Seafood, Vegetables, Lentils & Beans, Bread & Rice, Raitas & Chutneys, Drinks & Desserts.
The vast majority of the recipes I cooked just for our household of two, but we also had friends over to sample our favourites as part of a larger meal consisting of a chicken or meat curry, a prawn or vegetable dish, a lentil curry, and rice or naan or both, and sometimes a raita. It was easy to adapt the recipes for vegan or vegetarian friends with only simple substitutions of fake chicken and vegan yoghurt.
Light Meals and Snacks (4/10 recipes made)
This section contains recipes which are the gentlest introduction to Indian cooking, and may be more fusion than traditional. Chicken Tikka Wraps, Tandoori Lamb Wraps, Paneer & Mushroom Wraps, Chilli Cheese Toast, Masala Scrambled Eggs. Tortillas are used rather than Indian flatbread in the wraps, and the chicken wrap even contains cheddar cheese - Anand says that the cheese was first introduced to please tourists but has now become standard.
I didn't think these recipes sounded particularly exciting and only made the Cheese on Toast and Scrambled Eggs, which were both fine, but if you are already aware that seasonings can be added to these dishes then they are nothing special. However, I can imagine them being a pleasant introduction to the spices for someone more accustomed to blander food.
Of the more traditional sounding recipes in this section, I made the Semolina Pilaff and the Savoury Semolina Cake (Handvo).
The pilaff was an excellent quick snack which I would happily make and eat again. I made the cake to take to a work fuddle as a bit of gamble, and both myself and my colleagues were initially sceptical of the idea of a savoury mixed vegetable cake, but were quickly converted after the first mouthful. It tasted incredible and was texturally divine: the crispiness, the sponginess, and all the vegetable textures. I absolutely want this to become a regular in my household.
Chicken (8/9 recipes made)
Recommended Chicken Recipes: Goan Coconut Chicken Curry, Oven-Fried Chilli Chicken, My Chicken Korma, Classic Northern Chicken Curry, Mangalorean Chicken. The Northern and Mangalorean dishes I have made on multiple occasions, and all the rest listed here I intend to make again at some point.
The remaining chicken dishes - Chicken in Creamy Yoghurt, Green Coriander Chicken, and Chicken with Peppercorns and Shredded Ginger - were not unpleasant but did not stand out compared to the better dishes.
I had no interest in making the Chicken Burgers fusion dish.
Meat (4/9 recipes made)
This section should really have been called Lamb, because no other meat is used - apart from chicken which gets its own section?
I found the Himalayan Lamb and Yoghurt Curry extremely disappointing, though at some point I do intend to try making it again with better quality lamb. The supermarket lamb I used was probably not good enough to give this simple dish enough flavour. I used lamb from a butchers for the Easy All-In-One Lab Curry, and it was great, so I do think that is what went wrong with my attempt at the Himalayan recipe.
Both the Honey-Roasted Spicy Leg of Lamb and Herby Lamb Chops sounded incredible, and they were certainly pleasant, but I didn't think either was good enough to justify the effort of making it or the cost of the meat.
I would still like to make other recipes in this section - in particular, North Indian Lamb Curry and Dry Coconut Lamb - if I can justify to myself the cost of lamb from a butchers.
This section also contains an overtly fusion dish (Lamb Burgers with Herbed Yoghurt) and something which looks like a fusion pasta dish but is described as traditional (Curried Lamb Meatballs - served with noodles not pasta), neither of which I was interested in making.
Fish & Seafood (6/12 recipes made)
The two prawn curries I made - Mangalorean Prawn Curry and Prawn Balchao - are my two favourite recipes in this book. Gorgeous mixtures of flavours and spices that work incredibly with the both the texture and and taste of good quality prawns.
The Coconut Mackerel Curry was also excellent, while the North Indian Fish Curry and Green Fish Curry were both pleasant but underwhelming. The Coconut and Chilli Pan-Fried Halibut was a definitely superior to plain battered/bread-crumbed fish, but is not something I am likely to cook regularly.
Vegetables (6/14 recipes made)
The Southern Indian Mixed Vegetable Dish (Avial), Fried Spiced Okra (which we nicknamed 'Okra Chips'), and Paneer with Spinach are excellent as part of a feast, providing great textural contrast to other dishes, though I would not recommend them as meals in themselves.
The Spinach with Tomatoes, Stir-Fried Spring Onions, Aubergine Cooked in Yoghurt were underwhelming.
The other recipes I've not tried include two peanut salads, two sweetcorn dishes, two potato dishes, stir-friend cabbage, and stuffed jalapenos. I'm tempted to make the Five-seed Potatoes as well as the Stir-Fried Nigella Cabbage in future.
Lentil and Beans (5/6 recipes made)
I was very happy with the curries in this section, and the toasted spiced chickpeas make a decent side dish. However, the Broad Bean Thoran was extremely bland and is probably the dish I liked least out of the entire book.
On my second time making the Spinach and Lentil Curry, I used tomato puree as a substitute for the 'small tomatoes' and used ready chopped frozen spinach leaves, which made the recipe even simpler and, in my opinion, tastier and more aesthetically pleasing.
The first time I made the Garlic and Chilli Slit Pigeon Pea Curry, I accidentally burnt the garlic which made the dish very bitter. On the second try, the garlic was unburnt and it was great.
I've still to make the Buttery Black Lentils (Makhni Dahl), but I intend to make it in the next month or so.
Bread & Rice (3/9 recipes made)
I've made the Basmati Rice, Spinach Pilaff, and Mushroom Pilaff. The Spinach Pilaff is our favourite so far as the bright greenness of blended fresh spinach makes it stand out on the table. Looking through the rice recipes again while writing this review has made me realise that I should make the other rice recipes: Lemon Rice, Coconut Rice, Creamy Rice & Lentils, Simple Pilaff.
I cannot be bothered to make my own bread.
Raitas & Chutneys (1/5 recipes made)
The Cucumber and Mint Raita is refreshingly cooling, and I might get round to the other recipes in this section in future.
Drinks and Desserts (2/14 recipes made)
The Masala Tea wasn't for me, and the Coconut Sweets were delicious but I didn't cook them for long enough so they didn't set properly. Hopefully I'll get round to making some of the other recipes in this section; friends I've spoken to have said that they've never used the desserts sections of the Indian cookery books they own, and I would like to break that trend.
May 10, 2014
I've never seen any of Anjum Anand's TV programs but I was aware of her as 'the new Madhur Jaffrey', so when I saw this book in a charity shop recently I thought I'd see what the fuss is about.
Anand begins here with a two page introduction in which she states that she believes Indian food is unfairly thought of as unhealthy and full of rich sauces. I'm not sure if it's ever been popularly thought of as unhealthy but perhaps certain people do still think of it in terms of the Angl0-Indian dishes that were a feature of curry house menus in the 1970's and 1980's. She ends the section with a tortuous simile involving Indian food being on the back bench of the UN which, I'm afraid, I didn't understand at all. I was left grateful that she hadn't tried stretching this section any further; she may be a great cook but she's certainly not a great wordsmith.
The bulk of the book then, consists of recipes. My heart sank when the first one consisted of a tortilla wrap. Then the next one and the third too... Tortillas? If you must pander to the fashionable masses then why not make a wrap with a chapati or a paratha? Already groaning then, I wasn't prepared as I turned the page for the fourth recipe to plum the depths of cheese on toast. Later in the book, burgers appear and even a pasta dish with meatballs. Amazingly, in a recipe for crab cakes the author writes 'these are one of the few fusion dishes in my repertoire'. I don't know whether to conclude from that that she doesn't cook most of the recipes she provides in this book, whether she's deluded or simply a fraud.
The recipes themselves may be fine and I can see how they might appeal to many people although, to me, they belong to another era - that of the late nineties fusion food boom. Evaluating them in the context of the title though, I think it's egregious to describe them as Indian food, they simply aren't. As I think I made clear at the start of this review I agree with the assertion that Indian food is so much more than just curries. To make something else and call it Indian food doesn't help anyone understand this though and does a great disservice to a cuisine seeped in centuries of tradition and development.
It may be harsh to dismiss Anjum Anand as a pretty face but she's certainly not Madhur Jaffrey.
Anand begins here with a two page introduction in which she states that she believes Indian food is unfairly thought of as unhealthy and full of rich sauces. I'm not sure if it's ever been popularly thought of as unhealthy but perhaps certain people do still think of it in terms of the Angl0-Indian dishes that were a feature of curry house menus in the 1970's and 1980's. She ends the section with a tortuous simile involving Indian food being on the back bench of the UN which, I'm afraid, I didn't understand at all. I was left grateful that she hadn't tried stretching this section any further; she may be a great cook but she's certainly not a great wordsmith.
The bulk of the book then, consists of recipes. My heart sank when the first one consisted of a tortilla wrap. Then the next one and the third too... Tortillas? If you must pander to the fashionable masses then why not make a wrap with a chapati or a paratha? Already groaning then, I wasn't prepared as I turned the page for the fourth recipe to plum the depths of cheese on toast. Later in the book, burgers appear and even a pasta dish with meatballs. Amazingly, in a recipe for crab cakes the author writes 'these are one of the few fusion dishes in my repertoire'. I don't know whether to conclude from that that she doesn't cook most of the recipes she provides in this book, whether she's deluded or simply a fraud.
The recipes themselves may be fine and I can see how they might appeal to many people although, to me, they belong to another era - that of the late nineties fusion food boom. Evaluating them in the context of the title though, I think it's egregious to describe them as Indian food, they simply aren't. As I think I made clear at the start of this review I agree with the assertion that Indian food is so much more than just curries. To make something else and call it Indian food doesn't help anyone understand this though and does a great disservice to a cuisine seeped in centuries of tradition and development.
It may be harsh to dismiss Anjum Anand as a pretty face but she's certainly not Madhur Jaffrey.
May 6, 2017
Love the quick glance to locate the ingredients for each section of the recipes. Nice to be able to prepare a healthy main meal with interesting side dishes immediately on receipt of the book. Switching in dried for fresh ingredients worked fine for me. I only had one type of fresh mushrooms for the rice however it still worked beautifully. Would have preferred a bigger font size on pages where it's only one recipe for the directions on the recipe. Maybe author could use a different font style on her personal comments then use the same font size for both?
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November 22, 2019Verry yummy foode
Eat it every day
Shrumplous food
Eat it every day
Shrumplous food
October 9, 2014
I understand Anand was trying to make Indian food easy but her style if not acceptable. Many recipes not Indian at all! Example recipe 9 and 13. Since when is burger Indian food? Also not enough spices used to make the food, easy does not mean tasty. I like some of her recipe like, 16 but it should have had more flavor.
Indian food is heritage and 1300 years of recorded Indian cooking can not be made using only 5 spices. I read many books on Indian cooking and I like some of the recipes and I would give five star but this book sells Indian cooking short. I will keep hoping she writes more books and bring genuine Indian flavor not just make easy for western flavorless audience to buy her book. I started cooking Indian food 20 years ago and I still love to try new things but keeping the traditional taste and flavor.
Indian food is heritage and 1300 years of recorded Indian cooking can not be made using only 5 spices. I read many books on Indian cooking and I like some of the recipes and I would give five star but this book sells Indian cooking short. I will keep hoping she writes more books and bring genuine Indian flavor not just make easy for western flavorless audience to buy her book. I started cooking Indian food 20 years ago and I still love to try new things but keeping the traditional taste and flavor.
September 25, 2015
I like the way Anjum explains the ingredients and spices for recipes, great if you are not sure what or how to prepare.
Ingredients that you will have in your store cupboard if you are into Asian food
Nothing to complicated, so easy for the first time tryers of asian food
Clear instructions and usually quick easy recipes
Tried several recipes
Grandchildrens favourite at the moment Oven fried chilli chicken, but I must say I cook this in my Halogen oven.
Also Potato & Pea Samosas, granddaughter usually like to help me make these and we usually make that many that we freeze some.
Masala scrambled eggs another family favorite. very easy to make.
Bengali style baked fish is one of my favorites, very easy to make.
Tandoori monkfish is usually made for the BBQ but I make them onto Metal flat kebab sticks.
Really well worth buying this book for easy Indian Food.
Ingredients that you will have in your store cupboard if you are into Asian food
Nothing to complicated, so easy for the first time tryers of asian food
Clear instructions and usually quick easy recipes
Tried several recipes
Grandchildrens favourite at the moment Oven fried chilli chicken, but I must say I cook this in my Halogen oven.
Also Potato & Pea Samosas, granddaughter usually like to help me make these and we usually make that many that we freeze some.
Masala scrambled eggs another family favorite. very easy to make.
Bengali style baked fish is one of my favorites, very easy to make.
Tandoori monkfish is usually made for the BBQ but I make them onto Metal flat kebab sticks.
Really well worth buying this book for easy Indian Food.
March 14, 2009
LOVE this cook book, LOVE it! I use it all the time for making yummy Indian food. :)
September 25, 2011
I enjoyed the TV programme so bought the book. The food is really easy to make and delicious to eat. You can't go wrong with this book!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews