Tarkari: Vegetarian and Vegan Indian Dishes with Heart and Soul

by Rohit Ghai

Vegetarian and Vegan Indian Recipes from a Michelin-starred chef  With food inspired by India's incredibly rich and varied food scene, Rohit Ghai has gained a reputation for colorful, flavor-rich curries that showcase both classic and lesser-known Indian flavors. Tarkari, meaning 'vegetable' in Urdu, is Rohit's first book and also celebrates this diverse heritage - but on a more personal note.
 
Packed with innovative vegetarian and vegan dishes, it pays homage to the food his parents ate. From creative starters like Malabar Cauliflower, to big, bold curries such as Jackfruit Masala and Lotus Root Kofta, as well as breads, rice, dips and pickles, it includes everything you need to cook truly spectacular Indian vegetarian and vegan meals at home.
 
'Rohit Ghai's backstory is the stuff of culinary legend.' - GQ

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Vegetarian, Nonfiction, Indian Literature, Cooking

208 pages, Hardcover

Published November 9, 2021

Reviews

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made (or better, my husband cooked for me) eleven of the recipes in this book, and really enjoyed most of them. A couple were excellent: Akuri Masala (a tomato and egg dish); and Punjabi Rajma Rasila (a kidney bean and tomato stew), and I will be definitely making those again. Also very tasty were the Vangi Bhaat dumplings, the Baingan Ka Bharta (aubergine, tomato and pea stew), Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potato), the beetroot cutlets (actually fritters) and the Jackfruit Masala. It was the first time I had had jackfruit (used tinned) and will try it again.
The recipes were all vegetarian, but as I am an omnivore, I did add meat to several. There was also a bit more deep-fat frying than I would normally do, but I was able to adapt the recipes to baking or shallow frying.
The book had a number of recipes for spice mixes used later in the book, but often I would use preprepared shop bought mixes, such as garam masala or vangi bhaat powder to save time.
The book could have done with better editing. In several recipes, ingredients listed were not then mentioned in the recipe, or were instructed to be ‘set aside’ but then not mentioned further. Some of the cooking times needed to be lengthened.
Weight and volume measurement were usually given in both metric and imperial. Spices were generally measured in teaspoons or tablespoons, but I was rather surprised to see one recipe asking for 5g of cumin seeds (no imperial equivalent given).
The recipes were labelled as vegan or vegetarian, but a number were incorrectly classified. A number of vegetarian recipes were in fact vegan, and one ‘vegan’ recipe contained yoghurt
I would have like more pictures of the finished dishes.
So, all told, it was a good recipe book given the interesting and tasty recipes provided, but it could have been better.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book with mouthwatering VEGAN recipes!

[Anand Ganapathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predominantly North Indian and Punjabi vegetarian recipes ; a few with an added twist. Lovely snaps of food . Generally don't rate cookbooks without trying out couple of recipes from it .. Paneer Makhani made using instructions in the book was loved by everyone at home ( including me )... Firni next on the cards ..

[Jeffrey Ning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique book that engulfs you in the Indian cuisine world from the point of view of the author. Authenticity and mother’s recipes cannot go wrong when combined with passion for cooking for everyone. Yes, literally everyone when you get to the recipes. Excellent reference for Indian cuisine.

[Beth E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how this cookbook has a chapter on breakfast foods. This isn't covered in most Indian cookbooks that I have read.
The recipes look very nice, and the pictures are beautiful.
Some of the recipes are from Nepal, which is interesting.
I would be happy to own this cookbook.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yummy sounding recipes; want some Indian food now.

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful compilation of India wide regional dishes.