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Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India by Madhur Jaffrey

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  • Lamb patties (Shami kebab)

    • Categories: Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: ground lamb; mint; cilantro; ginger; cardamom seeds; black peppercorns; black cumin seeds; whole cloves; nutmeg; cinnamon sticks; ground cayenne pepper; yogurt; chickpea flour; bird's eye chiles; onions; lemons

  • Ground lamb with peas (Keema matar)

    • Categories: Stews & one-pot meals; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: yogurt; turmeric; ground cayenne pepper; ground cumin; ground coriander; ginger; ground lamb; peanut oil; cinnamon sticks; cardamom pods; bay leaves; onions; tomato passata; peas; cilantro; bird's eye chiles; cardamom seeds; black peppercorns; black cumin seeds; whole cloves; nutmeg

  • Meatball curry (Koftas)

    • Categories: Curry; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: ground lamb; onions; ginger; garlic; ground coriander; cumin seeds; Kashmiri chile powder; cilantro; green chiles; ground cumin; black cardamom pods; whole cloves; cinnamon sticks; green cardamom pods; tomatoes; yogurt

  • Lamb with spinach (Saag gosht)

    • Categories: Stews & one-pot meals; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: ginger; garlic; turmeric; ground cayenne pepper; mustard oil; lamb shoulder; spinach; tomatoes; ground cumin; cardamom seeds; black peppercorns; black cumin seeds; whole cloves; nutmeg; cinnamon sticks

  • Maya's meat and potatoes (Aloo gosht)

    • Categories: Stews & one-pot meals; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: waxy potatoes; turmeric; ginger; garlic; whole cloves; cinnamon sticks; black cardamom pods; cumin seeds; green cardamom pods; onions; tomatoes; Kashmiri chile powder; lamb

  • Bimla's chicken curry (Dahi murgh)

    • Categories: Curry; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: onions; garlic; ginger; green cardamom pods; cinnamon sticks; whole cloves; black peppercorns; Kashmiri chile powder; chicken pieces; yogurt

  • Chicken cooked in a yogurt-almond sauce (Murgh korma)

    • Categories: Sauces for poultry; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: ginger; garlic; slivered almonds; yogurt; cardamom seeds; black peppercorns; black cumin seeds; whole cloves; nutmeg; cinnamon sticks; ground coriander; ground cayenne pepper; peanut oil; onions; cardamom pods; bay leaves; chicken pieces; golden raisins; cilantro

  • Classic duck curry with coriander and cardamom (Battuck lajavaab)

    • Categories: Curry; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: ginger; garlic; coriander seeds; cumin seeds; cardamom seeds; whole cloves; cinnamon sticks; Kashmiri chile powder; turmeric; whole duck; onions; yogurt

  • Grandmother's cauliflower with cheese (Cheese vali gobi)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: cumin seeds; cauliflower; tomatoes; ginger; green chiles; ground cayenne pepper; turmeric; ground coriander; cilantro; heavy cream; sharp cheddar cheese

  • Everyday cauliflower (Roz ki gobi)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: cauliflower; turmeric; ground cayenne pepper; ground coriander; amchoor; asafetida; cumin seeds; ginger; cilantro

  • Stuffed okra (Bhari hui bhindi)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: okra; ground coriander; ground cumin; amchoor; ground cayenne pepper; onions

  • Carrots with fenugreek greens (Gajar methi)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: peanut oil; asafetida; cumin seeds; carrots; cilantro; bird's eye chiles; dried fenugreek leaves

  • Pumpkin (Kaddu)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: cumin seeds; brown mustard seeds; nigella seeds; fennel seeds; fenugreek seeds; dried red chiles; pumpkins

  • Potatoes with tomatoes (Bazaar jaisay aloo)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: waxy potatoes; asafetida; cumin seeds; fennel seeds; fenugreek seeds; dried red chiles; tomatoes; ginger

  • Black beans cooked in a Punjabi style (Kali dal)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: urad dal; garlic; ginger; ground cayenne pepper; peanut oil; tomato passata; heavy cream

  • Moong dal with greens (Alan ka saag)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: cumin seeds; asafetida; fenugreek seeds; spinach; dried fenugreek leaves; moong dal; turmeric; chickpea flour; ginger; shallots; green chiles

  • Chickpea-flour stew with dumplings (Karhi)

    • Categories: Stews & one-pot meals; Main course; Indian; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: yogurt; chickpea flour; cumin seeds; fennel seeds; nigella seeds; fenugreek seeds; dried red chiles; turmeric; olive oil

  • Rice with peas (Tahiri)

    • Categories: Rice dishes; Side dish; Winter; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: basmati rice; peanut oil; bay leaves; black cardamom pods; black peppercorns; cumin seeds; onions; turmeric; frozen peas

  • Phulkas

    • Categories: Bread & rolls, savory; Indian
    • Ingredients: chapati flour

  • Puffed spiced breads with fenugreek (Methi wali bedvi)

    • Categories: Bread & rolls, savory; Indian
    • Ingredients: chapati flour; ground coriander; ground cumin; ground cayenne pepper; corn oil; cilantro; dried fenugreek leaves

  • Yogurt with tiny dumplings (Boondi ka dahi)

    • Categories: Side dish; Indian; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: chickpea flour; ground cumin; vegetable oil; yogurt; cumin seeds; ground cayenne pepper

  • Mung bean fritters in yogurt (Dahi ki pakori)

    • Categories: Fried doughs; Side dish; Indian; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: mung beans; peanut oil; asafetida; yogurt; cumin seeds; ground cayenne pepper; yellow chile powder; cilantro

  • Mung bean fritters (Moong dal ki pakori)

    • Categories: Fried doughs; Side dish; Indian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: mung beans; peanut oil; asafetida; cilantro; ginger; bird's eye chiles; turmeric

  • Ground lamb samosas (Keema samosa)

    • Categories: Pies, tarts & pastries; Main course; Indian
    • Ingredients: unbleached white flour; ghee; olive oil; yogurt; turmeric; ground cayenne pepper; ground cumin; ground coriander; ginger; ground lamb; peanut oil; cinnamon sticks; cardamom pods; bay leaves; onions; tomato passata; peas; cilantro; bird's eye chiles; cardamom seeds; black peppercorns; black cumin seeds; whole cloves; nutmeg

  • Savory biscuits studded with cumin seeds (A kind of mutthri)

    • Categories: Cookies, biscuits & crackers; Indian
    • Ingredients: unbleached white flour; cumin seeds; ghee; olive oil

Notes about this book

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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Light rice pudding (Phirni)

    • wester on March 19, 2013

      Take care: different editions ask for different amounts of milk and sugar. The right amount is probably about 4 cups (1 quart/ 1 liter) of milk and about 50 g of sugar.

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  • ISBN 10 140004295X
  • ISBN 13 9781400042951
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Oct 05 2006
  • Format Hardcover
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

Publishers Text

Today's most highly regarded writer on Indian food gives us an enchanting memoir of her childhood in Delhi in an age and a society that has since disappeared.


Madhur (meaning "sweet as honey") Jaffrey grew up in a large family compound where her grandfather often presided over dinners at which forty or more members of his extended family would savor together the wonderfully flavorful dishes that were forever imprinted on Madhur's palate.


Climbing mango trees in the orchard, armed with a mixture of salt, pepper, ground chilies, and roasted cumin; picnicking in the Himalayan foothills on meatballs stuffed with raisins and mint and tucked into freshly baked pooris; sampling the heady flavors in the lunch boxes of Muslim friends; sneaking tastes of exotic street fare - these are the food memories Madhur Jaffrey draws on as a way of telling her story. Independent, sensitive, and ever curious, as a young girl she loved uncovering her family's many-layered history, and she was deeply affected by their personal trials and by the devastating consequences of Partition, which ripped their world apart.


Climbing the Mango Trees is both an enormously appealing account of an unusual childhood and a testament to the power of food to evoke memory. And, at the end, this treasure of a book contains a secret ingredient--more than thirty family recipes recovered from Madhur's childhood, which she now shares with us.

Other cookbooks by this author

Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India

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