• Eat Your Books

  Published in the US as " Vegetarian India" (2015).

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Red lentil & courgette soup (Masoor dal aur courgette ka soup)

  • lourdesj on May 19, 2026

    The clove adds a warming effect. Fairly thick soup, nice as a starter, but I prefer others for a full meal.

• Okra fries (Tali bhindi)

  • MelMM on March 08, 2015

    Brilliant recipe, that will be a repeat in my house. The only thing I would change is to add salt to the chickpea flour/spice mixture, and then more salt when the okra slivers come out of the fryer.

• Pan-grilled courgettes with a spicy tomato sauce (Tala hua courgette)

  • kgrainger on July 12, 2019

    Made the spicy tomato sauce with 2 fresh tomatoes from the CSA and one canned fire roasted diced tomatoes. Added pan grilled zucchini and chickpeas to the sauce and ate with naan on the side. It is a great base for a quick curry.

• Salad of puffed rice, cucumbers, onions & tomatoes (Jhal moori)

  • London_Mummy on November 02, 2025

    This chaat was a big hit with all ages of the family. I increased the protein content by adding chick peas.

• Aubergine in a peanut & sesame sauce (Bhagara baigan)

  • London_Mummy on March 31, 2026

    Always such a delicious recipe, worth the extra effort to go through the different stages.

• Green beans with potatoes (Sem aur aloo ki sabzi)

  • Elizabeth.f on July 14, 2025

    Excellent. Omitted the asafoetida powder. Used black onion seeds an mustard seeds. Could increase quantity of potatoes.

  • lourdesj on May 19, 2026

    My favorite recipe in this book. Always delicious. I usually bump up the amount of tomato passata and potato.

• Stir-fried cabbage (Bandh gobi ki sabzi)

  • etcjm on March 08, 2021

    Perfectly good side. I used fresh red chillies. Always enjoy cabbage and there are quite a few recipes just like this one out there.

  • lourdesj on May 21, 2026

    Good as a side with other dishes, not the star.

• Roasted cauliflower with Punjabi seasonings (Oven ki gobi)

  • MelMM on March 08, 2015

    Didn't thrill me. This recipe somehow lacked a certain depth of flavor. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

  • anniecc on September 22, 2023

    This was pretty easy. I did not have time to marinade the cauliflower, so just tossed it with the spices and put it straight in the oven. I agree with the previous note that the flavour was good not great, but I would make it again simply because the oven method was so easy.

  • rionafaith on March 19, 2025

    Delicious spicy twist on your basic roasted cauliflower. I did the first half of cooking at a lower temp (like 350?) because I had something else in the oven, then flipped each piece and cranked the oven temp up after my other dish was removed. T seemed to really like this one!!

• Cauliflower with potatoes (Aloo gobi)

  • anniecc on May 04, 2025

    I’ve often made the author’s aloo gobi recipe from World Vegetarian, but decided to try this one due to the easier technique (start with cooked potatoes, add veg together rather than sequentially cooking). It was fine, but I prefer the flavour and texture of the original version. This one has quite a bit of added water which gave more of a steamed consistency, and the potatoes came out very soft. Still, the simpler technique is useful if you’re cooking it alongside other dishes.

• Lacinated winter kale in a Kashmiri style (Kale ki Kashmiri sabzi)

  • London_Mummy on April 02, 2026

    This is a really delicious cavolo nero recipe & easy to make.

• Mynah Pemmaiah's simple Kodava mushroom curry (Kumme curry)

  • rionafaith on January 20, 2018

    Good flavor but needs some tweaks with the liquid component. I used chicken stock instead of water since I had it, but 3/4 cup was waaaay too much and I ended up simmering with the cover off for quite a while longer to try to reduce everything so it wouldn't be so watery. Next time I would only add 1/4 cup liquid. Coconut milk would also be great instead of water/stock!

• Peas & potatoes cooked in a Bihari style (Matar ki ghugni)

  • MelMM on March 08, 2015

    Rather bland. I think this would be better if the onions were cooked longer, until they start to brown, rather than just soften. This would be more like 20 minutes instead of the 5 minutes specified in the recipe. Also, like every single recipe in this book I've tried, it needed more salt.

• Vinita Pittie's stir-fried potatoes with chaat masala (Chaat masalay walay aloo)

  • VineTomato on April 19, 2020

    Not the best, however I didn't follow the method precisely. Madhur calls for you to fry the spices and then remove and grind them - ugh - grinding spices that have been fried in oil, that seems like an unnecessary mission. Especially as most of the spices are already ground, and there is no huge spices. So I just added the potatoes and fried them with the spice. As I say not the best. Won't be making these again.

• Stir-fried orange pumpkin or butternut squash (Lal kaddu ki sabzi)

  • lourdesj on May 19, 2026

    Wonderful use of pumpkin or butternut, a nice slightly sweet complement to savory curries. Easy (except peeling and chopping the pumpkin).

• Yasmin Tayebbhoy's turnip bharta (Shaljum bharta)

  • London_Mummy on November 01, 2025

    I made this using a swede, for a meal at which I will serve several Indian dishes. It came out very tasty & is a novel way to cook what can be one of the most tedious British (seasonal, economical & nutritious) vegetables to find varied recipes for.

• Chana dal with spinach & tomato (Saag-tamatar wali chana dal)

  • SugarFree_Vegan on May 16, 2015

    pg 120 - I used much less oil (I used Coconut) to fry the spices and veggies for this delicious Dal. I also cooked my lentils in my InstantPot pressure cooker for 6 mins with a 10 min natural release, I'd soaked the dal for an hour prior to cooking and then tipped the lentils into the pan that I'd cooked the veggies in and then let it all bubble together for about 30 mins before adding the spinach.

  • etcjm on October 03, 2020

    Lovely. I had got into a bit of a rut with various dhals so looked quickly for an alternative. Enjoyed and will do again.

• Chickpeas in a simple Northern style (Roz kay chaney)

  • London_Mummy on April 02, 2026

    This really is an everyday classic recipe, which almost feels foolish to read from a cookbook. On the other hand, when you are in a rush, it is very convenient & reassuring simply to read a reliable author's recipe, to be sure you will not forget anything, to follow instructions, & to avoid having to exercise any discretion.

• Simple moong & masoor dal cooked in the style of Uttar Pradesh Muslims (Saadi Mussalmani moong aur masoor dal)

  • anniecc on February 17, 2025

    Easy and tasty dal recipe, a good choice for combining with other Indian dishes. I wasn’t sure if the author had intended this to be made with moong dal rather than whole beans - there seems to be some inconsistency in terminology compared to in other recipes in the book - but I used the whole beans and it worked fine. The dal is mildly spiced and the fried shallots are essential to the flavour.

• Mixed dal, Delhi style (Dilli ki mili jhuli dal)

  • MelMM on March 08, 2015

    Yet another recipe that was too bland from this book. It's becoming a theme. There was no need to mash the dal with a potato masher - after 45 minutes, it was already cooked to mush. The picture of the spices being fried on the previous page clearly shows turmeric in the oil, but the only turmeric in the recipe was added to the simmering dal, not to the oil. Annoying. The dish wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly exciting either.

• Whole red lentils with cumin & shallots (Sabut masoor)

  • etcjm on March 08, 2021

    Very simple to knock this up as a side - or even a lunch (which is what leftovers will be tomorrow). Not spicy, so adjust up if it's heat you are after. Took longer than an hour to cook the lentils down, so account for this. I will do this one again when feeding more people. Was lovely with peshwari naan.

  • anniecc on August 04, 2022

    This is my family’s favourite dal, although I normally cook it with split red lentils for speed and because I find the colour more attractive. If made with whole masoor dal it comes out deep brown for me, nothing like the colour in the photo. It’s not too spicy and the shallots add an amazing savoury flavour.

  • helene_ti6d40 on February 18, 2026

    Delicious. I didn't have whole red lentils so used a mix of whole urad dal and split urad dal for "creaminess". Cooked the lentils in my Instant Pot for 30 mins. Will definitely make again

  • London_Mummy on April 02, 2026

    A real classic, which my friend asked me to demonstrate.

• Rice with aubergine (Vangi bhaat)

  • London_Mummy on January 31, 2026

    This is a delicious traditional recipe. Madhur Jaffrey's instructions are always clear, practical & reliable.

• Vegetable biryani with cauliflower, carrot & peas (Gobi, gajar aur matar ki biryani)

  • London_Mummy on January 24, 2026

    I made a very similar recipe to this using a readymade spice blend. I used the back-of-the-packet recipe & it turned out delicious, however, unfortunately, the texture was technically incorrect, because the grains should all be separate. Mine came out more like risotto, mainly because I used brown basmati & must have added too much water for it. I am trying to switch away from white basmati permanently, so I will persevere with experiments until I get it right with brown basmati. Next time, I'll try presoaking the rice for longer, be more generous with the oil, & be bolder about not stirring it & adding much less water.

  • London_Mummy on April 02, 2026

    Again, I made a very similar recipe based on this recipe. To save time, I boiled the rice with the spices instead - sssh!

• Flattened rice with potatoes (Phova usli, an upma)

  • London_Mummy on November 22, 2025

    I'm using up a vast quantity of poha (flattened rice) which I had bought in bulk & this recipe came out well, with very traditional flavours. I added some frozen peas for extra protein, which we are all obsessed with doing these days.

• Rice flour & flattened rice pancakes (Rice flour & poha dosas)

  • London_Mummy on February 18, 2026

    I feel that, as soda bread is to sourdough, so these pancakes are to traditional dosa. Anyway, by using this practical recipe, I managed to make masala dosa for Pancake Day with no effort or planning. I added a little urad dhal & fenugreek seeds to improve the flavour & fermentation, & fermented the batter for barely two hours on the proofing programme of my oven. I do crave the authentic slow-fermented flavour, but that is always hard to achieve in the cold, damp British climate anyway. As they say, "Enough is as good as a feast."

• Rita D'Souza's rice flour pancakes (Rice flour dosas)

  • VineTomato on April 19, 2020

    There is an error in the recipe, the method refers to spices that are not listed in ingredients. These were very hard to cook. I first tried on my dosa pan - complete failure and then had little success in a non stick skillet. There were hardly any edible dosas by the end, but I was starting to get the hang of it. Two reflections: heat is good, they don't appear to burn easily and the timing of 2 min per side was accurate.

• Fresh Indian cheese in a butter tomato sauce (Paneer makhani)

  • fealachan on December 01, 2019

    Very easy recipe. I substitute sour cream for the cream and lemon juice. The recipe works well with chicken instead of the paneer as a cheat's butter chicken.

• Spinach with fresh Indian cheese (Saag paneer)

  • Avcount on January 03, 2022

    Love this recipe and make it frequently. Even better when using halloumi instead of paneer (though reduce the amount of salt).

  • London_Mummy on November 01, 2025

    This is one of the quickest recipes for saag paneer, so perfect for a meal for which one has to cook several dishes. Saag paneer is always a popular & familiar dish to serve guests, because one can find a version on the menu of nearly every British Indian restaurant! To save time I used frozen spinach, defrosted in the microwave.

• Simple seasoned yoghurt North Indian style (Dahi ka saada raita)

  • MelMM on March 08, 2015

    Very simple. Just yoghurt, ground red chiles, ground cumin, and salt. I doubled the salt, which made it about right. This was a nice condiment to serve with the other dishes I made from the book, and added a lot to their flavor.