One Spice, Two Spice: American Food, Indian Flavors by Floyd Cardoz and Jane Daniels Lear

  • Goan spiced crab cakes
    • Categories: Appetizers / starters; Indian
    • Ingredients: turmeric; limes; white-fleshed fish; ground cayenne pepper; tomatoes; panko breadcrumbs; cilantro; fresh ginger; white onions; coriander seeds; cumin seeds; chives; crabmeat
    • Accompaniments: Avocado salad ; Tamarind chutney
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Notes about this book

  • DKennedy on March 08, 2014

    I bought this book after reading about it in the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. On p. 189 Deb Pearlman writes "I went to Tabla for the first time in 2000. It led to more than a decade of regular visits so I could get my fix of their obsessively good bhoondi raita (p. 247), saag paneer pizza (not listed)and apple and potato chat salad (p. 19), ...and popcorn." It wae this reference that made me seek out the book.

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Braised short ribs

    • peaceoutdesign on November 12, 2021

      Very tasty and I forgot the ginger so it could probably be even better. I used country short ribs rather than bone-in, there was less fat and I feel that some of the time the meat falls of the bone anyway.

  • Cauliflower caldin

    • peaceoutdesign on May 31, 2023

      This was pretty bland so I added lemongrass and some madras curry. It was also a bit too watery for me so I added a bit more coconut cream. I did add shrimp that I grilled first and then put on top.

  • Chilled cucumber soup with mint and basil

    • peaceoutdesign on May 07, 2020

      Refreshing and the perfect amount of cumin. I used Persian cucumbeers unpeeled and I wasn't able to do any of the herb chiffonade because we were camping, which might have even made it better.

  • Fish curry with eggplant and okra

    • JMILDER on September 20, 2011

      error in the title. should read 'Fish Curry..."

  • Hamburgers

    • DKennedy on March 10, 2014

      This is the first recipe from this book we tried. The burgers were really more suited to be a meatloaf, and next time I will make it into a loaf instead of individual patties. Having said that, we loved the flavor profile and would change nothing further. I served the burgers with a Honey Bee gouda, grilled onions and a mayo mixed with chutney. If I make it into a meatloaf next time I might top it with a tamarind spiced ketchup and serve it with a raita. Note that www used GF breadcrumbs in place of panko. The browning was fantastic so if I do it as a meatloaf, it will be a free standing one, allowing all the sides to brown.

  • Lentil soup

    • lorloff on May 23, 2020

      I had some lentils that I had cooked up to go with a salmon dish and was looking to turn it into soup. I made this starting with the cooked lentils and it was over the top great. The spice mixture is absolutely delicious. Will make again. We did it without the garnish. We did top the soup with the cilantro chiffonade which is a great addition to the soup. I made this again more recently and followed the recipe instructions to blend. Instead of using a stick blender to bend only part of it. I used the vitamix blender and the texture of the soup became too creamy. It is much better only partially blended.

  • Pumpkin rasam

    • eve_kloepper on November 03, 2011

      this is quite labor intensive, but worth it. I used regular lentils and rather than putting everything through a sieve, I processed it in my Vitamix.

  • Seared sea scallops with lime jaggery glaze

    • DKennedy on March 16, 2016

      P. 106 This is the second recipe I have made from this book. I made the glaze as described, substituting brown sugar for the jaggery and reducing the amount of Szechwan peppercorns from 8 to 3. The sauce is very sticky and overpoweringly tart, and the others pieces didn't seem to come through to balance things. We used it over shrimp instead of scallops. While I enjoyed the shrimp, it would not be a make again dish for our family.

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  • ISBN 10 0060735015
  • ISBN 13 9780060735012
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Nov 01 2006
  • Format Hardcover
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher William Morrow
  • Imprint Morrow Cookbooks

Publishers Text

Floyd Cardoz, chef and co-owner of New York City's Tabla restaurant, is one of the most exciting innovators working behind a stove today. And now, for the first time, he shares the extraordinary recipes that have established his reputation. In them Cardoz is able to make the quantum leap between the American palate and his taste memories - the food of his childhood in Bombay and Goa. The collection, One Spice, Two Spice, is an amalgam of two cuisines by a man who has mastered the flavors of each.


This volume of more than 140 recipes is a gift to all home cooks who enjoy the flavors of India but are intimidated by the unusual and numerous spices required to prepare these dishes. Here, Cardoz renders those spices user friendly in a down-to-earth primer and glossary. Then, in the recipe notes, he shows you how to easily integrate these new flavors into everyday meals and dinner-party fare. The techniques -- sautéing, panfrying, braising, poaching, and roasting -- are not new. The results, however, are astonishing.


Imagine crisp panfried black pepper shrimp, meaty sea scallops seared and served in a satiny sweet-sour glaze, asparagus and morels sautéed in a spicy blend of shallot, ginger, and chile -- all of which can be made in no time flat. Other recipes -- steak rubbed with crushed peppercorns and coriander, cumin, and mustard seeds, duck bathed in an aromatic orange curry, lamb meatballs filled with an herbaceous combination of fresh figs, cilantro, and mint and then napped with a lush, lustrous green sauce -- may require more marinating or cooking time, but the trade-off is Cardoz's three-star-restaurant cooking at home.


One Spice, Two Spice is more than a cookbook. It is a gateway to a different way of thinking about the food on your plate, and it brings Indian flavors into the modern American repertoire.



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