Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cilantro-lime chutney

  • Yildiz100 on November 14, 2018

    Delicious and easier than it appears as most of the ingredients here are for chaat masala, and the author does give you permission to use store bought! The perfect, all purpose green chutney. I needed a bit more liquid for blending (started in the fp then moved tp the blender for a smoother texture) so I added, while blending, small amounts extra lime juice and water (alterrnating) till I was happy with the texture. Made a half recipe. A nice amount that will be easy to use up. Make full batch if making bhel puri. Update. Made full recipe and didn't need extra liquid for effective blending. Sauce was less tart and I missed the acidity. Add extra lime.

• Mint chicken tikka marinade

  • sarahcooks on July 18, 2011

    I made this with cilantro instead of mint and it was really good. I only used 1 lb of chicken and froze the rest of the marinade for another time. Next time I'll keep a little marinade aside before putting the chicken in so I can use it as a dip without having to boil it (which I've heard isn't the best idea from a food safety standpoint anyway).

• Mysore coconut soup

  • Yildiz100 on July 01, 2014

    I didn't have tamarind paste, just concentrate, so I substituted a heaping tablespoon of the concentrate for the 1/4 cup paste. I have no idea what the proper conversion would be, but this was quite tart. Still, I thought this was bland, so I'd only consider making this again if I needed something on hand for my toddler. (She loved it without the chili.)

• Pureed spinach soup

  • ashallen on November 26, 2020

    The flavor profile of this soup is not a kind I crave, so I probably won't make it again. It's pretty earthy without sweetness or acidic brightness, though the ginger lightened it a bit. I chose to use a Punjabi-style garam masala I had on hand for the "garam masala" called for in the recipe, but a brighter, more citrusy garam masala would have worked better. I liked the flavors better after mixing in generous amounts of whole milk yogurt. On the plus side, however, it did a great job of immediately settling an upset stomach I had and, given all various greens it contains, is a very healthy soup! Quite thin-textured, though swirling in yogurt thickens it. Author doesn't mention anything about adding salt for this particular recipe - I ended up adding 1-1.5 tsp.

• Vegetable soup with yogurt and coconut

  • sarahcooks on October 15, 2012

    Very quick and easy soup to make using things we usually have on hand. Love that you can use whatever vegetables you have, great way to clear out the fridge! Not sure if it's even possible to keep fat free yogurt from breaking, but it tasted fine anyway.

• Spicy shrimp soup with coconut milk and tomato

  • amoule on April 06, 2015

    pg. 193

• Chickpea chaat salad with fresh pomegranate seeds

  • Yildiz100 on May 04, 2019

    So delicious! I needed more acidity so I added some lime. This may have been because of my tamarind preparation (I used some tamarind water that I had previously prepared for Vietnamese cooking thickened with a little tamarind concentrate). Omitted the cilantro - personal preference. Next time will use both the whites and greens of the scallions to give the salad more color.

  • Yildiz100 on October 13, 2023

    Reduce coriander

• Pomegranate potatoes

  • Yildiz100 on April 06, 2019

    I reduced the dried pomegranate and the coriander from 3 to 2 Tbs each. Even at this level there was excess crumbled in the bottom of the pan. The potatoes were beautiful though, like a blackened potato. Ok flavor but I decided that dried pomegranate is not my favorite souring agent. To me it smells a little like rancid oil.

• Creamy mashed eggplant with peas

  • sarahcooks on July 18, 2011

    I really enjoyed this, and I didn't even have peas! Next time I'll lower the heat level so I can give it to my kids. I served it with chicken tikka and cous cous.

• Kerala coconut eggplant

  • Yildiz100 on January 02, 2017

    I had many doubts along the way, but this turned out great. I needed to use up some zucchini , so I subbed peeled zucchini for the eggplant. I only add 414 grams (slightly less than a pound) and that was the perfect amount. The 1.25 pounds she calls for might have been too much for the sauce. The first step in the recipe is to make a paste of onions, ginger, chiles, and spices. This spice is then fried until it is golden. The problem is it's hard to tell if you are making any progress when the paste is already golden brown from turmeric, etc. Next time I'll add the spices after the paste has fried a while. I think this might also prevent the other issue I had, which was the paste wanted to form balls like a dough. I used the full three chiles-was very spicy. The only other change was added about 2 TBS water when it was ready to simmer. Was looking dry.

• Roasted baby zucchini rounds

  • sarahcooks on October 09, 2011

    My zucchini weren't babies, but they were good anyway. Lots of different flavors going on here, vey tasty. Just make sure you brown them long enough.

• Grilled yogurt-marinated cauliflower

  • britt on September 23, 2010

    Good! I used MDH brand (chunky) chaat masala instead of making my own. Maybe 8/10 heatwise. I did not seed the serranos before adding them to the marinade. I may leave out some seeds next time.

• Mixed bell peppers with peas

  • abengal on December 30, 2021

    A good recipe. Stir fried the red capsicums so that they were cooked before adding at the peas and tomatoes stage. They would have been too raw for us if added in as per the recipe. Only used two capsicums but they were very large. Will make again.

• Spicy split black urad beans with split chickpeas

  • Yildiz100 on May 12, 2020

    Nice but not exciting. Note the black cardamom (at least the brand I had) is extremely smoky. Even though I halved it, it was almost overwhelming.

• Chickpeas with ginger, garlic, and chaat masala

  • Yildiz100 on November 27, 2018

    This is not terribly exciting, but it is so simple to make that works well as a quick, healthy snack. Made a half recipe.

• Classic spicy curry sauce

  • rachael_h0nzkk on May 01, 2026

    To be honest, I was skeptical. As I tasted as I cooked I was disappointed in the thin flavor. When it had cooked down to a thick sauce, maybe 45 minutes, I realized that though the flavor was more delicate that the Indian I am used to, it actually was very good. I used it to pour on kofta.

• Kerala mixed vegetable curry

  • sarahcooks on December 05, 2010

    This didn't have a lot of flavor, probably because the spices were whole, and I don't usually think of south indian food as bland so there must of been something wrong here.

• Tamarind Chicken

  • Yildiz100 on October 13, 2023

    Not bad, but not exciting. If I make this again. I will reduce the coriander a bit.

• Basic chicken curry

  • sdeathe on March 01, 2020

    Easy and delicious, this has become a go-to recipe for a curry fix.

• Chicken curry with dry-roasted spices

  • sarahcooks on May 28, 2013

    We loved this! I cooked the onions a lot longer to get them nice and dark brown, then blended them with the yogurt. I also used whole milk yogurt. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Really delicious.

• Yogurt chicken curry with caramelized onions

  • sarahcooks on December 06, 2013

    Not sure how you're supposed to keep fat free yogurt from cuddling when you boil it, no matter how careful I am it always happens. I even used part skim yogurt and it still was a curdled mess.

• Nirmala's Sinhi chicken curry

  • sarahcooks on September 18, 2023

    Something doesn't seem right here. Way too much onion, and I love onions. Not enough tomato to make the sauce really tomatoey.

• Semolina pancakes with tomatoes and bell peppers

  • Yildiz100 on August 09, 2013

    This must be made on a non-stick skillet! I usually have no problems with my well-seasoned cast iron, but this stuck terribly. I used course semolina instead of fine, and it had a very nice texture. This batter absorbs a lot of oil, so this is not diet food. It would have been nice with a coconut chutney on the side. Next time!