Master Chefs of India. The Indian Vegetarian Cookbook. Roli Books, New Delhi, 2000
This book is smaller than my hand. No joke, it is smaller than my hand. And I have small hands. That said, there's a lot of interest packed into this tiny tome. I can't remember where I first picked it up, if it was in a used bookstore or in an Indian grocery, but I remember that I picked it up for very little money. I know I've had it for a while but I haven't used it much. Maybe it's because it's small size is dwarfed by the other cookbooks in my collection. Maybe it's because my husband sees me breaking out the vegetarian cookbooks and immediately begins making travel plans for work. Maybe it's because I don't know who the "Master Chefs of India" are or what their qualifications are. After all, Masaharu Morimoto has a restaurant in Mumbai (I think it's Mumbai), according to his cookbook. Is he now a Master Chef of India? If so, this book certainly predates his restaurant there, because there are no recipes for cabbage ice cream or kohlrabi fries.
Seriously, though, every time I take this book off my shelf I find myself wondering why I haven't done more with it. The recipes are certainly different and exciting. Some of the ingredients may be a little difficult to find, but many of them can be made using ingredients easily found in most major metropolitan areas. The recipes are written very simply, so that they are very easy to follow, and they sound so delicious! It's so easy to get into a vegetable rut, especially when each half of a couple has diverging tastes in vegetables. Even if you follow a more omnivorous diet, like me, you'll still find it useful to find new ways to keep vegetables interesting.
Of course, there are some flaws. The size of the book, of course, makes it easily overlooked. There are no illustrations at all, which many people will find frustrating. Measurements are sometimes given in Imperial units, but always in metric units, and the inconsistency is a little difficult to read. Finally, when I have used this book, either directly or as a springboard for something else, I've found that their quantities of some ingredients are a little different from what I would have expected. I'm thinking a lot more of things, like a huge quantity of paneer for four people. All the same, I really like this cookbook. Now that I've written it down, here's hoping that I'll remember to refer to it more often in the future!
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