Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking - Betty Crocker Editors

Betty Crocker DOES know Indian!

I have loved Indian food from the first time I tried it. I'm not lucky enough to live close to a town with an Indian restaurant, so I've been forced to learn how to make it at home. I started with some pretty generic recipes, but got more inspired by a Cooking Light article a few years ago. The results of those recipes led me to look for a cookbook that could teach me even more.

I almost fell on the floor laughing when my friend showed me her favorite Indian cookbook! Betty Crocker?!? But, her husband is Indian and she said when she wanted to learn how to cook Indian food his family recommended the book to her. Judging by the stains, dog-eared pages and notes in every margin, I could tell that the book was much used. She said she would part with it for a few days so I could try it out.

Sure enough, the first simple dish I made was fantastic! 'Potatoes with Peas' sounded pretty boring and I had all the ingredients in my mediocre spice rack, so my expectations weren't too high...which is probably why I was so blown away by my first taste. Who knew I could cook Indian food every bit as good as the restaurants I'd been to? I've tried 'Tomato Curry with Hard-Boiled Eggs' and a few other simple recipes and have so far been thrilled with the results.

Not only do you get great recipes, but if you're a mental traveler like me, you will learn about all the different regions of India and the various global influences on the cuisine. The book also has a great section on all the different ingredients required, including what they are and where to find them. You'll definitely need a bigger spice rack if you delve deeply into this book!

Some of the ingredients are tough to track down. I live in a small town, but I wasn't able to find some of the spices even at Whole Foods. I am, however, motivated enough to get online and search for what I need, because I'm dying to try some of the more exotic recipes.

My only real complaint about the book is that the substitutions for some ingredients are not totally clear. Sometimes a certain recipe will mention a substitution for an ingredient, but then it won't be mentioned in another recipe. Others are spoken about in the text at the beginning, but not mentioned in the recipes. I wish there were a clear chart or list of substitutions to make it easier to make something when you can't find the more exotic original ingredient.

All in all, this is a great book! A culinary adventure that will bring the flavors of India right into your own kitchen. And it's simpler to do than you might think!

Vegetarian recipe techniques given are spotty, hit and miss

Beginners will learn a great deal from the full page photos in the written introduction, the first section about spices, spice mixes, and their preparation. Experienced cooks will enjoy reading the sample Indian menus given on page 322 and looking at the fine introduction given. No cookbook so far gives such a fine and photographic introduction to tools, etc. Kudos to the author for making this part of the book. The masala section is very abbreviated - only a few blends given-we want more! For the next book by this author Id like to see some simple make ahead blends for use in vegetarian recipes. For more advanced information about masalas from the Sout specifically, see the great South Indian cookbook, "Darshan" by Padma R. This book is my bible for "pudis" or South Indian powders and dry chutney powders. I wold have liked to see perhaps a simple flax seed pudi in this book.
Strong recipes here for the beginnig cook include the batter breads-similar to pancakes- and the grilled meat recipes. Any beginner would benefit ftom trying these out because they offer a platform (meat or pancakes) for learning about speices and for educating your palate. Meat dishes are far less complicated than many vegetarian recipes.
Beginners will benefit from the techniques given for the meat and the batter bread recipes. The book tries to do the impossible-encompass the food of 14 language regions and bring it into the American kitchen. I thikn this is an admirable job. I have a few bones to pick which follow. But I heartily reccommend the book to my American friends looking to learn how to cook Indian food.
Some photos are misleading, however. The uppama on page 231 looks far too wet and the yogurt rice on page 215 looks far too dry. Uppama should not look like it does on page 231 or you have not done it right. Heres how the recipe could be improved:
Uppama/page 230/ "Step 4: Stir in hot wheat cereal. Cover and simmer 3 to 4 minutes." No! Delete that. The lid should not be left on at all but left off while the starchy grain (cream of wheat) is folded rapidly over heat for about four to six minutes until actually dry and fluffy. Uppama is not a custard or a risotto. It is more like a torn bread salad - with light airy clumps. The recipe reflects the understanding of a beginner in this omission. When this folding technique is employed properly this recipe is indeed amazing in its flexibility.
Starchy grains such as rice are not as easy to control as you might think. In some ways rice dishes are harder to make than vegetable or meat dishes. The reason is that the rice grains change even after being cooked in response to the steam vapor and they have the capacity to absorb a great deal of water. The most important part of cooking rice is to leave it on the stove for ten minutes after cooking with the flame OFF after time is up. Stem in the pot will get reabsorbed by the grains to make them soft.
Kudos to R. Iyer for bringing us such a beautiful rendition of our extremely complex and rich cuisine.

A great book for beginners to experts.

I bought this book a year ago because I enjoy eating Indian food and wanted to learn the recipes. This book has taught me more than I expected about spices and new foods. I highly recommend this book but be warned, you must like to cook because the dishes often take one to three hours from start to clean up. The reason is Indian dishes require lots of vegetable chopping, spice grinding and measuring, simmering and you will use lots of cookware. It is a workout but I have enjoyed the result of each of my recipes. The one thing I like most about this book and the recipes is how much I have learned about spices, their names and their flavors. It is fascinating how many flavors there are. One last and very important note, make sure you get most of the spices listed in the beginning of the book before you start because they rarely have them in normal grocery stores. I get all of my spices at a store in Seattle named WORLDSPICE.COM. They do ship spices anywhere and it will save you a big headache if you just buy from them online. Have a good time cooking!!!

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I received this book from Amazon after reviewing it at a Barnes and Noble because I wanted to know about it before I purchased from Amazon. I am happy with the book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in authentic Indian food. I haven't made my first dish yet but I have marked the dishes that I plan to make based on how simple they are and there are quite a bit of dishes that I chose. I look forward to reaping the rewards of my culinary ability.

Don't get fooled by the title - buy the book!

I was very skeptical that this book would be any good especially for Indian cooking. But after rave reviews from some of my friends and the reviewers on Amazon I bought it and could not have been happier.

Even for someone who grew up in India and is very familiar with Indian cooking, it is an awesome book. Here is what I liked:
- starts with the basics
- gives great suggestions on where to buy items including online stores
- explains the 'why' not just the 'how' which is very interesting and useful
- gives plenty of alternatives for hard-to-find ingredients or equipment
- covers a wide range of dishes from all over India - and covers the exotic as well as the daily fare

I have not found a better book for Indian cooking, so go get it!