Complete Book of Indian Cooking: 350 Recipes from the Regions of India Paperback – Illustrated, October 1, 2007

I've used many different Indian cookbooks. None have such easy to follow instructions. No elaborate steps, incredibly delicious recipes. I have yet to make a recipe from this cookbook that our family doesn't love.

Julia Child is to Mastering The Art of French Cooking, as Suneeta Vaswani is to Complete Book of Indian Cooking: 350 Recipes from the Regions of India. This book really is that good, and the recipes are really that well refined and tested. It's the definitive Indian cookbook, that also separates recipes by region too, which is really awesome.Recipes are clear, concise, and offer tips in the side margins too. Whether you're a beginning chef or an expert, you'll be cooking expert-tasting food in no time. This book is NUTS! Look no further.A word of advice though... While most recipes in this book don't call for ingredients that are too exotic, there are a couple that come up, such as the super-pungent asafetida (hing) powder, or amachur (mango) powder, etc. While the book says optional on some of these, if you can find your nearest indian/asian supermarket, they'll have what you need. The more you don't leave out, the better and more authentic your food will be! After all, using authentic ingredients is the whole point of exploring a new cuisine!And a tip on storing asafetida powder... Asafetida (hing) powder is kind of annoying to store since it is so incredibly pungent and its smell leaks through most all containers, but what I do is double mason jar it, using a small 8oz mason jar inside of a wide-mouth 16oz mason jar, occasionally opening up the 16oz mason to vent the leaked smell out (once every 2 weeks or so). Doing this, I'm able to fully contain the smell. While it's a bit annoying to keep the smell contained when not in use, it's well-worth keeping it around, as it adds a wonderful taste to whatever it goes in, and it's that spice you can't quite put your finger on when you try to clone your favorite Indian restaurant's dish.

Good; would have preferred more vegetarian recipes and fewer non-vegetarian recipes.

I have used and owned a lot of Indian cookbooks. This is definitely one of the 'keepers'.

bought for gift they love it..

My husband likes Indian food, but I never did -- not at restaurants, anyway -- but since we have been making it at home, it's all I want. Making it at home, everything is fresh and light, and you can adjust for fats, etc. Have tried about 8 recipes from this book so far, all excellent. We have had to explore the local Indian/Asian markets, which has been fun, and we also ordered a few items from specialty shops online, but once you have your ingredients in the house, you won't be able to stop making things from this cookbook. It's going to be a well-used one in this house, for sure.

Having lived in Houston for almost a quarter of a century, I was familiar with Suneeta Vaswani's reputation as a cook, as well as with good Indian food, so I was happy to add her book to my collection. Although I have only made one recipe, I can say that I am thrilled and can't wait to try more. I made the hot and sour vegetable curry, and although I modified it some (extra potatoes in lieu of sweet potatoes), it was delicious. If you like Indian food and are bored with restaurants that serve the same old same old, buy this book today and start cooking.

Has lots of my favorite recipes -- with directions that are easy to follow, and seem authentic. Lots of hints on how to use unfamiliar ingredients, both cooking wise and how to prepare them. Each recipe has a map showing the area the food comes from and the pages are color coded.I made chicken korma and kheer for a party and both were big hits -- I've had several requests for the chicken korma, especially.