Quick-Fix Indian: Easy, Exotic Dishes in 30 Minutes or Less [Paperback]

What a fantastic follow up by Ruta! I love Indian food, but the idea of cooking it always left me baffled. While Ruta's first book Five Spices Fifty Dishes gave me the courage to attempt cooking Indian, her second book Quick Fix Indian made it just so easy! The recipes are clear, concise and easy to follow. More importantly they end up tasting just like they sound. Well done Ruta! Will enjoy this book for some time, and will look forward to more from you in the near future. Thank you!

I love...let me repeat...LOVE Indian cooking. If Indian cooking were Katie Holmes, I'd jump up on Oprah's couch for her (it turns out TomKat wasn't eternal love, but Indian cooking and I are forever). All of those spices and ingredients intimidated me, however, so until now our relationship could only be pursued in restaurants. Then a foodie friend gave me Quick Fix Indian with the promise that "even I" could make these dishes, and it's true! I started with Green Masala Lamb Curry - fantastic! Black Pepper Shrimp was even better. I can't believe I actually made these at home. The recipes really are easy to follow and take less than 30 minutes. If a dummy like me can make food this good, so can you.

Quick-Fix Indian is well worth the wait. Ruta Kahate's previous book 5 Spices, 50 Dishes has long been a mainstay in my kitchen -- I've cooked every dish in it at least once, and a dozen or so of them have become such staples of my repertoire that I don't even need to pull the book off the shelf anymore, since every detail is memorized. The book wasn't my introduction to cooking Indian food (that would be my mother), but did more than any other cookbook I've encountered to give me a firm grasp of the fundamentals that undergird this cuisine -- and to develop an appreciation for how simple, forgiving, and flexible they are. Few cookbooks have empowered me so much to improvise and create on my own, and in the years of waiting for Kahate's next book I've often used the recipes in the 5 Spices book as launchpads for dishes of my own devising. Still, it is very nice to be back in the hands of a master! Like 5 Spices, this book is marked by Kahate's characteristic combination of humor, flair, and good sense. The commentary and contextualizing discussions are entertaining and beautifully written, but they don't overpower the recipes, which are clearly the main event. I've been steadily working my way through the book, and every recipe is intelligently crafted, rock-solid reliable, and delicious. I have a few favorites so far (the black pepper shrimp with curry leaves and the potato "chops" are both gorgeous, and Kahate's banana fritters taste *exactly* like the ones I remember from my childhood), but every one I've tried so far is a keeper. As the book's title suggests, the emphasis here is on whipping up beautiful meals quickly, and I appreciate the care with which Kahate streamlines the cooking process without compromising taste, freshness, or healthfulness. It's also a relief that she's relaxed her strict insistence in 5 Spices on using freshly-ground spices every time (I regularly flout that stricture, by the way, and the results are still delicious)! My only quibble is that the title perhaps understates the worth of the book -- this is in many ways an even better introduction to Indian cooking than Kahate's last, with all its virtues of clarity and inventiveness and a significantly expanded range. I know I'll be living out of it for the next few months, and gifting it liberally to both fledgling and expert cooks.