Six Spices: A Simple Concept of Indian Cooking [Hardcover]

Shortly after I became a vegetarian, I became very bored of bland vegetables and beans. Then one of my friends kept bringing her mother's Indian cooking over and I was instantly in love and decided vegetarian dishes really can taste much better than meat dishes. Whenever I asked her for the recipes, she would say they were very complicated or I would never find the ingredients or she doesn't even know because none of it is written down. So I began my own search for vegetarian Indian recipes and was becoming very frustrated at the laundry list of ingredients they all required. Stumbling across this book was a true blessing. Here's what I love about this book:

- ORGANIZATION: This cookbook has the best organization of any cookbook I have seen. Each chapter features a cooking technique and all the recipes from the chapter use this technique. Each chapter also has similar types of recipes (like Chapter 2 is mostly vegetables, Chapter 3 is mostly dals, etc.). At the beginning of each chapter is a short list of spices and fresh ingredients. As long as you have these on hand, most recipes will only require one or two additional ingredients.

- INFORMATIVE AND CONCISE: The author provides enough information without making the reading overwhelming. Each chapter begins with an introduction and helpful tips necessary to make the recipes in that chapter. Then each recipe has an English name and Indian name and a sentence or two on how to prepare and serve the recipe. The last chapter called Tips and Techniques has a lot of useful information too, and should probably be read first. This cookbook is more than just a book of recipes.

- UNIQUE RECIPES: The recipes are similar enough to each other that you do not need an abundance of ingredients, yet they are all very unique. I really like how the author focuses on changing the main ingredient but keeping the spices relatively consistent. This allows you to eat a variety of different foods without spending too much money on ingredients you rarely use.

- EASY TO FIND INGREDIENTS: While there are some ingredients which can only be found in Indian grocery stores, this book uses relatively few compared to other books I've seen. The ingredients used in this book which are not easy to find are: ghee, asafetida, curry leaves, paneer, and some dals. There are some other ingredients, but they don't appear in many recipes.

- VEGGIE-FRIENDLY: This isn't a book for vegans, but vegetarians will love it. When I was first looking for an Indian cookbook, I was limiting my search to books with vegetarian in the title. I'm glad I broadened my search because this book is nearly all vegetarian recipes. The meat recipes are almost all in Chapter 5, leaving Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6 full of vegetarian recipes. There are great seasoned vegetables ranging from corn and potatoes to okra and mustard greens. There's a recipe for almost all beans and dals.

- LOOK AND DESIGN: The book is very pretty and colorful. It has pictures throughout but you can tell they are not used as fillers. The book conveniently lies flat so that it's easy to read while cooking. The font and layout for the recipes is consistent and readable.

This book is one of my two favorite Indian cookbooks. My other favorite is Flavors of India by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff. Happy cooking :)

I own a couple of hundred cookbooks. So I no longer judge cookbooks by the recipes I do not make, I look at what I do make (either for a special occasion or what is on the menu for a weeknight). And since we are now vegetarians, we look for vegetarian (preferably vegan) options. This cookbook scores on all three counts (although it is not a vegetarian cookbook much less vegan).

Six spices is slightly misleading. Mustard seed, cumin, asafetida, chili, coriander and turmeric are the official six. But dried ingredients like green mango powder and fresh ones like ginger and garlic are often lumped with the spices. No matter, many of the recipes are simple enough for a weeknight, yet the quality is good enough for company.

There are two bonuses to this book over other Indian cookbooks we have: first, it includes some South Indian classics not often found in the US (e.g., Lemon Rice which is very practical as it can be made ahead -- and is enjoyed by all). Second, this is an instructional book: it doesn't just give you recipes, it teaches you how to cook. And if you need to have a balanced meal for a weeknight, you can always improvise on one of the many fine vegetable dishes like carrot and pea curry and throw in tofu or paneer (plus bread or a simple rice like cumin rice) and give the family a delicious balanced meal with two pans.

We have several other Indian cookbooks we love. But this one gets the most use.

Six Spices is a fine introduction to making tasty and healthful food in the aromatic style of India. You will have no problem finding any of the six spices: coriander, cumin, chile (dried and fresh), ginger, mustard seed and tumeric (fresh or powdered).

It looks a trifle suspicious when a successful book, to wit, "5 Spices 50 Dishes" is getting a perfect score here on Amazon, that another one rolls by, smelling quite close. Do we need this book?

To be sure, Kahate has a nice book in "5 & 50". It has good purpose and scope, namely to introduce the fundamentals of Indian cuisine. Indian food is the most complex in its preparation and execution that I have ever encountered, on average. It is not the most difficult in technique, but there are, again on average, more steps than any other cuisine I know. "5 Spices..." solves this barrier by introducing a simple approach to fundamentals.

So why Six? Maybe not if you already have 5. But here are my reasons to choose this one:

- Chilies are the sixth spice. Saluja includes just enough for those of us that love Indian hot
- Hardbound for close to the same price. This book is well made for decades of use. It lays flat on your
counter!
- Better organized. I like a section to tell me how to make food by seasoning in hot oil, and then the next
for clarified butter, a.k.a. ghee. Then powdered spice, then curry paste. Finally, a chapter looking to
more complete meals.
- More than "50" recipes, but thoughtfully so.

I have some minor aesthetic reasons as well. I like their publisher, Jones Books, in Madison, WI. I like not needing a named food photographer. I like the use of "Six" rather than "5 and 50" because numbers suggest or suppose other purposes, such as serial numbers and the like. All this is my small beer.

Buy both if you can. But get cooking with them.

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