Customer Reviews

Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a good book for people with a casual interest in Indian cooking but if you are really looking for that rich tapestry of flavor and texture that is truly Indian cooking you may be disappointed. The book's ingredients and preparation methods are relatively simple, making it easy for newcomers to make their favorite Indian dish or try out a new chutney. However, Indian cooking is all about spices and I believe the authors compromised on taste in the interests of simplicity. The recipes I fixed looked great but always seemed to be lacking in terms of taste. After trying a dozen recipes with lack luster results I discarded this cookbook in favor of other books with more authentic tastes. In summary, if you want great illustrations and some easy recipes give this book a try. If you truly want to experience the tastes of India, I recommend you try Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking or The Spice is Right: Easy Indian Cooking for Today.

As an Indian who grew up in India and migrated to the U.S a little over two years ago, my knowledge of cooking was limited to instant noodles. Being a passionate foodie on a student budget and a new wife (double whammy, my husband was also a student at the time), I taught myself to cook by watching food TV. but my husband , a vegetarian (I've now taken care of that, whew!) missed his simple dal chawal subji (rice, lentils and usually dry vegetable--a regular everyday meal in every Indian household), and food TV wasn't much help! I started surfing the internet for recipes until a friend gifted me this book. What a lifesaver! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of Indian cooking (since then I've bought and sampled several cookbooks from renowned Indian chefs and nothing stands up to this in-depth and enriching culinary must-have)The introduction and explantion about each spice and its use was an eye-opener, and the recipes are not limited to one region of India. You won't find any use of generic curry powder-- all the ingredients are exactly what an Indian housewife in India would use, and the proof is in the eating. Forget the heavy cream sauces of mughlai food and the sad massacre of South Indian Sambhar and dosas that that have come to represent Indian cooking in the U.S-- this is as close to the real thing as you can get. Even now I turn at least twice a week to pick out a recipe for something as simple as making paneer or as complex as a biriyani. The text is simple, the pictures are wonderful and the English names of Indian ingredients make it easy for someone shopping in an ethinic section of say a New York gorcery store. Moreover Raghavan is helpful with tips and substitutions and I love the little nuggets of culinary history and information (I'm a culture buff and food is the best representation of any culture!), about the origination of a particular dish. I would gift this truly delightful Indian Cooking experience to any new cook in a jiffy!

This book is tremendous. I can only re-emphasize what other reviewers have written: the recipes are easy to follow, the ingredient lists are not intimidating, and the food tastes great! I have tried other Indian recipe sources in the past and have been disappointed with the results. But the recipes in this book produce beautiful, flavorful dishes that, while perhaps not restaurant quality, are far better than I had ever hoped to produce at home! Chefs of all skill levels will find this an excellent resource on Indian cooking.

Finally an Indian Cook book that covers the varied regions of India in a tasteful and colorful manner. I have been using this book for several months and have found it to be indispensible. Having grown up in Bombay and now a resident of the US, I find this book very easy to follow and the results have always been authentic and mouthwatering! It is such a breath of fresh air to work with recipies that don't have a laundry list of ingredients that are hard to find in this country, and still have the recipies turn out spectacular. Raghavan always seems to know which ingredients may be hard to find and offers easy to get substitutes. He has clearly demonstrated that Indian food doesn't have to be complicated to be good. What makes this book a resounding success is that it gets the intimidation factor out of Indian food. Now people from all over the world can enjoy Indian cuisine without all the stigma that the word "curry" brings. Thanks Raghavan for bringing Indian Home cooking into the mainstream. In closing I just want to add that not all Indians are as naive as the last two reviewers, who seemed to have completely missed the point of this book.

I bought this book since it had the Betty Crocker name attached to Indian cooking. However the book is a huge disappointment, to say the least. It is a mish-mash of North and South Indian recipes, some vegetarian, and some meat dishes, with no demarcation between anything. Recipe titles are poorly translated into English, and the Indian names are sometimes in Hindi and sometimes in tamil. While the pictures are tastefully done, seems like Raghavan iyer is otherwise confused. If you are Indian, you definitely can do without this book. And if you are a non-Indian looking to buy a good Indian cookbook, feel free to pass on this one. There are better books out there.

I ordered this book in July of 2002, and unfortunately I had to send it back because it was defective. Twenty pages were missing and twenty pages had been duplicted in their place. I asked that the book be replaced if a non-defective copy could be found, but instead my money was refunded. Just be sure to check your copy if you order this one. Otherwise, it looks like a great book and I hope I can eventually find a good copy.

Betty Crocker's Indian home cooking-recipes by Raghavan Iyer.
This cookbook can definately hold it's own against any others on the market.I own several Indian cookbooks and this was a refreshing addition to my collection.I especially enjoyed the garlic potato croquettes,they made a big hit in my home! sort of--- a sophisticated hush puppy.the minted blackeye peas and rice casserole was also nice,easy to make but with a complex,nicely spiced flavor.
I appreciate the time and effort Betty Crocker and there staff took with the beautifully breathtaking photography&to help demystify what different indian utensil look like.also the info on spicing will be helpful to all who are new to indian food.Mr.Iyer is very clear and precise in his recipes and information so you don't have to worry if your desserts or main dishes will come out true to form or not.speaking of desserts,they have a great indian version of bananas Foster in the book not to mention ice cream(they have eaten that in India for century's)a really great find!! of a great cuisine.BUY the BOOK or say good bye to some good eating.

This is a great book for getting started with Indian cooking. The recipes are easy to follow and the colorful photographs are very helpful. Indian restaurants are almost impossible to find here in Italy where we live. My wife and I bought this book so that we could try making Indian food at home. Without really knowing anything in the beginning, this book walked us through all the steps to create some great dishes. We are very happy with it!

This is really a wonderful book....put aside your stereotypes of Betty Crocker. It's full of beautiful photos and plenty of background on Indian Cuisine. There are shopping guides, guides on Indian kitchen utensils and all is written in a very clear format. I have many Indian cookbooks which are not half as descriptive as this. I checked this out of the library recently...it will soon be added to my collection.

I stumbled on to this wonderful indian cookbook while attending a cooking class taught by the author. I have found the recipes to be well documented and quite wonderful. This book has quickly become a favorite, and I can hardly wait for his next book to come out. If you like Cooking and love Indian Food, this is the book for you.