Madhur Jaffrey's World-Of-The-East Vegetarian Cooking

by Madhur Jaffrey

Book Overview

From the "queen of Indian cooking" (Saveur), an encyclopedic vegetarian cookbook, with more than 400 recipes from across Asia and the Middle East.

In this magnificent collection of meatless recipes, Madhur Jaffrey, the beloved author of An Invitation to Indian Cooking, has not only tapped the rich culinary heritage of India, where the majority of the population has been vegetarian for thousands of years, but from all across Asia and the Middle East. From a seaside villa in Balli, a Buddhist temple in South Korea, street bazaars in Kuwait, and a 300-year-old inn in Kyoto to the noodle shops of Bangkok and her own mother's kitchen in Delhi, these are the global flavors of vegetable-forward cooking.

Among the marvelous recipes:
- Carrots Cooked in Dashi
- Very Spicy, Delicious Chickpeas
- Dat?maki (Japanese rolled omelette)
- Bindaetuk (Mung bean pancakes)
- Tomatoes Cooked in the Bengali Style
- Sweet Rice with Orange Rind
- Cold, Summer Noodles
- Banana Pooris
- Zucchini Halwa

As well as directions on how to make myriad pickles; how to create the rich vegetable stock vital to a good soup; and how to cook to perfection all sorts of rices and grains.

The vegetable section alone contains more than 120 recipes for everything from Cauliflower and Potatoes Cooked with Fenugreek and Fennel Seeds, Collard Greens, and Sweet-and-Sour Eggplant to Green Beans with Fresh Coconut and Sesame Seeds.

Step by illustrated step, Madhur shows how to extract soy-bean milk; how to make bean curd and bean sprouts; and how to make yogurt, fresh cheeses, and wheat gluten (all rich in protein).

Richly illustrated with charming--and instructive--drawings, this comprehensive cookbook will change the way you think about vegetarian cooking.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394748670
• ISBN13: 9780394748672
• Release Date: November 1981
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 1.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 8.1" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

I wish I could give it more stars!

There hasn't been one recipe from this book that I haven't loved. I found in my public library and started copying the first few recipes onto cards. After my third time of checking this book out, I realized that I would be copying the whole book if I continued. My personal favorites are the Very Spicy Chickpeas, Her recipe for Paranthas, tofu and Broccoli. All I can say is don't be intimidated by the spice lists. It makes the ingrediants and recipe look twice as long and complicated as it really is. I also love the artwork! It is beautiful and elegant to me.

A Treasure of a Cookbook!

I first flipped through this book when I was a teenager almost 18 years ago. I have to admit I was a little put off my the ingredients and techniques that were all so new to me. Years later I gave it another look through. Being a vegetarian at the time, I was missing Chinese food and wanted to try making some of my own. I bought this book and that was it for me. Every weekend I found myself exploring Chinatown, Little India, Japanese, Korean and Thai grocery stores. Afterwards I'd run home and whip up some outstanding meals.Since then, I've collected most of Madhur Jaffrey's books and my kitchen has truly transformed. I fell in love with Asian food, so much so that I packed up my cases and headed over here to Asia. This is truly an inspirational and indispensable book. Her Chinese dishes are among the best and her Indian ones are far better than any dishes I've ever had at any Indian restaurant. The tomato chutney is out of this world!This book is a great launching pad if you're a vegetarian and want to learn how to cook. It's a great alternative to the gaseous bean-filled or heavy-handed cheese recipes in other Western veggie cookbooks. It's also a fantastic cookbook if you want to venture into Asian cooking. Give it a go!

Most interesting cookbook I've owned ...

I've owned this cookbook for more than a decade and the diversity of curious and interesting recipies never fails to captivate and inspire me. While her later cookbooks have beautiful color photographs, I can browse time after time to increase my understanding of how cuisine can be configured. I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner from this cookbook and regularly enjoyed one of my favorite breakfast meals - Blackeye Pea Pancakes rolled with chutney. Aging the mash overnight with the requisite jalapeno pepper in the mix allowed for a tangy, slightly fermented quality to the batter - just think about the collision with chutney in the middle! I generally don't cook by recipes, so this cookbook has allowed my sense of food to expand and be nurtured by creatively inspired, simple knowledge. Madhur Jaffrey's work will never let you down and this information source has long been a foundation stone of my understanding of how interesting food can be.

excellent vegetarian cookbook: flavorful, varied

When I lived in a household with cooking shared among 7 adults, and over 5 linear feet of cookbooks, over half our meals came from this book. She's accessible and reliable: the worse recipe we tried was merely "good", and most were very good to excellent! Most recipes are easy, although some are only for the ambitious. My only complaint: it's a paperback, so the binding will fall apart from the heavy use you're likely to give this cookbook.