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Forum Thread - Authentic cookery book

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James, on 5/3/2014 07:31am

Hello Mamta and everyone.

I have unsuccessfully been trying to get hold of a recipe book which has been discontinued, Cooking Delights of the Maharajas. I wonder if there is a wonderful, old, tried and tested Indian recipe bible or author that you recommend for original, authentic recipes?

Many thanks

James

AskCy, on 5/3/2014 05:22pm

You are on the best place to get authentic recipes :-)

Steve

Kavey, on 5/3/2014 05:26pm

As Steve says, there are hundreds of authentic recipes right here on Mamta's Kitchen, and they're free too. Some are by Mamta, some by her friends and family and some contributed by our readers.

But if you prefer a book, I've heard good things about Camellia Panjabi's book "50 Great Curries of India".

I don't have it (or any other such book) because I use mum's recipes right here!

:-)

Kavita

Askcy, on 5/3/2014 05:56pm

ps the book shows three available second hand on Amazon (but they want £100 for it !

James, on 5/3/2014 10:50pm

Thanks all.

Yes I am aware of the recipes here on the site and have used many over the years with great success. I have to confess though that I do like to collect Asian cookery books and am always searching to learn new recipes, techniques and flavours from different authors.

The book I was trying to get really interested me as I am looking for some very challenging recipes with complex flavours, however I can't quite stretch to over £100 for a second hand book to be shipped from the US!

Perhaps you can recommend a sophisticated, involved recipe on the site? Perhaps one that is cooked on special occasions, weddings or festivals etc?

Thanks again and great site Mamta and Kavey!

James

Mamta, on 6/3/2014 05:06am

Hello James

Books come and go, but some remain classics. I find that most books have some good recipes, but not all. I guess it is same here. What kind of Indian food you are after

The problem with Indian cuisine is that it varies significantly from state/region to region. Wedding feasts and special occasion cookery is also completely different in different regions. Then there is a difference between veg and non veg special occasion meals. It will be helpful to know what kind of foods (like meat/fist/poultry/veg) you enjoy and from which region.

You can go into Menu section on this site, It is located in a drop down section when you click on advice above.

I have an old book by Maharja Digvijay Singh ji at home, not sure of the title. It has some good recipes, but not all. I used to cook from it in my younger days. Is that the one you mean? I bought it in Delhi, it may be out of print now.

Mamta

yocky, on 7/3/2014 08:36am

I'd love a book like this too.

The 50 Great Curries book is interesting and certainly authentic, but it seems to have issues with ingredient quantities. If you're at the sort of level where you can sense that the recipe might be suggesting a little too much of "this", or not enough of "that" then go for it.

In fact, go for it anyway. For the price it has some amazing looking dishes.

Mamta, on 7/3/2014 10:44am

I just looked at Amazon. Yes it is the same book that I have. I am sure. there has to be some mistake in pricing. It is available at Indian Amazon shop for around £2.50!

Kavey, on 7/3/2014 06:49pm

Indian Amazon shop doesn't show it as available at all?

http://www.amazon.in/Cooking-Delights-Maharajas-Princely-Sailana/dp/8187111143

It's cheaper here: http://www.vakilspublications.com/Q014.asp

(but couldn't comment on postage)

And you can buy an E Book of it for very cheaply here, though who knows what quality is?

http://www.flipkart.com/cooking-delights-maharajas-exotic-dishes-princely-house-sailana/p/itmdr86xhkqjxswx

James, on 10/3/2014 07:50pm

Mamta and Kavey thanks for the info. Unfortunately I had previously tried those sources and for whatever reason the checkout process doesn't work. Also the ebook cannot be dowloaded outside India! Tssssk!!

Yoki / Kavey

I have 50 Great Curries and agree it is a very good book with delightful photography too. As with most recipes it gives a good guide for the spices to use but measures are definitely worth hiking up or down accordingly.

So, what is your favourite published Asian recipe book or author? Apart from Mamtas wonderful recipes, my favourite is probably Vivek Singh - Curry Classic and Contemporary or Julie Sahni Classic Indian.

Thanks all :-)

FT, on 5/3/2015 03:39pm

You can still get the "Cooking Delights of the Maharajahs" if you do a variety of searches. It is in its 14th edition now, I believe.

May I recommend a brilliant book by Mridula Baljekar, published by Lorenz Books in 2013? It is called "The Complete Indian Regional Cookbook", and it is certainly the best Indian cookbook that I possess. You do need a wide variety of ingredients but the recipes work and have meticulous instructions. You can spend many happy hours exploring the very different regions of India through their food.

Helen Bach, on 23/3/2015 12:56pm

I have about 300 cook books, mostly Indian. I wonder what authentic actually means in this context. It would be interesting to get people's opinion on this.

There are some very old recipes on the internet, somewhere, I have forgotten where, but they are more a list of ingredients rather than real recipes.

The other problem is that recipes evolve, so that more modern Indian recipes involve more spice, more oil, more onion and tomatoes than were around even 50 years ago. And ubiquitous garam masala sprinkles and fields of fresh coriander.

Seems to me, we have the global village idea to blame for most of it. But even within India, we have imported a lot of dishes, especially in the north, like vindaloo from Portugal, the Parsi dishes, Moghol dishes, and Pakistani dishes. Surely, no old trading nations have an authentic cuisine?

There are some good books with original recipes, best ones, IMHO, are the 'regional' cook books, as I believe one can master only the ones where we grew up and are totally at home with, although that is not to say these recipes haven't evolved, either.

Mamta, on 24/3/2015 06:57pm

Hello Helen

I agree with you mostly. India being such a vast country, it's cuisine varies from state to state. Then there is variations in different groups of people within a state. Then there are vegetarians and non vegetarians, onion and garlic eaters and ones that wouldn't touch either with a barge pole, like my late grandmother and MIL. They all cook superb but totally different food. Regional food varies caccording to what grows there. Then thereis everyday food,festivals food,, fasting dayfood, weddingfood and so on. These days, everything is available everywhere, so food in India, as elsewhere, is becoming cosmopolitan

And yes, the food has been influenced by travelers, invaders and conquerors. This happens everywhere. I bet less than 1% people in UK ate Indian food a century ago. Now UK has its own authentic Indian/Bangladeshi food. Most English people eat food hotter than I have ever cooked, hence the popularity of Vindaloo and jhaal, both of which I had not heard of while growing up in India.

Mamta, on 24/3/2015 07:00pm

I forgot to mention that I too bought quite a few regional books in my youth.but I have to say that most recipes were not accurately written in those days. I mostly picked them from watching others or asking around and experimenting.

Helen Bach, on 24/3/2015 08:55pm

I'm just wondering at the use of the word authentic. If I make a dish with different ingredients to the norm, is that non-authentic, or is it authentic to me!

We all know what is supposed to be in certain dishes, or do we? Recently, I bought a book on the food of Bombay (yes, it said Bombay!) and some of the recipes are very close to the ones I've ended up with by trial and error. But your comment about cooking with what is grown locally (now!) is a very good one, somehow the food I cooked in India with desi ingredients tasted better than similar ingredients sourced and cooked in the UK, but it was close, and I"m sure other non-cooking factors came into play!

Mamta, on 25/3/2015 07:01am

I take your point about 'authentic'. I guess 'authentic' is used for describing traditional dishes from any particular part of the world. The problem is though, every country, region, family has its own authentic recipes. Like your prawn curry, my dishes vary from day to day; I taste it, find something missing, add a bit of this and a bit of that, till I get the right taste. So is my dish not authentic? Who knows? I guess they are all entitled to call it authentic!

Bombay is like any other cosmopolitan cities, a melting pot of cuisine from all over India plus cuisine from other eastern and western countries these days. So what does your 'Bombay' touches on? Is it Maharashtri/Parsi/Gujarati/Western/Chinese or is it about street food of Mumbai?

I agree with you, fresh vegetables bought straight from vegetable vendors in India does taste much nicer than supermarket bought stuff :). I love the flavour of cauliflowers in India!

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