The Chakhle India Cookbook - A Book Review

The Chakhle India Cookbook is Aditya Bal’s first book based on his famous food show on NDTV Goodtimes anchored by him. This show has him discover various cuisines across India. Simplicity is the apt word to describe this book. This book showcases an interesting mix of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian in India.

Highlights of the Book:

The first thing which I liked is the presentation of ingredients in the Indian Pantry in an organized way. The ingredients have been classified into Aromatics, Souring agents, Spices, Herbs etc. Even the kitchen equipments have been classified into categories like chopping boards, knives, machinery, small wares etc. This brings clarity in the minds of the reader.

I also liked the cooking techniques given in the book.  The technique of Yakhni, searing was new to me. Each cooking technique has been explained in very informative and brief manner.  The basic processes like making coconut milk, ginger-garlic paste are given in a lucid manner.

While browsing through the recipes, I liked the way in which each recipe is presented. Each recipe starts with a brief description and its specialty. The ingredients and methods are also bifurcated which makes it easier for the reader to understand the recipe. 

About the recipes :

I was a bit disappointed while browsing through the recipes. About 75-80% of the book-volume contains non-vegeterian recipes.  There is only one section in the book that has all vegetarian recipes. This is quite disappointing for Vegetarians and Vegans.

But while going through the non veg recipes, I found that even Vegetarians can make those non-veg recipes by substituting the non veg ingredients with Tofu, Paneer, Broccoli, Cauliflower.  For eg, in Dhaniwal Korma, the meat can be substituted with Cauliflower or In Murgh Noorjehani, the chicken can be substituted with ‘Paneer’ to make it Paneer Noorjehani. 

I was also a bit disappointed while browsing through the sweet section. It contains very commonly known sweets like Gulab Jamun, Shrikhand, Shahi Tukda. The author could have included less known regional sweets like Daulat ki Chaat, Bombay Halwa, Gil-e-Firdaus etc.

 Some more expectations :

The first thing that catches our attention in any cookbook are the pictures of the recipes. I have a habit of going through all the pictures before going through the actual recipe. But in case of this book, I had a great disappointment with the quality of pictures used.  The images look like photography done an amateur photographer.

The book deals with main course, snacks and sweet recipes. But in many regions of India, a variety of breads / rotis are made. Also, Indian pickles and chutney are famous over the globe. The author could have included recipes such side-dishes and breads.

Another observation is about the index of recipes. Instead of usual indexing at the beginning, the book has been divided into Categories of recipes. The index is given at the beginning of each section which is quite an innovative idea. The index along with page numbers would have been more convenient for the readers.  Also, the contents are not properly aligned.  Is it a style or they have missed out on this.

The author could have also given the exact measurement in few Basic recipes. For example, for ginger-garlic paste, the proportion of ginger and garlic is not specified in the cookbook.

Lastly :

The book is published by Westland publication and is priced at Rs. 395. It contains approx. 24 vegetarian recipes (including sweets).  Hence, a good book for hard core non-vegetarians.

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Zomato Restaurant Guide 2012 - A Book Review

I was excited to see Bloggers adda offering the Zomato Restaurant Guide 2012 for review. I immediately showed interest for review and received a copy of the book for review.  

About the book:

 Zomato Restuarant Guide provides detailed information about various restaurants in the city. It provides a list of must-visit restaurants of a city. These recommendations are based on a wide range of categories (15 to 20) such as romantic dinners, girls night out, dining with kids, nightlife & clubbing, best wine list, and more! This guide has a unique QR code for each restaurant. Using this code, you can view menus, photos & other information related to each restaurant.

The guide helps you find the most suitable restaurant for a variety of occasions. It also provides names of restaurants where you can enjoy savings on Citibank Cards.

Even though I would recommend searching for restaurants online, this book serves as an additional reference point as it has information organized and bifurcated into various categories (around 22). Additionally, the compact size of the book makes it very easy to carry around. This book is especially useful for foodies (like me J) who like to experiment and try out a variety of cuisines.

However, I would like to point out that the book misses out on some notable restaurants in the city like Barbeque Nation, Grillopolis, Saffron Spice, Flags etc. 

Some pluses:

• The book has an appealing cover page with excellent printing quality, has glossy and well-designed pages and has excellent photography for each section.
• The book has been meticulously categorized based on cuisines like Asian, Italian, European, North Indian, South Indian etc. and also on occasions and moods like street food, girls night out, late Nighters, Dining with kids, and so on. 
• Apart from standard information about address and contact numbers of restaurants, information about home delivery, acceptance of credit and so on has been given in each listing.
• The restaurant listing also carries a QR code. By scanning the QR code, smartphone users can instantly access the menus of the restaurants on the Zomato portal.
• Another highlight in the listing is the inclusion of the ‘Don’t miss’ information that gives recommendation about specialty dishes of that restaurant
• Each restaurant included in the book has information on the user rating along with information about the number of users who have reviewed the book.
• Most of the information about the restaurant has been included in a crisp way. User does not have to read through lot of pages
• An index has been maintained at the end of the book that lists all the restaurants appearing in the guide.

Some Minuses:

• In my opinion, the biggest minus point is that many of the popular restaurants have not been included in the guide. For example, Barbeque Nation, Flags, Kobes, Yoko Sizzlers, Grillopolis and so on. 
• The book can include location-wise distribution of restaurants. 

Some more expectations :

• For the benefit of vegetarians, the book can include categories for Gujarati Thali. This can include restaurants like Golden Star (at Charni Road), Rajdhani and so on.
• The guide should also cover niche yet popular segments. For example, it can include information on Maharashtrian-speciality restaurants like Prakash (famous for Sabudana Wada & Piyush), Vinay Health Home (for Misal). 
• Also some of the restaurants like Samarpan (South Indian Cuisine), Govindas (pure vegetarian food), Sukhsagar (Pav-bhaji, Idli and Pizza), Sadar (Famous for Pav-bhaji) should find place in this guide.
• The guide should give information about availability of parking space including Valet parking.
• It may also include additional information about acceptance of various food coupons like Ticket Restaurant coupons and so on.
• It can also include information about hall facility for family functions.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books! 

Gujarati Kitchen - A book review

I love skimming and reading cookbooks the way as some people love to skim and read magazines. Recently, I got an opportunity to review a cookbook on Blogadda.com and I immediately expressed my interest. Here are my thoughts about ‘Gujarati Kitchen’ authored by Bhanu Hajratwala. Gujarati cuisine being very close to my heart, I enjoyed reading through this cookbook.

Gujarati cuisine has been appropriately termed as ‘The haute cuisine of vegetarianism’ by the famous cookbook writer ‘Madhur Jaffrey’ in ‘Flavours of India’, which is one of the popular Indian food television shows.  I feel that Gujarati cuisine offers distinctive flavors and a lot of variety in terms of recipes.  In addition to the main meal, the ‘Farsans’ served along side compliment the main meal beautifully. Being a vegetarian, I am also a huge fan of Gujarati recipes and when this book ‘Gujarati Kitchen’ by Bhanu Hajratwala came to my hands, I couldn’t keep it down without reading it in one go. Here are my observations..

About the author :

As given in the book, Bhanu Hajratwala, a cook par-excellence, is fondly called the ‘Martha Stewart’ of Gujarati cooking by her friends and family. The author was raised in a traditional Gujarati family in the Fiji Islands where she developed her initial taste for authentic homemade Gujarati dishes. When she moved to the United States after marriage, she learned to improvise and maintain authentic flavors despite the limited availability of ingredients. Since then, she has compiled several cookbooks for community organizations, recipes for worship during ceremonies and has also conducted cooking demonstrations and classes throughout the US, New Zealand, Fiji, India and Australia

About the book :

Apart from Tarla Dalal’s cookbook, I haven’t come across any cookbook which gives you an assortment of recipes of delectable dishes that Gujarati food lovers would relish. This book by Bhanu Hajratwala is an attempt to document classic Gujarati recipes starting with the basic pickles, rice varieties and rice accompaniments to the more complicated and difficult recipes like the Undhiyu, Mohanthaal etc. In a traditional Gujarati meal, there is no differentiation such as starters, main-course, desserts etc. Everything is served at once in a thali (big plate), like Shrikhand is served with Puri, Kachori or dhokla is served along with main course, and so on. However, you will notice that the author has skillfully bifurcated the Gujarati thali into various courses for easy reference. 

Apart from including detailed recipes for meals, the author has included recipes for quick snacks, tea-time snacks, drinks and after-dinner mouth freshners (popularly known as ‘Mukhwaas’ in Gujarati).

The author has also ensured that she provides the names of each ingredient in English. This makes it easier for non-gujaratis to understand the ingredients and the recipe accurately. 

Each mouth-watering recipe has been presented in an elegant and easy-to-understand manner. This makes the it easy for the readers to follow the recipe. Also, the various easy-to-make spice blends given in this book can be used in multiple recipes. This book also provides comprehensive information on spices and seasonings, kitchen equipment, authentic preparation techniques and suggested menus.  

Some notable recipes :

There are approximately 80 plus recipes included in this book. Majority of the sections contain photographs. Some of the notable recipes include traditional recipes like Kachori, Dudhina Muthia, Khandvi, Methina Gotta, Dal-Dhokli, Undhiyu etc. It also includes basic recipes like Phulka, Puri, Khichdi etc. which are made on daily basis in Gujarati homes. Apart from that it also has recipe of Masala Chai, without which it is impossible for any Gujarati family to start its day.


To my surprise, there are also non-vegetarian Gujarati dishes included in this book. I was totally unaware that Gujarati cuisine includes non-vegetarian dishes also. I will not be in position to comment on the non-vegetarian section due to my limited knowledge. However, the author has included non-vegetarian dishes like Kheema Fataka, Marghanu Shaak etc.

Some more expectations:

Gujarati thali is the most popular thali in Indian cuisine. In my view, some more sample menus from Gujarati thali could have been included in this book. 

Also, the author could have included sections like Farali menu (Moryo, Sabudana khichdi), Gujarati street food menu (Dabeli, Surti Locho) etc. 

As Gujarati cuisine has a rich  variety of recipes, I expect the author to come out with second part of this book and feature more traditional Gujarati recipes like Ubadiyu, Lilva, Kachariyu, Khichu, Adadiyu, Dakor Gota, Methi na Khakra, Handvo, Sambhariya, Lachko,  Vagharela Bhaat, Surti Ghari, Sev tameta nu shaak, Osaman,  Ringan no ollo,  Theplas etc.  

Some  salient features of Gujarati Kitchen  :

• Includes most of the traditional Gujarati recipes including popular and everyday recipes
• Includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian Gujarati recipes
• Gives general tips like cooking time,  preparation time and washing instructions. These are easy to follow and especially goodfor beginners
• Lists  down key ingredients and information pertaining to basic spices, herbs, seasoning, cooking oil etc. used in Gujarati food
• Features information pertaining to various measurements (bifurcated into liquid and solid measures)
• Provides an  easy to follow recipe of spice blends like Tea masala, Garam masala etc.
• Recipes includes 6 vegetarian starters, 4 Non vegetarian starters, 14 vegetarian main-course, 11 non-vegetarian main-course, 7 Indian breads, 3 Rice items, 6 Accompaniments with rice,  12 sweets (Mithai), 7 Chutneys and relishes, 6 Pickles, 5 Tea-time snacks, 4 Drinks and 3 mouth-fresheners.
• Photographs are featured in majority of the sections
• Gives a sample Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian menu at the end
• Total number of pages – 161
• Bookprice in INR – Rs. 395

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