Just Married, Please Excuse - Book Review

When I got this book for review, I was so sure that it would be a very interesting one. The cover of the book gave away that clue.Yes, it said - Opposites Attract-Trouble! Isn't that enough to make me read it all at once.

This book is the debut novel from Yashodhara Lal who is has an MBA from IIT- Bangalore and has a vast experience in the corporate world ,across FMCG and media industries.

Yashodhara starts her career in a large MNC and she is smitten over Vijay who is also in the marketing department where she is a trainee. She is a modern girl from the city in her early 20’s eager for a life full of adventure and he is a laid-back cute boy from a small town,seven years her senior.

When he pop’s the question for the right time to get married, she is worried if things will work out.First of all Yashodhara feels that she needs more time to get to know Vijay, while he feels the three months that they have known each other is more than enough to get married!

Soon, after a lot of arguments and thinking, they tie and knot and then one fine day she learns that they are going to welcome the little bundle of joy into the family, which is really unexpected!She goes through all the discomforts of pregnancy and Vijay tries to please and comfort her in the best possible way.

Once their daughter, whom they fondly nicknamed peanuts, is born, everything changes. All those things that happen when the couples live far away from each other happen in their life too and it all looks like a big mess.

Soon its time to come back home to Mumbai from her mom's home and raise the child together when they find that all they do is argue at the drop of the hat. She seeks a marriage counselor to sort things out and her MIL spills out a few magic words of wisdom to make a marriage work.

Through the many differences, they seek to get back to their old routine and make life a wonderful journey for which they realize communication is the key.

What I love about this book I was able to relate myself to most of the situations in this book. I am sure that most of you will feel the same too. The circumstances dealt in this book are something very common but what makes this book a good read is that everything is told in a very humorous manner.

The chapters have very charming names –

Caution- Marriage ahead

Rough Road

Disaster zone

I love the characters in this book. They are very well etched out by the author and she makes you think you know that person for a long time. Like the maid Zarreena who drops in unannounced and takes up the position of the house help and becomes a ‘live-in’ maid without actually living with them!

Then there is the driver Vinod, who seems to know every nook and corner of Mumbai and is a very humble and gracious fellow

One cannot suppress the smile when Yashodhara describes the scenes when Kajal,who comes from her mom’s house to help the couple with the baby, sneaks behind Vijay as if to spy on him.And of course there are the trivial conflicts between Zarrenna and Kajal.

I could not control my laughter at the ‘tsunami situation’ which arises when Yashodhara bangs the door after a heated argument with her husband and neighbors all think there is an earthquake which will lead to a tsunami!

Also to be mentioned are the counseling sessions with Dr.Reema,where Yashodhara has been sweet enough to share with the readers.

The only down side of this book is that the readers must be familiar in Hindi.There are several places where the language is used . I feel that a translation could have been provided for the ‘non-hindi’ readers.

Would I recommend this book?

A Big Yes…

Is doesn't matter if you are still waiting for cupid arrow to strike you or you are newly married or married for a whole decade or more, this book takes you through the wonderful journey called life in a very humorous way that make it a good read any time….

At a glance

Book - Just Married , Please Excuse

Author - Yashodhara Lal

Publisher - Harper Collins Publishers

Genre - Fiction

No. of Pages - 255

Price - INR 199

This is not a paid review.This book was reviewed for Indiblogger as a part of the Harper Collins review program.

Happy Browsing...

The Krishna Key - Book Review

This post is' first' of many kinds!This is the first time, I am doing a review for a book of a different genre.And the first one happens to be Ashwin Sanghi's thriller -The Krishna Key.This also happens to be my first read of this author's book.

The author – Ashwin Sanghi…

Ashwin Sanghi is an entrepreneur by profession but due to his passion for thrillers ,took up writing historical thrillers. This book is his third,the other two being-The Rozabal Line,a theological thriller and the political thriller-Chanakya Chant.

The Book - The Krishna Key …..

I love thrillers and this one is no exception.Each chapter starts with Lord Krishna narrating a story from the Mahabharata, followed by the story that is set in modern times.

The story starts with the murder of Anil Varshney, a leading linguist and symbolist. The story revolves around 4 seals from the Vedic period .Anil has one and has given the remaining 3 seals for safe keeping to three of his classmates who are now scientists in various fields. The fourth one which is in his possession is stolen by his murderer. The left leg is stabbed and a mark of Vishnu is stamped on Anil's forehead. A verse is written with his blood on the wall above him. This pattern of killings continues as the murderer seeks the remaining three seals.

Professor Ravi Mohan Saini ,who is Anil’s closest friend gets ‘involved’ in the series murders that take place. The police mistake him for the suspect and Saini escapes from police custody along with his Doctoral student, Priya and this is facilitated by Priya’s father who is a lawyer. He tries to prove his innocence by going to various places to meet the other people who have the seal but they are murdered before he arrives and since he is invariably present in murder scenes, it makes his side of the case weak.

Taarak Vakil, who is tutored by the desperado in various arts with the belief that he is the 10^th incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the actual culprit but gets away from the crime easily.

There are several interesting twists and turns in this tale. Friend turns foe and the antagonist turns into Saini’s love interest.

The bevy of scientists in this novel come into focus at different points of the story to uncover Lord Krishna’s prized possession- the Syamantaka or the Philosopher’s stone. The 4 seals are in a way connected to the discovery of this stone.

The fast paced plots takes the reader on a journey to Dwaraka, Somnath ,the icy Kailash mountain and finally to the famous Taj Mahal.

Is Saini able to prove his innocence and does he get hold of the Philosopher’s stone is the climax.

My view….

·        Mythology intermingled with the present day thriller is a good attribute. The short snippets at the start of each chapter give an insight to the stories from the Mahabharata and the modern day story tries to interpret the Vedic period in a different light.

·        Significance of the numbers 18 and 108 is explained in a clear way and it brings out the importance of these numbers in Hinduism. Interestingly there are 108 chapters in this book.

·        Aspects like -'Was nuclear weapon used in the 'Mahabharata war',history of the Somnath temple, architectural feat of the Taj Mahal, the powers of the Shiv Linga and the reason why Bhel leaves are used to cover it are discussed in an interesting way.

·        The book is well researched and even has an acknowledgment and reference section at the end

·        I love Dan Brown's works and this book somehow reminded me of ‘Angel’s and Demon’s. Since the settings and characters are different, the story is appealing.

·        Certain points are repeated at various places and in my opinion they could have been avoided.

·        There are a few errors and care could have been taken to avoid them especially the one that mixes up the names of the 2 female characters.

Do I recommend this book? 

YES....Reading a book that has a fast paced story with an interesting intertwine of two eras is totally exhilarating! If you are a history buff / love the epics / have a soft spot for thrillers, this book is a must read....

At a glance

Book - The Krishna Key

Author - Ashwin Sanghi

Publisher - Westland Ltd.

No. of Pages - 464

Price - INR 250

This is not a paid review.This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Happy Browsing...

Aval Upma For Taste And Create

As with any recipe,Aval upma too has numerous versions and this one is from Sowmya's Blog with whom I am paired for September's edition of Taste and Create. Taste and create is an blogging community created by Nicole of For the Love of Food, where bloggers are paired and recreate the dishes from the partner blog.

This time, I chose to make Aval upma from Sowmya's blog as it was a little different from what I usually prepare. We love this upma and the different taste is always welcome at our table.

Here is Sowmya's recipe...

Poha/ Aval/ pressed rice - 1 cup
Onion, finely chopped - 1
Green chilli-1 chopped
Red chilli- 1 broken into bits
Potato-1,small,peeled and cubed
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Cashewnuts- fried- a few
Salt to taste
Oil- 1 teaspoon

1. Wash the poha and drain . Sprinkle some water and let it rest till it softens.
2. Microwave the potato till done.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, cumin and curry leaves.
4. When it splutters, add the onion , green and red chilli and saute till the onion turns soft.
5. Add the potato, turmeric powder,salt and poha.
6. Mix well and sprinkle a little water it the mixture is dry.
7. Remove from heat and serve garnished with grated  coconut and fried cashews.

Each month,it is fun creating dishes for  Taste and Create ...Would you like to join ? Just email Min @ cowgirlmin07@gmail.com with your name, blog name and a link to your blog to sign up.Hope to see you in the next edition of Taste and Create....

Bon Appetit...

Sesame Ladoo For Ganesh Chathurthi

The third week of Blogging Marathon #20,comes to an end today and my final post in this series for 'Kids Delight-Potluck party' is a flavorful ladoo which is a hit with Lil Angel.

There are so many versions of sesame ladoo and the simplest one is posted here. Today's recipe for made specially for Ganesh Chathurthi [and my Lil one] and is a no- cook dish. Very simple procedure yet very delicious and healthy.

Sesame seeds are rich in Calcium and Jaggery is a good source of Iron .So this is a healthier option when compared to chocolates.

I used:

Toasted White sesame seeds - 1/2 cup
Grated Jaggery - 1/4 cup [Adjust to taste]
Grated coconut - less than 1/4 cup
Roasted bengal gram - 2 teaspoons
Cardamom powder- a pinch

1. In a blender jar, put in all the ingredients and blend for a few seconds.There can still be a few pieces of gram dal and sesame seeds.These will add a nice crunch to the ladoo.
2. Transfer the mixture into a bow.
3. Add the powdered / grated jaggery and mix well.
4. Make small balls from the mixture and the ladoos are ready to serve.....

This nutritious treat is off to Srivalli's Kid's Delight - Potluck Party

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#20

Wishing all my readers....

Bon Appetit...

Chocolate Jamuns and Choco- Vanilla Ice Cream

Just like cakes, a party with sweets/ desserts is a huge hit with kids.For the second day of blogging marathon #20,day 2, I am posting this delicious dessert that was a hit in our place.

Some time back,mom passed on a gulab jamun packet that she had. She knew Lil Angel loves it and so that pack came home with us.Wanting to make something innovative, I tried this stuffed jamuns. Needless to say,it was very delicious and the Lil one at home loved it more than ever because it had chocolate chips in it.

The process is quite simple even though the title of the post is lengthy. Since we are using a gulab jamun ready mix, the time taken to make jamuns from scratch is hugely reduced.Also I got a liter of vanilla ice cream from the ice cream parlour and just add a few ingredients to jazz it up.....

I used:

For chocolate jamuns

Gulab jamun ready mix - packet

Chocolate chips

Oil to deep fry

Sugar -1 cup

Water

For Choco vanilla ice cream

Vanilla ice cream

Choco chips

Bourbon biscuits / or any chocolate cream biscuit

1.Take the gulab jamun mix in a bowl.

2.Add water little by little and prepare a soft dough.Let it rest covered for 15 minutes.

3.Take a small portion of the dough and flatten it

4.Place a few chocolate chips in the centre

5.Bring the edges together and form balls.The surface of the rolled balls must be smooth without any cracks. Also take care not to roll them to a stiff/tight ball.

6.Meanwhile prepare the sugar syrup.Heat sugar with 1.5 cups of water and prepare a sugar syrup. The syrup should be slightly sticky to tough.

7.Deep fry the chocolate jamuns in oil till golden brown. Take care to maintain the temperature of the oil.If the oil is too hot, the outside turn brown,while it remains doughy inside.When the oil turns hot, lower the temperature.

8. Drop the fried chocolate jamuns into the warm sugar syrup till it absorbs the syrup and puffs up lightly.

While the jamuns are drinking up the sugary syrup, let us prepare the ice cream.Let the ice cram sit on the kitchen counter till it is soft.Take the required quantity in a bowl, add chocolate chip and roughly broken biscuits.

Mix well and re freeze till set and ready to serve....

Here is a peek into the chocolate jamuns.Some of the chocolate chips have melted while some are whole.They are a delight to eat!

Serving ideas......

Gulab jamun with a dollop of ice cream topped with cherries...

or...

Place a block of ice cram on a serving plate.Place a few jamun on top and garish with chocolate chips and chopped nuts.....

This delicious treat is off to Srivalli's Kid's Delight - Potluck Party

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#20

Bon Appetit...

2 Minute Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake [Eggless]

When there is  a party, there is always cake. So when Srivalli announced Kid's Delight - Potluck Party, I made a note to bake something for this event.This also happens to be my theme for the 3rd week of Blogging Marathon #20.

For a long, long time, ever since I first saw this 2 minute MW mug cake recipe published in some blogs, I have been wanting to try it.I have a lot of mugs, but not those microwave proof ones. I did not want to risk the microwave so I was postponing making this cake till I could buy some beautiful mugs that could showcase this lovely cake.

I almost always forget to buy these mugs when I go shopping and when I do remember, I do not get the ones I am looking for. So the wait continued till the day I watched Master Chef Australia’s Master Class. There, a cake was baked in the Microwave for 2 minutes and it was done is a paper cup. I was like, ‘Why didn't I think of this before!’.So I put a temporary halt to my search and made the cake in the paper cup that I had at home.

I followed the recipe from Sharmi's blog  and it came out perfect. Since I was not sure if the cake would ‘overflow’ while baking I prepared the cake mixture in a different vessel and poured it into the cups.Later I prepared in mixture in the cup itself and it did not spill over.

The cake was moist and we enjoyed it last evening……

I used : [per cup]

All purpose flour - 3 tablespoons

Cocoa powder - 1.5 tablespoons

Powdered sugar - 3 tablespoon

Cooking oil- 3 tablespoons

Milk - 3 tablespoon

Baking soda - 2 pinches [ The original recipe used - 1/8 tsp]

Salt- a large pinch [ The original recipe used - 1/8 tsp]

Choco-chips / chocolate vermicelli / sprinkles for garnish

1. Put in the dry ingredients in a cup [or mug].Mix well.
2. Add the liquid ingredients and mix well till the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.
3. Microwave on high for 2 minutes [see note below] or till a skewer comes out clean.
4. Serve garnished with Choco-chips / chocolate vermicelli / sprinkles

 Note :

• Be sure to mix all the ingredients well,else it will remain as lumps at the bottom of the cup.
•  I added the choco chips and sprinkles on the cake mixture before baking but most of them sank into the mixture. So I added some after the cake was baked, while it was still warm. It had a double benefit- choco chips and sprinkles both inside the cake as well as on the outside as a garnish!
• The time to bake this came in the microwave will vary depending on the voltage and watts. On the day I baked this came, the voltage was less, so took a little longer to bake.
• The baking time will also differ from oven to oven.
•  You can serve this as such or with ice creams / topped with choco chips / sprinkles / whipped cream / chocolate sauce etc.
•  This is be a hit in the kiddy party. You can bake them in paper cups and serve. The kids will love it and we don’t have to worry about mugs getting broken.

Lil Angel's favorite....

My Favorite...

Chocolate vermicelli [and powdered sugar] gave and excellent crunch to the cake

These awesome MW cakes are off to Srivalli's Kid's Delight - Potluck Party

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#20

Bon Appetit...

Vengaya Milagu Kuzhambu | Pearl onions in Pepper Gravy

I have a special place for pearl onions.It is slightly sweeter than the regular onions and I love its flavor.Pearl onions are fat and cholesterol free and are a good source of Vitamin C.Pearl onion  is also said to regulate the blood sugar levels and is good to fight against infections and digestive disorders.

Today I have prepared a simple gravy to go with rice using pearl onions for the final post for Blogging Marathon #20, week 2,with the theme - Cooking with onion...

I used:

Pearl onion- 20 numbers
Garlic- 5 pods, peeled
Tomato - 1, ripe, finley chopped
Tamarind paste- 1 1/2 tablespoons,dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 teaspoon
Freshly ground pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- a large pinch
Sambar powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves- a few
Sesame oil- 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

1. Peal the pearl onion and cut into two  if it is large.[Basically they should be of the same size.]
2. Heat oil in a pan and put in mustard and fenugreek seeds.
3. When it crackles, add the pearl onion, garlic and curry eaves.
4. Saute for a few minutes till the onions turn pink.
5. Put in the tomato and cook till the tomato is mushy.
6. Add the tamarind extract to the pan.
7. Put in the turmeric powder, pepper powder, sambar powder, salt.
8. Mix well and bring to boil on low flame.Keep stirring once once in a while.
9. Do a taste taste, if it is sour, add a little water,else let it simmer till it thickens.
10. Remove from heat and serve as a side dish with steamed rice

Note :

• I added sambar powder for flavor. It is optional.
• Freshly ground pepper powder gives the best taste.
• Similarly, the dish tastes best when prepared with sesame oil. If it is not available, sunflower oil can be used.
• If the gravy is very watery, dissolve a little rice flour in water and add to pan.Boil till it reduces.
• Since the gravy is thick and spicy, a small quantity is sufficient to be mixed with steamed rice. The quantity you see above was for 4 portions.

Pearl onion-pepper gravy with steamed rice and pappad

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#20

Bon Appetit...

Onion Samosa

I sat there waiting for the patient to go through the diet chart so that I could go for the break. I was tired and my throat was parched.The break time tea was something I was looking forward to. We staffs would gather in the staff room for a short break at 11am everyday for a cup of tea and some biscuits. We would talk about everything other than those related to patients.

So that day when the patient left the counselling room, I rushed for my cup of tea. Our bubbly receptionist had forgotten to buy the customary biscuits and we were very disappointed. She promised to be back in 10 minutes with the biscuits from the shop around the corner. But she was back in just two minutes with a playful look on her face.

'Who wants onion samosa'? , she asked.All our hands shot up and in a few minutes, the biscuits were forgotten and we were enjoying crispy onion samosa with piping hot tea. It took us sometime to ask her where the onion samosa materialized from.

We soon found out that there is a person on a two wheeler who sells tea and onion samosa,something like a mobile snack bar!.We had a new hospital building coming up and he was spotted there everyday supplying tea and snack to people who worked there.Though we had seen him several times,never once did it strike us to see what he was selling.

Forgotten was the fact that we had got the samosas from a road side seller. Not taken into the account was how the samosas were prepared.What mattered to us that day was how we enjoyed the samosas with tea that day...

After a while we learnt that he got the samosas from a wholesale shop which was situated somewhere in our area and that place was not so bad.So from then till the building was complete we used to enjoy these samosas once in a while.

I still crave for those samosas.I have never seen them in bakeries here. Though I wanted to prepare them at home, the perfect time never came until today when I made this for Blogging Marathon, to post under the theme - Cooking with onion...

I used:

For the outer covering :


Maida/All purpose flour -1 cup
Hot oil-1 tablespoon
Ajwain / Bishops weed-1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For the filling

Onions-2, thinly sliced
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Kasuri methi/ dried fenugreek leaves- 1/4 teaspoon
Bread crumbs- 1 tablespoon [ see note below]
Salt to taste
Oil- 1 tablespoon

For the paste to seal the samosas

All purpose flour -1 tablespoon
Water

For the outer covering

1. In a bowl put in maida/ all purpose flour,Ajwain and salt.Mix well
2. Make a well in the center and put in the oil.Carefully fold in the flour to cover the oil.After a few seconds mix well[use a spatula if needed]
3. Add water little by little to make a smooth dough.
4. Knead for a couple of minutes ,smear oil on the dough and let it rest covered for 15 minutes.

For the filling:

1. Heat oil in a pan and put in cumin seeds.
2. When it crackles, put in the onion.
3. Saute for a few minutes and add salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
4. Mix well and cook till onions are cooked but still have a light crunch.
5. Add kasuri methi and bread crumbs.
6. Mix well and remove from heat .Make sure the filling is really dry.
7. Use after it has cooled well.

For the paste to seal the samosa:

Mix the all purpose flour with a little water to make a paste and keep aside

• After the dough has rested,knead once again and pinch out golf sized balls and roll out as thinly as possible. 
• Cut rectangular strips and keep them covered with a wet cloth.Heat a griddle and lightly toast these strips.
• They should look like the ones below. If they are cooked longer, the samosas will break. The reason we pre-cook them is to get a crunchy covering.

Apply the paste length wise [up and down] and fold to a cone. Put a little of the filling and seal the open end.

• Keep the stuffed samosas covered with a wet cloth,else they will turn hard. 
• Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the samosas till golden brown. Drain ans serve.

I made a few triangular ones and for the remaining, sandwiched the filling between the strips....

The samosas were crunchy and we enjoyed it with a cup of coffee....

Note :

• The reason we add bread crumbs is to get a non-soggy filling.That is, if the onion filling 'sweats' the bread crumbs will soak up the moisture and keep the filling dry. If the filling has moisture, the samosas will be soggy.
• If there is some filling left, it can be used  as a filling for sandwich.
• Adding kasuri methi to the filling is optional.You can add coriander leaves / mint leaves / curry leaves to suit your taste.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#20

Bon Appetit...

The Chakh Le India Cookbook - Book Review

Do you know someone who had an extremely successful modelling career and then enters Bollywood but gives it all up for the love of cooking?Yea right,I am talking about Aditya Bal. He has just released his first cookbook - The Chakh Le India Cookbook...

This book has been complied based on his travels and culinary explorations from the first three seasons of his TV show featured in NTVD good times.

Born in New Delhi, Aditya spent his childhood in Kashmir and enjoyed his life in the idyllic place.He loved the food that his mom cooked for the family, a skill that she inherited from her mother.He used to spend his vacations with his grandmom in Delhi and she too would stuff him with delicious food not to mention the baked stuffs!

Aditya firmly believes that his knack for cooking was passed down through the generations and still treasures his grandmom's hand written recipes.

Now, coming to the book,as you can see the front cover houses the Author in the Kitchen.The inside cover is very impressive!It traces the recipe on a sketched map of India!Each orange flag denotes the place of origin of the dish seen in this book.

I found the table of contents very prettily laid out.

Then there is the acknowledgement thanking the various people who have helped him come so far.

In the introduction, you can read all about his journey,the time from his childhood to the time he landed in Goa looking for a chef's position and then doing the culinary road show for NDTV.

Then comes some interesting aspects....

• The Indian Pantry - where the need for a well stocked and organised pantry is emphasised.Here various ingredients are grouped [like - aromatics, chillies,dairy,herbs,spices,souring agents etc.] and briefly mentions how to use them in cooking.

• Essential Kitchen Gear - The basic cooking gear you may need to start up a functional kitchen

• Cooking Techniques - explains the various culinary terms used in the cookbook.There are around 22 words that are neatly explained in a couple of sentences and on reading them, I felt like I was in food science class.The techniques are put in simple words that can be of use to novice cooks.

•   There are some basic recipes like how to prepare - coconut milk / ginger garlic paste / kokum extract,tamarind extract,tomato puree and whisk curd.This section is really short and sweet.

After this is the actual recipe section.

It is divided into various sections 

• Meat - 14 recipes
• Chicken - 15 recipes
• Fish and seafood - 17 recipes
• Vegetarian - 10 recipes
• Snacks - 10 recipes
• Sweet - 10 recipes

Each section starts with a color photograph of Aditya taken during his culinary tours.There is one pic of him riding a camel,chatting with a snack vendor[a small boy], posing with a person preparing dessert etc....

What I liked about this book :

• The fact that he has written about the pantry ingredients and explaining how they flavor the food is really nice. This will be of use when a non- Indian wants to cook real Indian food.
• The ingredient section in the recipe clearly mentions what is needed for each step - like the marinade / sauce / curry base / for the layers etc.
• The step-wise instructions for the recipes is very well written, explaining each small thing clearly and also he mentions why certain steps are involved or why some ingredients are used in a particular way.It is always nice to know the science behind the dish.
• The dishes have been complied from all over India and we can see that in the title of the recipe itself like - Punjabi mutton chops / Goan pomfret reachado / Mangalorean prawn curry / Andra Chepu pulusu/ Coorgi baby jackfruit curry etc.
• The vegetarian section has some interesting dishes like Aamras ki hadi / Mooru sambar / Coorgi baby jackfruit curry . I am sure to try these in the coming days.

What could have been better :

• It would have been great if the book had photos for all the dishes or at least most of them. There are a few pics in each section but they fail to impress. What I would have liked is a clear picture of the dish nicely plated with a few props around it.But here you get to see a part of the dish and for some recipes I had to guess on how the remaining would look like when presented on a plate / bowl.
• Being a vegetarian, I was really disappointed on seeing the contents. Out of the 76 dishes there are hardly 15 vegetarian dishes. 
• I looked forward to some exotic rice dishes in the vegetarian section but could not find any.The vegetarian section has side dishes and curries and no roti / rice dishes.
• When I read that he was inspired by his grandmom who was an avid bakes, I was sure there would be some baked goods, I was disappointed once again.
• The dessert section is good but what is featured here are the regular ones we see all the time. Since he has toured all of India on a culinary journey, he could have added a few exotic / regional specialty desserts.

Would I recommend this book.....

A big Yes, if you a fan of Non-veg Indian food. It looks like there are loads of dishes that are famous and lip smacking.But if you are a vegetarian,you may think twice before buying this one.

On the whole, it is a nice book which  more than the recipes tells you that no matter what you study and take up as a profession, follow your heart and do what you actually love to do.That is what Aditya did....

I prepared Aditya's Chola Masala, a spicy chickpea curry from Punjab.

Chola Masala is a great side dish for Bhatura / Roti / puri. Here, in this book, it is listed under 'Snacks'. It is very different to the version that I make or have seen elsewhere. As you would have noticed in the click above, it make use of both the types of channa. There are some other whole spices and powders used for flavor. I will be posting the recipe shortly.

At a glance

Book - The Chakh Le India Cookbook

Author - Aditya Bal

Publisher - Westland Ltd.

No. of Pages - 157

No. of Recipes - 76

Price - INR 395

This is not a paid review.This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Happy Browsing...