snpmurray's Full Review: Julie Sahni - Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain ...
India has a population of 1,080,264,400. 83% are vegetarian.
Taking the next natural step from her splendid Classic Indian Cooking, Julie Sahni has here produced a cookbook tuned not only to the cuisine of the region it discusses, but also tuned to it’s common Hindu philosophy of harmonious living and non-violence. Amongst the most accessible cooking from the Indian table in terms of technique, ingredients and unique taste are India’s vegetarian dishes. Many of the grains and pulses used in India are just as common in the west, and the spices, often more subtle and delicate than those used for meat dishes, are more common also.
A vegetarian diet using Indian cuisine will be high in fiber, low in glycemic index, rich in protein and delicious and filling for long periods of time. The fact that this has escaped the notice of the countless dieters in the west is a source of surprise to me. This book, if nothing else, could be used as a great source of nutritionally excellent meals.
But I get ahead of myself in my enthusiasm, forgive me.
To those of you have not come across her before, some brief notes regarding the author.
Sahni was trained to cook by two routes. Firstly, she had a in-home in-service training under the auspices of her own family, simply preparing the family faire on a daily basis. Secondly, she underwent a more formal apprenticeship to a master chef of the Indian cuisine. She combines these two schools of thought and ways of cooking with an occidental American turn of phrase and an eye for the differences between the way the two cultures cook and think, and the foods they know. This unique combination of talents permits her to write a book about traditional Indian cooking which is particularly understandable to western cooks.
An excellent example of this manner in which she spans two cultures is found within pages of the start of the book when she cautions that the often bland flavor of American vegetable crops can effect what seasoning is required. She has throughout the book adjusted recipes so that western more mildly flavored vegetables would not be overwhelmed by the traditional quantity of Indian spicing.
At the beginning of the book is a comprehensive list of all of the vegetable grains and pulses which are to be used in the forthcoming recipes. This fascinating agricultural tour introduces one to some new ingredients and also casts some foods of the most pedestrian familiarity in new light. Sahni tells about how and where the food is grown in India, its correct Indian name(s), how to pick good examples of it and what substitutes well for it when you cannot locate any.
In case you should wonder, the ingredients list and detailed descriptions thereof runs to veggies, fruits, grains, nuts, oils, spices, dairy products and herbs. Your mouth should be watering nicely by the time you get to the recipes.
The remainder of the body of the book is devoted to recipes. The recipes are divided generally according to the meal at which they are eaten. We begin with the breakfast foods, and work our way through to desserts and beverages. If you like some spicier Indian food of course, it may be advisable to have a beverage on hand the majority of the time. My long time Indian cooking buddy Darren Gadd even cooks with a beverage at hand just to be absolutely sure about it, but that is another story.
I think the thing I liked best about this book was the fact that even those of us familiar with India cooking are going to find a large number of recipes in this book, both simple and complex that we have not come across before. Because of the subtlety of flavor or the everyday nature of some of the dishes they would never make it into most Indian cookbooks since they are not the superstars of the cuisine. Superstar or not, you will be delighted on a regular basis by the facility with which you can steam Indian dumplings from any available leftovers, once you know how. This one technique alone is worth the price of the whole book in terms of interest, novelty and usefulness.
It is indeed true to say that the keynote of this book is the degree of novelty it enjoys. Whilst popular staples such as the fragrant pea broths so common on Indian buffet lunch menus are here in abundance, it is the recipes from the cuisine of the Jain for example, a strictly vegan sect, that hold more interest to me as an interested amateur. The Jain have developed techniques for their cuisine which coax vegetarian food to mimic flavors and textures of meat dishes….something of interest and value to anyone who is vegetarian not through any dislike of meat’s taste, but for moral reasons.
One does wonder how the Jain chefs know when they have made it taste like meat though. Perhaps I think too much.
Throughout the book wherever recipes call for techniques which might be unfamiliar or different in the west than they are in the east, the author both illustrates and explains what you will need to do. Again, here her cross-cultural competency gives her a good eye for what westerners will not be ready to do by the nature of their common culinary vocabulary. She goes into an extra degree of detail in the section on how to make rice and how to make bread. I still haven’t mastered bread, I may yet build my own tandoor oven, a task akin in Indian cooking circles to a Jedi constructing his own light saber. Watch this space, but don’t hold your breath.
I should add that the book also has a very excellent section on chutneys and pickles. Indian chutneys and pickles with some fresh bread I could live on for life…they are unique, very flavorsome, have an enormous shelf life and make simple yet fantastic gifts.
The book is well indexed, but there is no recipe list in the contents pages, something I would have liked to see. The author also includes an appendix listing wholesale online and mail order suppliers.
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