Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I just found out about this woman and her cookbooks on NPR. I guess the second book, Vegan Indian Cooking, just came out in June, but the other is older (and not totally veg*n). Anyone have either of them? Seen them in the bookstore?

I'm super intrigued since my Indian food suffers from "doesn't taste authentic" syndrome. So far it's getting good reviews on Amazon, but only 2, so I'd love to hear what other PPKers think.

I have ordered the new one, but since I'm in the UK I'm not sure when it'll be here. Looking forward to getting it though.

I don't have a slow cooker so not interested in the first one.

I'd love to hear what you think! (If I do buy it it would also be from Amazon UK--interesting that it's not quite available yet).

I saw Vegan Indian Cooking in the bookstore the other day and couldn't figure out how I'd never heard of it! I'm looking forward to hearing what others think. I'm also not a slow cooker owner but I love Indian food.

Mine has dispatched!

I heard her too on NPR. I went right to my library and put a hold on her latest book. I can't wait to get it and hear what others make from it.

Her latest book is available on both The Book Depository sites:

http://www.bookdepository.com/Vegan-Ind ... 1572841307

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Vegan-I ... 1572841307

I've seen the slow cooker one in the bookstore. I don't use my crock pot much, but it looked quite good and had a lot of veg recipes as I remember.

I have both of her books, but havent cooked from the new one yet. Her slow cooker book is fantastic, and most of the recipes are vegan. Seriously good! I have made a bunch of the recipes.

Anupy's recipes are solid, well-tested and flavorful!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Manjulaskitchen are awesome Indian cooking videos.

Vegan Indian Cooking is on my wantlist so I'd love to know what you guys think of it!

It arrived (from Book Depository via Amazon UK).

I've only had chance to have a quick flick through but I like what I see so far. Some proper classics and some nice looking veganisations like tandoori tempeh.

I'm reading this now and I like it a lot. I've probably got a whole shelf full of Indian cookbooks, and it's the cuisine I know the best, from both an eating and cooking standpoint, and I'm liking this one more than most of the ones I've got. It's a mix of stuff that's naturally vegan and then there are some nice looking vegan versions of meat and dairy thrown in. There's a slow cooker chapter for those interested in that, and a good spice and ingredient glossary for those not so familiar with Indian food.But it's neither dumbed down nor over complex. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the recipes.

Ordered! Thanks for the review, Efcliz. I can't wait to get this one -- love Indian food. I'm dying because there's no Look Inside feature (for the recipes, I mean -- I love the introduction, though).

I'm Indian and I LOVE Anupy's two books! They are both super quick, authentic, and use mostly whole ingredients. Her blog is great too: http://www.indianasapplepie.com/blog/

The slow cooker one is very vegan adaptable. I made the Traditional Chicken Curry twice - the first time I replaced the chicken with mushrooms & Trader Joe's chickenless strips, the next time with Boca vegan crumbles. Both versions were insanely delicious. Her Chana Dal is great too.

Just flipped through her Vegan Indian book -- it looks mouthwatering. Lots of pictures, and a good mix of traditional recipes with modern fusion items. Can't wait to try:

Kale Paratha
Seitan Mulligatawny Soup
Roasted Chana Chaat Salad
Street Corn Salad
Fruit Chaat
South Indian Hummus
Mushrooms in Cashew Cream Sauce
Black Bean and Brown Rice Kitchari
Indo-Chinese Fried Rice
Seitan Tikka Masala
Kala Chana Burger With Beets, Kale, and Sweet Potato
Masala Pizza with Greens and Onions

I am super picky about Indian cookbooks, and trust me, this is a must have!!

Thanks for the help, everyone! I think I will order the vegan book for my birthday next month!

Okay, I caved and bought Vegan Indian Cooking. It looks fantastic! Can't wait to get started with it.

I made the curried baby lima dal for dinner tonight. It was really good.

Reading all good reviews, I'm tempted to buy my copy. However, being an Indian and vegetarian, I'm a bit skeptical to buy this book because I think it might be turned out too basic for me as I prepare my Indian food almost every other day.

Perhaps, I need to look into this in book store before I order online. Well, thanks for your nice reviews guys! :)

I just made the tofu masala and the mustard seed potato hash for breakfast. I had them with some really good chapatti I can get from the local Indian shop. They were both really good, and just how I love my breakfasts - spicy and salty. I can't wait to make more from this book now.

There are a few things that I think might get some criticism. She recommends quorn as one of the options for one of the dishes, and there's a few pictures of her riding on elephants. I don't mind that at all, in fact, I've done it myself, but I understand why some vegans don't like it. The last thing is that the serving sizes are in cups, not people. That actually works really well for me now I'm used to it, because I find people serving sizes all over the place,but some might want things clearer.

I made the crackling okra, the Punjabi curried beans (used kidney beans) and a version of the cumin rice with timings tweaked for brown rice. Wow. A really great meal which didn't take too long to put together. As the last meal, it was all pretty spicy and salty, which is just what I wanted, but others may like to dial back on the chilli and salt.

I love these cookbooks with all of my heart. I've made a few things from them and plan to buy them for my mother.

I'm going to do a full review of this book on my blog at the weekend, but I need to warn people about the heat of some of these recipes. I just made the tofu curry and the green beans with potatoes, and both were right at the top of my heat level, which is very high. Proper chile powder, which is often a cause for confusion for non US residents in US recipes, is very hot and she uses a lot of it. Maybe mine is particularly hot, and maybe my fresh chillies were particularly hot, but boy, these were evil. Great though, and so interesting.

thanks for the heads-up Efcliz! we just got the book and while looking through it I was sorta alarmed about some recipes where she calls for like 2-4 Thai chiles. The hottest we ever go is like 1 serrano and I've been trying to convince my boyfriend that when he makes dishes outta this book to PLEASE go easy on all chiles, dried or fresh. (He's a stickler for following recipes to the letter but what good is that if me and our daughter can't handle eating the dish?) That said, he's making the Seitan Tikka Masala tomorrow and I am sooo excited. But I'm going to use your post to reiterate to him my point about only using 1 chile (and not a Thai one, at that.) And where she calls for chile powder OR cayenne we'll obviously use chile - a nice mild ancho one.

I did my review if anyone is interested http://cookingtheveganbooks.com/2012/08 ... ok-review/

It's mostly what I've said on here with a couple of extra bits.