Sereena Kaul

A few weeks ago I purchased "The Three Sisters Indian Cookbook: Flavours and Spices of India", which is the first cookbook I've ever bought for myself. The main selling point for me was that each recipe, from mains to dipping sauces, has a vivid color picture showing the final product. This is very helpful for a new cook, especially when the spices or cuisine are unfamiliar.

So far I've made six recipes, the most successful of which were the Lamb with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Lamb Rogan Josh, and Mango Chicken. Absolutely delicious. These dishes will definitely enter my general cooking repotoire. The Naan recipe also turned out very well (we devoured it!), but it was different than expected. When we have naan in restaurants it is very soft, but because this recipe called for using a pizza stone the naan turned out more like, well, a pizza crust: crunchy on the bottom and soft on top. Still good, no question, but different than expected. Maybe restaurants use a tandoori and that's what keeps the bottom soft? I'm not too worried about it, and I'll definitely be making this recipe tons, but other readers should know that it might be crunchier than they are used to eating. Also, it would have been nice if they included naan flavor variations/toppings. It might be as simple as sprinkling different stuff on top, but I don't know for sure - and that's why I turned to a cookbook in the first place.

One other thing that potential readers might note: the authors speak British English, so some of the words and terms they use might not be familiar. For example, courgettes instead of zucchini, coriander instead of cilantro, and saying "stone the mango" rather than "remove the mango pit/seed" (this last one was particularly confusing to me - "do I pound the mango with a mallet?"). The measurements shouldn't be a problem, they include both systems.

I'm still very much in-progress on this book (only 6 recipes so far!), but I wanted to get my thoughts out here while my impressions are still fresh.… (mais)