🧵 1/ Masala: Recipes from India, The Land of Spices/ Anita Jaisinghani

The third in the pile of 4 Indian cookbooks that I am reviewing (and running a little behind on). Surprisingly, this is also a book whose author is also from Gujarat! That's the 3rd book in recent times highly influenced by the wonderful Gujarati cuisines.

This book is increasing in chefy-ness, also as promised. Anita runs Pondicheri restaurant in Houston, Texas. An interesting name - Pondicherri (now reverted to Puducherry) is a beautiful town in Tamil Nadu with huge french influences due to French colonisation.

Masala: Recipes from India, The Land of Spices, by Anita Jaisinghani
Published: 2022
Publisher: Affirm Press
Pages: 304
Price: Around $40AU, but always check around as prices vary. Ebooks can be cheaper.

171 recipes, 120 of which are meat-, fish- and egg-free. Not a bad ratio. 👯

This book will change the way you think about spices. It begins with a huge (and fascinating) 70 pages of information about India, India's food history, the Indian approach of food as medicine, Ayurveda and its 6 tastes (Sweet, Salty, Sour, Astringent, Pungent and Bitter), key spices and more....

It is not a book of traditional Indian recipes, although many are there, and not quite in the genre of #ModernIndianFood. Its very interesting approach is to take the spices, and therefore flavours, of India and create dishes that could be Indian.

The book feels like a reference book. It is, at the same time, like a book you'd find in a chef's kitchen, and a teaching/informing book with information about each recipe and its ingredients. MANY RECIPES HAVE NOTES FOR A PLANT-BASED VERSION. 💯

There are not as many photos in this book, although there are still plenty.

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