Product DescriptionThe premise is simple: with five common spices and a few basic ingredients, home cooks can create fifty mouthwatering Indian dishes, as diverse as they are delicious. Cooking teacher Ruta Kahate has chosen easy-to-find spices coriander, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper, and turmeric to create authentic, accessible Indian dishes everyone will love. Roasted Lamb with Burnt Onions uses just two spices and three steps resulting in a meltingly tender roast. Steamed Cauliflower with a Spicy Tomato Sauce and Curried Mushrooms and Peas share the same three spices, but each tastes completely different. Suggested menus offer inspiration for entire Indian dinners. For quick and easy Indian meals, keep it simple with 5 Spices, 50 Dishes.
What Others Say
Simple, yes. Impressive, no.
Not one of the better Indian cookbooks I've worked with. There's only a couple of things in it I think are pretty good. It lacks pizazz and some directions can be vague for a beginner. But I suppose it's not a bad purchase for chefs who don't want to spend a lot of money investing in spices.
50's not enough!
We have made about 10 dishes out of 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices. By keeping a clear goal and by giving you some basic principles to apply universally, 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices has made it possible to create great meals that are easy enough to fit in the work week. I've had better Indian food before, but only at restaurants where the time investment was staggering. Had I imagined it was so easily accessible, and the value of the quality of meal you get for your time investment, I would have been cooking Indian every week, which is just about what we do now.
Thanks for this great book! I think it's a must-have, especially for couples and bachelors.
Easy and delicious
I don't consider myself a good cook at all, but 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices is about as easy as it gets. I think I've made the spicy seared shrimp in my wok about 15 times already. It is SO delicious. I can't believe I actually made something so tasty. Just learning how to make that is worth the price of the book.
A great introduction...
I have just begun using 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices. I love the explanations of technique-- this is a fantastic book if you are just beginning to cook Indian-style cuisines. I wish I had it a few years ago when I first forayed into Indian-style cooking. Kahate's flavors are more delicate than other Indian authors, and can be paired easily with non-Indian dishes... or adapted easily to please a more robust palate (like my husband's) when you have more experience.
I purchased a copy of 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices for my father, father-in-law, brother and a dear friend.
5 Spices, 50 dishes
I first checked this out of the library. I renewed it three times and than gave up and bought my own copy. The food is wonderful and she simplifies recipes to a point where even a not very good cook can achieve great results. If you like Indian Food this is a very good basic cook book. You'll be rewarded with good healthy food and you don't have to lay out money to go to an Indian restaurant. And if you've never experienced the wonders of Indian food this is a great introduction. I would recommend cutting down on the amount of cayenne pepper she calls for. I'm a chicken and don't like my food that hot. But if you're a real Indian cooking buff and like it hot got ahead.
