Anjula Devi is a British food writer and consultant chef who is keen to make Indian food accessible to everyone. In her new book she shares Indian recipes that use only one pan and have minimal steps and ingredients.
Anjula cautions that to make her recipes in 15 minutes, you will need to prepare some ingredients in advance. Although if you don’t want to make your own ginger or garlic paste, for example, she encourages you to buy them ready-made. Her key tip for ensuring that the recipes are quick to cook is to make sure that vegetables – such as potatoes and carrots – are diced into very small cubes. Some of the time-saving steps are a compromise. For example, Anjula suggests using shop-bought fried onions instead of frying fresh onions, which takes more time (yet has a wonderful aroma).
Each recipe uses no more than five spices, not including the turmeric and chilli powder required in most Indian dishes. Compact spice combinations really deliver on flavour, Anjula says. She provides a list of 17 or so common spices that should be on hand. Some of these spices, together with other everyday ingredients such as vinegar and tomato paste, can be used to transform potatoes and frozen peas into a delicious Aloo Matar.
Although there is a limited list of spices needed for each recipe, some ingredient lists are still quite long. Potatoes & Green Beans with Yoghurt, for example, calls for around 21 ingredients. All recipes include both metric and imperial measurements.
Recipes are divided into legumes, vegetables, fish & seafood, paneer [soft cheese] & eggs, potatoes, sides & snacks, rice & breads, chutneys, raita & pickles, masalas [spice blends] and make aheads. Anjula suggests what each of the individual recipes can be served with. The sweet, bitter, tangy and nutty Prawns with Indian Five Spice, for example, go well with Five Bean Rice with Tamarind. Anjula also says that it’s fine to enjoy each dish on its own, or with your preferred side dish.
In contrast to the slower and more traditional Indian way of eating, where multiple dishes are served … I want to promote the idea that it’s OK to create just one dish to enjoy on its own. It’s also absolutely fine to serve Indian food with a large bowl of green leafy salad instead of rice or roti.
There are a handful of quick and easy recipes for pastes and sauces that add extra zing. I’m looking forward to trying the Chilli & Honey Drizzle, which apparently goes with everything – including ice-cream – and can also be used as a marinade.
The final section has several sample menus for “feasts”. It recommends sets of six recipes that go well together and can feed a group of up to 10.
This is a sturdy and colourful book. The pages don’t sit open well, so you may need to weigh them down or use a recipe book stand. The heavy rounded black capitalized font used for the book cover, chapter headings, and recipe titles looks clunky and dated.
This book offers lots of great ideas and encourages experimentation. It will especially appeal to people who love Indian food but have only limited time to prepare it. Having only one pan (and a few other bits and pieces) to scrub is also a huge plus.
Reviewer: Anne Kerslake Hendricks
Carnival