Essential Indian Cookbooks

Indian cooks tend to make recipes from their own communities (Gujrati, Punjabi, Sindhi, etc.), and so when I grew up I basically knew how to make what my mother (a Sindhi) and what my father (a Manglorean Christian) taught me. Indian cookbooks opened up whole new worlds, introducing me to a range of ethnic specialities that I had rarely eaten and never made myself. I've gone through vegetarian phases (very brief ones!) in my life, and many of these were crucial in that process -- no cuisine does vegetarian quite like Indian does.

Here are the books I consider essential, with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Comments

Kat said…
I love this list! I am definitely going to check out as many of these as I can. I currently have The Fifty Great Curries of India checked out from the library because you and Steven have mentioned it more than once. Thanks, Aruna!
You're very welcome, Kat!
EndlessRiver said…
Wonderful list! I already have (and love) Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian and just ordered the Camellia Panjabi one. Will be checking back here especially for the regional books.
Mr River! You might want to reconsider the Panjabi -- I should have mentioned that its quite non-veg oriented, although the veg curries it has are quite good.