Collects recipes for the home cook that merge Indian and American cuisine, including such dishes as tomato-cheese masala toast, roti noodle stir-fry, herby avocado sandwich, and garlic-ginger chicken with cilantro and mint. - (Baker & Taylor)

Named one of the Best Cookbooks of Spring 2019 by the New York Times, Eater, and Bon Appétit

"A joy to cook from, and just as much fun to read." —Margaux Laskey, the New York Times

A witty and irresistible celebration of one very cool and boundary-breaking mom’s “Indian-ish” cooking—with accessible and innovative Indian-American recipes

Indian food is everyday food! This colorful, lively book is food writer Priya Krishna’s loving tribute to her mom’s “Indian-ish” cooking—a trove of one-of-a-kind Indian-American hybrids that are easy to make, clever, practical, and packed with flavor. Think Roti Pizza, Tomato Rice with Crispy Cheddar, Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Green Pea Chutney, and Malaysian Ramen.

Priya’s mom, Ritu, taught herself to cook after moving to the U.S. while also working as a software programmer—her unique creations merging the Indian flavors of her childhood with her global travels and inspiration from cooking shows as well as her kids’ requests for American favorites like spaghetti and PB&Js. The results are approachable and unfailingly delightful, like spiced, yogurt-filled sandwiches crusted with curry leaves, or “Indian Gatorade” (a thirst-quenching salty-sweet limeade)—including plenty of simple dinners you can whip up in minutes at the end of a long work day.

Throughout, Priya’s funny and relatable stories—punctuated with candid portraits and original illustrations by acclaimed Desi pop artist Maria Qamar (also known as Hatecopy)—will bring you up close and personal with the Krishna family and its many quirks. - (HARPERCOLL)

Booklist Reviews

Bon Appetit, New York Times, and New Yorker contributing food writer Krishna's new cookbook reads like a blog. Its first 50 pages are laden with exclamation points, furnished with FAQs, and overloaded with charts, tips, and instructionals, including one useful page on chhonk, the Indian technique of cooking spices in ghee or oil until fragrant. The vegetable-forward recipes that follow—the book includes just four nonveg dishes—are more coherent and enticing. Drawn from Krishna's mother's home cooking, the book pairs Indian inspiration with American accents that result in dishes like spinach and feta cooked like saag paneer, and roti pizza. Other recipes like bhindi (a dry-roasted okra) and lauki sabzi (a sautéed gourd) are more traditionally Indian. Throughout, Krishna is forgiving with ingredients—sub zucchini for lauki or whole-wheat tortillas for roti—and loose with instructions, often giving directions for the microwave or electric multicooker alongside those for the stove top. Though dishes like khichdi and pesarattu may be unfamiliar to readers, Krishna shows they can hold as prominent a place in American home cooking as lasagna and tacos. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

What Indian cookbook has a recipe for dump cake? This one. Many cookbooks featuring Indian cuisine come with extensive lists of ingredients that are not always easy to find. Following Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks, Krishna's latest uses simple ingredients to create an easy, fun approach to Indian-American cooking, resulting in accessible recipes that blend traditional American with Indian cuisine. Tomato cheese masala toast is a great example of an easy homestyle food that translates into both cultures. Recipes such as roasted aloo gobi and tomato rice with crispy cheddar make traditional dishes easy to re-create, even for new cooks. The lighthearted style of text is easy to read and makes readers feel as if they're learning in the Krishna home kitchen. VERDICT Krishna's newest offering will delight cooks seeking to expand their palate and knowledge of Indian cuisine. With easy-to-follow recipes, the "Indian-ish" additions to many American homestyle favorites will appeal to even the pickiest eaters.—Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Food writer Priya (Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks) and her mother, Ritu (a software programmer and self-taught cook), share kitchen wit and wisdom in this accessible approach to Indian-American home cooking. Before jumping into the 85 quickly assembled, family favorite recipes, the Krishnas first outline the basic building blocks behind classic Indian cuisine with useful charts on spices, lentils, and even a flow chart for creating Indian dishes. Tips feature instructions for preparing rice, potatoes, ghee, and chhonk (spices tempered in oil), the "most revelatory Indian cooking technique ever." Purists seeking authentic cuisine will find dal, saag, lassi, and the like, but they may balk at Ritu's substitutions, born of necessity when Indian ingredients in the U.S. were less accessible. (In a chapter titled "No Paneer? No problem!" the authors suggest using feta if the traditional Indian cheese isn't available.) Priya offers Indian hybrid dishes including crispy roti pizza, white bean stuffed poblanos (a twist on traditional potato-stuffed spicy peppers), and eggless pineapple dump cake. Krishna's recipes are forgiving, flexible, and perfect for weeknight meals. The authors' playful approach is infectious and makes accessible a cuisine that could otherwise be intimidating for home cooks. (Apr.)