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Masala Farm
What happens when an Indian chef and consummate city dweller buys a farm in the country and endeavors to raise farm animals and grow vegetables? Delicious food, of course! From acclaimed chef and author Suvir Saran, Masala Farm offers a fresh twist on a farm-to-table approach to cooking and welcomes readers into the kitchen. A steady stream of houseguests, the challenges of animal ownership, and the joys of being a part of a small-town community supply the stories woven throughout this volume. Sixty recipes are organized by season. Exquisite photography captures the lusciousness of Saran's food and the beauty of the countryside.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published December 14, 2011
About the author
Suvir Saran
13 books13 followersAmerican Masala isn't about traditional Indian food-it's about adding new flavors to the great American melting pot, using spices to liven up the old standbys, and enjoying dishes that are as exciting and diverse as life in the big city, and yet as familiar and comforting as your mother's cooking."
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 28, 2012
A mix between short essays about an apparently wealthy Manhattan couple's experience with country life on a 67 acre farm and cookbook with many Indian or Indian-inspired recipes. There are some interesting recipes here. Most of them use WAAAAAYYY too much heavy cream (banana pudding- 4.75 cups of heavy cream for 8-10 servings) or other similar of-course-it-tastes-good-let's-just-eat-sugared-lard-for-dinner kinds of ingredients. Still there are some good recipes.
The essays on the other hand are irritating at best. First off, the author writes about his partner as though he is is choreboy. That may not be the case, but it comes off that way. Way worse are stories about how the couple find one of their geese severely maimed (missing a leg amongst other things) so they wrap it in a CASHMERE blanket and take it to the vet in their Mercedes (why not just come out and say, "hey I'm really rich and fancy and probably a lot better than you") from the description the bird should have been put down on site, I can forgive that because that can be a tough thing to do. However, when you get to the vet and the vet tells you it should be euthanized, don't go home and have a "civilized lunch" and discuss with your guests whether or not you should prolong the animal's suffering. Another incident involves buying a bunch of birds online, and not realizing he was buying year old birds and not chicks (research much?) and opening the boxes only to have $900 worth of birds fly away (again with the wallet waving).
I wanted to like this book for several reasons. For one it was the first farming-related book I had read by a gay couple, I was disappointed to only see glaring stereotypes and tropes illustrated. I love Indian food, I love farming. This should have been an ideal mash-up for me, so perhaps I'm being extra critical because I'm bummed that it wasn't what I was hoping for. There were some good parts as well, just be forewarned about the irritating ones.
The essays on the other hand are irritating at best. First off, the author writes about his partner as though he is is choreboy. That may not be the case, but it comes off that way. Way worse are stories about how the couple find one of their geese severely maimed (missing a leg amongst other things) so they wrap it in a CASHMERE blanket and take it to the vet in their Mercedes (why not just come out and say, "hey I'm really rich and fancy and probably a lot better than you") from the description the bird should have been put down on site, I can forgive that because that can be a tough thing to do. However, when you get to the vet and the vet tells you it should be euthanized, don't go home and have a "civilized lunch" and discuss with your guests whether or not you should prolong the animal's suffering. Another incident involves buying a bunch of birds online, and not realizing he was buying year old birds and not chicks (research much?) and opening the boxes only to have $900 worth of birds fly away (again with the wallet waving).
I wanted to like this book for several reasons. For one it was the first farming-related book I had read by a gay couple, I was disappointed to only see glaring stereotypes and tropes illustrated. I love Indian food, I love farming. This should have been an ideal mash-up for me, so perhaps I'm being extra critical because I'm bummed that it wasn't what I was hoping for. There were some good parts as well, just be forewarned about the irritating ones.
May 15, 2021
From the description I was hoping to get 2 things from this book.. firstly that I would get some Indian (or at least Indian fusion) recipes based on seasonal ingredients grown in the North USA, and secondly, some stories about farm life.
Well.. there are certainly a lot of recipes here that feature food from their farm but only a minority are Indian.. the majority are European dishes and few of them have any sort of Indian twist. The ingredients may be quality but the preparation isn’t always the healthiest.. there’s a lot of butter, cream, sugar, and meat. There are plenty of recipes and many do sound tasty but not quite what I was expecting. I do appreciate it uses both metric and imperial measurements!
As for the stories.. some give a nice glimpse of farm life, and I appreciated little bits of advice about seeking the best fresh ingredients and preparing them. But others just seemed like a chance to namedrop, or show off their wealth. This is not typical farm life, this is a glimpse into the lifestyle of a well-connected rich chef who can afford to purchase over 60 acres of land without giving up the Mercedes. Which is not to say that they don’t clearly put a lot of work into running their farm, and are using their wealth for some very good ends (such as helping heritage breeds survive, and helping get a communal garden set up in NYC) but it’s an impossible dream for most people and the choice of descriptions can really feel like bragging sometimes.. or else he might be trying to convince his rich peers that they are “roughing it” without realising that to everybody else they are proving the opposite, lol.
In the back are resources for sourcing farm ingredients within the USA.
Well.. there are certainly a lot of recipes here that feature food from their farm but only a minority are Indian.. the majority are European dishes and few of them have any sort of Indian twist. The ingredients may be quality but the preparation isn’t always the healthiest.. there’s a lot of butter, cream, sugar, and meat. There are plenty of recipes and many do sound tasty but not quite what I was expecting. I do appreciate it uses both metric and imperial measurements!
As for the stories.. some give a nice glimpse of farm life, and I appreciated little bits of advice about seeking the best fresh ingredients and preparing them. But others just seemed like a chance to namedrop, or show off their wealth. This is not typical farm life, this is a glimpse into the lifestyle of a well-connected rich chef who can afford to purchase over 60 acres of land without giving up the Mercedes. Which is not to say that they don’t clearly put a lot of work into running their farm, and are using their wealth for some very good ends (such as helping heritage breeds survive, and helping get a communal garden set up in NYC) but it’s an impossible dream for most people and the choice of descriptions can really feel like bragging sometimes.. or else he might be trying to convince his rich peers that they are “roughing it” without realising that to everybody else they are proving the opposite, lol.
In the back are resources for sourcing farm ingredients within the USA.
August 1, 2017
There are some recipe books I look through and almost nothing on the pages makes me eager to start a grocery list. I have so many recipes marked in this book with random bits of paper that it looks like a chia pet.
I also enjoy the many mini essays sprinkled throughout. This truly is a cookbook you can read.
I also enjoy the many mini essays sprinkled throughout. This truly is a cookbook you can read.
February 25, 2014
Awesome book with unique recipes. I like the
mix of Indian flavor meets more traditionally western recipes. And I like where they just talk about life on their farm. I wanna make everything in here!!!
mix of Indian flavor meets more traditionally western recipes. And I like where they just talk about life on their farm. I wanna make everything in here!!!
January 20, 2022
As charming on the reread as it was the first time through, 6-7 years ago. Had no idea Suvir was a TV famous chef! I just loved the farm stories, homemade spice mixes/jams/sauces, and seasonal nature of cooking what is growing - right up my alley.
July 10, 2012
verges on charming but also teeters toward "who decided this book was a good idea"...?
August 5, 2012
I knew this cookbook wasn't for me when the first recipe called for duck eggs...
October 16, 2012
A truly lovely cookbook. The recipes include short stories along the way. The photography is beautiful, and the pages are well designed. This would be a nice book to give as a gift.
February 16, 2013
Good recipes!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews