Fresh India

by Meera Sodha

'An unbridled joy' Nigel Slater

WINNER OF THE OBSERVER FOOD MONTHLY'S BEST NEW COOKBOOK AWARD 2017
FROM THE FORTNUM & MASON COOKERY WRITER OF THE YEAR 2018

Meera Sodha reveals a whole new side of Indian food that is fresh, delicious and quick to make at home. These vegetable-based recipes offer up a treasure trove of flavours, making the perfect gift for both vegetarians and meat-eaters

Here are surprising recipes for every day made using easy to find ingredients: mushroom and walnut samosas, oven-baked onion bhajis and beetroot and paneer kebabs. There are familiar and classic Indian recipes like dals, curries and pickles, alongside less familiar ones using fresh seasonal British ingredients, like Brussels sprout thoran, Gardeners' Question Time pilau and green beans with cashew nuts and coconut.

And then there are showstoppers such as daily dosas with coconut potatoes, roasted cauliflower korma, sticky mango paneer skewers, wild mushroom upma and lime pickle rice with roast squash and red onion. To finish, there's a chapter of luscious puddings like salted peanut and jaggery kulfi alongside carrot halwa and pistachio cake.

'The tastiest, liveliest, spice-infused fare this side of the Sabamarti river' Guardian

'Terrific, flaunting how rich and resourceful vegetarian cooking can be' Sunday Times

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, India, Food and Drink

304 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2016

About the author

Meera Sodha is a home cook and an occasional chef at the Michelin-rated Indian restaurant Gymkhana in London. When Made in India was published in the UK, it became an instant top-ten bestseller and was named one of the year's best books by many newspapers and periodicals.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book to look through! I love looking at great food, this has lots of very attractive pictures of vegetables and bright images of Indian art and illustrations. If you enjoy looking through cookery books for fun this is highly recommended.

I have tried some of the recipes, I tend to tweak them a bit, I did the sweet potato vindaloo and substituted the sweet potato for aubergine and it was delicious. The method for cooking samosas worked really well. There are lots that I'm really excited about trying and there's plenty here you can get ideas from. Most are vegan but the handful of egg and paneer recipes suggest you could substitute with tofu. Most of the ingredients are easy to source from a supermarket. Several recipes use tamarind and fresh curry leaves which I will have to wait until I go to the city to get these, but most are easily achievable without fancy or hard to find ingredients.

A small downside was that not every recipe has a photo. This is a common complaint of mine for many recipe books. I don't mind too much if it's easy to picture what it's like but when it's a dish you have never heard of, it's really important to have an idea of what the finished product should look like. The section on samosas described a method of folding them into a triangle, this took some time to work out and was accompanied by a full page photo of harvesting in a field. A photo of the samosa mid-fold would have saved a lot of head scratching!

A nice collection of recipes that I'm really looking forward to working through!

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book bursts with recipes that celebrate vegetables and the author’s connections with India, Lincolnshire and Islington. Yesterday, I used one of the recipes to make the most delicious aubergine and pea curry , using only items that I already had in the house. How often does that happen….to be able to follow a recipe exactly without any prior planning? This is a keeper.

[Aza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good vegeterian recipes! Helps so much for thinking about meat and chicken free foods! Remarkable. I also like the back story to her recipes.

[Antonella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I bought it because I realised that my other book with Indian recipes was full of meat/fish dishes, which I don't eat (anymore).

The explanations are easy to follow and the recipes taste from wonderful to great. Today I finally tried Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for aubergine fesenjan. «Finally» because it took me a while to organise the pomegranate molasses, I wanted it organic, so the easiest way was to make it on my own (from bottled juice though, I'm not suicidal ;-): it was heavenly! I also like the stories Meera shares about some of the recipes. Fotos and illustrations make the book even more enjoyable, and are useful to have an idea of the dish you could expect.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have attempted to recommend this to everyone I know but I'm not sure if anyone has taken me up on it, so here I am. If you like Indian food at all buy this book . Meera Sodha makes everything so simple and even when I'm missing some obscure ingredient the dishes still taste fab. There's a lot of variety and she recommends dishes to pair with others in the book. Though I could do without an aubergine/eggplant section (my least favorite vegetable), this cookbook is my Bible. Also, to other Sodha devotees, check out her vegan column on The Guardian UK's website!

[Matt Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best cookbook I've ever used. Recipes are all excellent, easy to follow and adapt to available ingredients. Has introduced me to loads of new ideas.

I *heart* Meera Sodha

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very excited to try some of the paneer and bread recipes.

Game changer: because she keeps talking about it, I soaked the rice before cooking it today. Fluffiest rice ever (but the paneer tikka masala recipe wasn’t hers).

[Carol Bonigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a vegetarian and only want to own a few cookbooks I would put this one towards the top. I often recommend it to new vegetarians who can sometimes get stuck just eating cheesy pasta (don’t get me wrong I love cheesy pasta, but life needs more). These a beautiful, easy to make dishes with a variety of spices and flavors.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still exploring this book but these are my initial impressions- Meera Sodha uses a *lot* of oil in many of these recipes eg - 3 tbsp in a chickpea, spinach & tomato curry.

There’s rather a lot of generalisations about England and English food too - snacks are processed and come from a machine, full of E numbers... (mine don’t and aren’t) in contrast to Gujarat where everything is fresh, every woman is a home cook and all is healthy (apart from the high level of oil and salt in some of her family’s recipes ...) But there are some delicious sounding things. I will definitely be cutting the level of oil and salt down.

07/02/21

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot how good this book is! Bee Wilson listed it as one of her four books she is currently using and it reminded me how much I love the recipes, so I’ve taken it off the shelf. It’s stained from all the times I’ve used it. The recipes are relatively straightforward. There’s the odd difficult to get ingredient,mid you don’t have an Asian grocer near you, but otherwise most ingredients will be to hand. This is authentic tasty food which you’ll cook again and again. Well worth the small investment.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cookbook has beautiful pictures and great stories. I feel like it really helps a beginner jump in and start to understand the glory of India cooking. I'm excited :)

[Kate]

This is the best Indian cookbook I have found to date. Great selection of vegetables that fit a New England kitchen (you can actually cook in season with this one) + love the range of spice combos in the dals. Very veggie-forward without being vegan.

Dishes Made:
-Sweet potato vindaloo (her description lies it is DEFINITELY HOT HOT HOT)
-Rainbow chard saag aloo (the only one that let me down, but I also don't love rainbow chard to being with)
-Fresh matar paneer (uses green beans!)
-Gujarati dal with peanuts + star anise
-Sri Lankan dal with coconut + lime kale

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

can't wait to try some recipes from this collection

[Anand Ganapathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book as I read the author 's recipes in The Guardian ( UK) ... Good set of recipes ( traditional and modern ) including the author 's own Gujarati family heirloom ones .

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of recipes look gorgeous and I'd happily eat them if someone else made them. Found the condiment and dessert chapters the most accessible. Will be trying the pineapple raita.

[Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cookbook. As good as Made in India. It is great to have more recipes!

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can’t wait to try these, such great ideas!

[Aja Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed the diversity of recipes in here and felt approachable. have already made a couple of things--yum!

[Li Sian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning - creative, thoughtful recipes bursting with flavour and freshness. I've already made a handful of recipes out of this book and plan to make more. Never has leafing through a cookbook filled me with such unbridled joy.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fresh India is a vegetarian-only recipe book, and I liked it more than her previous recipe book, Made in India. Meera Sodha shares her love for eggs with quite a romantic opening, citing an ancient Hindu text, "the cracking of an egg marked the start of the universe. The shell became the mountains, the white became the oceans and the yolk the sun."

Whoa. I'll never look at (the cracking of) eggs the same way again.

I also saved the recipe for Banana and Cardamom Buns, apparently a healthier take of deep-fried Mangalorean banana puris. I have only recently been introduced to Mangalorean cuisine, and while the journey ended a little abruptly I am nonetheless thankful for this little introduction and discovery. That said, it still feels like quite an unfinished business; I shall make it a point to see what is this sweet Mangalore bun all about one day, hopefully soon.

[Akshatha Bhat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a mangalorean , made the plantain curry , as I was making it - I felt apprehensive , in all my years I have never come across such a dish ..I continued .. thought the end result will be great but the end result was horrible , I returned the book the next day and saved 35 dollars , bought the forks over knives cookbook and made Channa saag instead - it was finger licking good..

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vegetarian recipes from the Author of Made in India. I love her clear and personal writing style, and her recipes are easy to follow.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to cook pretty much everything.

[Salandersviper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for Christmas after I loved "East" by the same author and had been almost exclusively cooking from "East" for two months! I've read most of "Fresh India" by now, but not cooked from it yet, so might adjust my rating if they recipes are extraordinary good. Overall, I liked it a bit less than "East", and this comparison might be helpful for some other readers:
* On the plus side, it has more text - so more stories, more how-tos, overview over some ingredients like pulses. I love this!
* There are a lot more pickles and drinks than in "East" and I'm looking forward to trying them!
* There was no dosa recipe and not as many south Indian recipes in "East" but there are in this book and I'm really looking forward to trying these because South Indian and Sri Lankan food is my favourite in restaurants!
* However, it's not as good for vegans as "East", and "East" was not specifically for vegans either. I'm vegetarian with a milk intolerance and my partner is vegan, so the clear labelling of "vegan option" in "East" was really helpful. In "Fresh India", there are more dishes which are not vegan, and I have to first scan the list to find which ingredients are not vegan and then try to assess if it would change the character of this dish to replace butter with oil, honey with sirup or paneer with tofu etc. And it does not give any useful guidance on these replacements as "East" does. By the nature of Indian cuisine, there are still more vegan recipes than there would probably be in, say, an Italian vegetarian but not vegan cookbook, but that's why I had high expectations.
* There are a lot of dishes or even menu suggestions which include very little proteins. For us, proteins are pretty important both because we're sports enthusiasts but also just for not getting hungry super quickly again. We loved almost every recipe in "East"'s tofu section and I was disappointed that this book had no tofu section at all (I'm aware tofu is not traditionally Indian but the author included a lot of non-traditional ingredients otherwise). Of course I'm looking forward to the pulses dishes, but I was a bit disappointed to read the suggestion to pair a protein-free curry with fish in a vegetarian cookbook.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those cookbooks that I take out of the library, and then purchase because there are just too many fantastic recipes.While Sodha grew up in the English countryside to Indian parents, she has a taste for fresh veggies combined with Indian food - and the results are fantastic. While some recipes are fussy (so many Indian recipes are), these are absolutely delicious. Can't wait to cook more and more from this cookbook. Tonight's dinner resulted in my husband eating FOURTHS. Thank you, Meera Sodha.

[Dr Parvathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

Written in a fluent, easy to assimilate style. Essentially an Indian cookery book for us in the U.K., as the ingredients used feature in our daily lives. She has taken many traditional Indian recipes and put her own western twist to them. The food photography adds to the appeal of the book. Looking forward to trying many recipes that intrigue me. If they turn out well, I shall present the book to my children.

[Bistra Ivanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still far from having tried everything but for now, I am kind of disappointed. Yes, it is an authentic vegetarian Indian cookbook as I hoped but nothing too special. The recipes lack this WOW effect I was hoping for since I really adore Indian cuisine and wanted to re-create fantastic dishes at home. Could also be that restaurants add additional chemicals to boost the flavours. I don't know. I will keep exploring and hope to change my rating in the future :-)

[Philippa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning. The first cookbook to make me feel hungry again after having the worst flu of my life over Christmas (sob!). I made the temple tomato rasam as a gentle reintroduction to solid food and it was exquisite. The smell of the garlic, ginger, chilli, cumin and curry leaves frying together was so restorative I almost wept. Can’t wait to cook more from this wonderful book.

[Zdenka Mladina Dadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Čista petica iako još nisam ništa skuhala po receptima iz knjige.
Obavezna literatura za vegetarijance i dobrodošla inspiracija za sve koje žele dodati malo boje na svoje tanjure. Većina sastojaka koji su potrebni za pripremu su lako dostupni, a količina začina se lako može prilagoditi da jelo ne bude suviše egzotično.

[Adam Bradbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great cookbook with such a wide variety of traditional Indian dishes which you won’t find at your local takeaway.

Simple, easy to follow instructions with only simple utensils required for most. I’ve made a lot of these multiple times and they always turn out fantastic! Don’t get me wrong, there’s a few that I wasn’t a fan of, but that’s personal preference; not Meera’s fault!