Book review: Kunal Vijayakar's recipe book 'Made in India'

Publisher: Jaico Books
Pages: 146 pages
Price: Rs 399 

We all know Kunal Vijayakar loves his food. Host of the TV show The Foodie, Vijayakar's debut book Made in India is a tribute to his passion for it.  

The good: As he confesses in the introduction, Vijayakar is no chef. This works to his advantage as his recipes appear quite simple (even for a non cook). It is rare to find a dish whose cooking time goes beyond an hour. There is also much focus given to  non vegetarian food— egg, chicken, fish, mutton, beef.    

Made in India contains 60 recipes, and photographs. India’s culinary diversity is  represented through the Goan cafreal, Marathi chinchoni, East Indian fish kujit, the Pathare Prabhu prawn pathwad, the Bhopali roti and the Sindhi dahi kadhi, etc.  The stories and anecdotes behind the dishes make for interesting reading. 

Esperanza’s chicken curry is borne out of the story of how every non-Hindu had an Aida or Rosy etc in their family who whipped up delicious feasts. There is the Tipsy pudding which is served to NDA graduate on special occasions. Eddie, the butler cum cook at Kunal’s great uncle’s home, finds mention for his Anglo Indian mutton stew. 

The bad: The book is scattered with photos of Vijayakar eating at different dhabas and restaurants. If you aren’t a fan, this can be tiresome.

For a well-travelled person like him, who has obviously sampled a larger and wider variety of food, the selections are quite limited. The dishes mentioned are well-known, from your parathas to your chutneys and akooris and fugias. It would have been interesting to learn more about an unheard of regional cuisine, like the Muslim Chiliya Momins (there is one recipe of their green kheema). 

The verdict: Read for its simple recipes and Cyrus Broacha’s witty foreword. 

Here is a recipe from his book that you can try.

Recipe — Hingatelache Vatane 

(It is the first dish Vijayakar learned to cook when he moved out of his parent’s home.)

Time taken: 15 minutes.

Serves 4

Ingredients 

For the Kitchen King masala
1 tbsp grated coconut
2 tsp fresh chopped coriander
1 tsp Coriander-cumin seeds powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp sugar. 

For the main dish 
2 cups green peas
tbsp oil
½ tsp each of mustard seeds
Hing 
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder
½ cup water
1 tsp Kitchen King masala, 

salt to taste

Method

—Simply mix together all the Kitchen Masala ingredients. Keep aside.

—In a wok, heat oil and add the mustard seeds. Let the seeds splutter and crackle. 

—Then add asafetida and sauté for a few seconds.

—Add the green peas, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, Kitchen King masala and salt. Pour half a cup of water and stir well. 

—Cook on a low flame until the green peas are soft and all the water has evaporated. 

—Serve hot.