We are not a vegetarians, but this book helped me round out my family's diet to include several very tasty vegetarian dishes. My family loves all that I have tried and some of the dishes have become regular fare with us. You may need to expand your spice and sauce collection as you make the first few dishes, but once that is done almost all of the ingredients are available at your grocery store. The sample menus at the back help you navigate through this book. Ms. Jaffrey introduces many recipes with when and on what occasion that food is eaten. She also helps with where to get some of the more exotic ingredients. Recipes come from India, China, Japan, Korea, and the Middle East.

I bought this book many years ago to place with the other vegetarian cookbooks that I had collected. Many of the other books have been lost or given away, but this one stays. Madhur Jaffrey's explanations and techniques are simple and the outcomes are delicious. I haven't made anything from this book that I haven't liked. As I have gradually become more vegan in my cooking (not completely), I will often substitute firm tofu for the panir, and olive oil for the ghee, but the taste is still great.

There hasn't been one recipe from this book that I haven't loved. I found in my public library and started copying the first few recipes onto cards. After my third time of checking this book out, I realized that I would be copying the whole book if I continued. My personal favorites are the Very Spicy Chickpeas, Her recipe for Paranthas, tofu and Broccoli.
All I can say is don't be intimidated by the spice lists. It makes the ingrediants and recipe look twice as long and complicated as it really is.
I also love the artwork! It is beautiful and elegant to me.

My first taste of Indian food was from a vegetarian recipe I made at home in the South 20 years ago -- and I was hooked. When I found Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, I was in heaven.
This cookbook vastly expanded my horizons on Indian food (I had no idea what I was doing until I read her descriptions and instructions).
I also learned how to make sushi and other Japanese dishes from this book. I think her selection of rice dishes is amazing.
When I finally moved to a place where there were Japanese, Indian and other Asian restaurants, I found the flavors similar to the recipes that Madhur Jaffrey had taught me to love.

If you want to make a wide variety of Asian dishes, this is a great cookbook for you.

These recipes are right on the money in terms of tasting like real indian food. The recipes are straightforward, ingredients are typical for indian food and cooking methods are straightfoward. By the way, there are SO many recipes covering so many facets of indian cooking - it's really a great resource.

This book should do for eastern cuisine what Julia Child's _Mastering the Art of French Cooking_ did for French. No other vegetarian cookbook even comes close to this one for sheer know-how per page. Not only are the recipes that we've tried simply phenomenal, but the vast array of techniques and terms will make you want to explore things that you never knew existed.

I've even enjoyed this cookbook from time to time as a relaxing evening read. Just ask my wife.

I'd love to see an updated edition. Many of the ingredients that the book says can be found only in specialty or ethnic markets (like wasabi powder, bitter melons, and fry-them-yourself poppadums) have started appearing in better mass-market grocery stores.