Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian Cookbook

I submitted a request for a frozen custard machine at work. I'm sure they'll bypass all the other important things the department needs just to cater to my whims and fancies. I LOVE being loved!

All kidding aside, I was actually in a pretty foul mood yesterday. What was most unusual about it was that I just couldn't seem to shake it either. I guess it was just one of those days. I woke up late which set me up to be late all day. Got some depressing news that further set the mood for the day, I had the privelage of hearing yet another LOUD cell phone conversation on the bus about how much New York sucks, being that I'm a native New Yorker, (and even if I wasn't) I'm getting a little tired of hearing that . My company made a HUGE mistake on my paycheck, and for a brief moment while looking at my pay stub I felt really elated (they like me...they REALLY like me), I considered not saying anything to payroll about it. Much to my own annoyance I gave in and let them know that it wasn't possible for me to have worked 360 hours last week (they would have eventually figured it out, right? ). sigh Bye bye money.

One of my sisters-in-law (I have 6!) is coming for the weekend and so I'm scrambling to get the apartment in some sort of order. The cats are freaked because I've used the evil vacuum cleaner a few times and so they are agitated and refuse to snuggle. As a matter of fact, Felix has gone into hiding…again. OH! and my shoe, which I've worn everyday for the past 3 months with no problems gave me a blister. So you see...one of those days.

While sitting at my desk trying to decide what to blog about since we're still eating Gravlax, (speaking of Gravlax, I received a lovely email from Donna yesterday who tried the Gravlax recipe and had success with it too, which made me very happy, YAY Donna!) I noticed the cover of one of my favorite cookbooks, Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian". How can I stay in a bad mood when Ms. Jaffrey is smiling at me like that? Just flipping through her cookbook almost always makes me feel better, there's so much information to absorb even if I don't cook from it every time I look at it, I still always learn something new.

"This book is written for everyone-for vegetarians, for partial vegetarians (like me), and for all those who are non vegetarians but wish to add exciting new dishes to their daily repertoire."

So begins the introduction to Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" cookbook published in 1999 by Clarkson Potter/Publishers New York. This is a large book (758 pages) and it is packed with delicious recipes from around the world, and lots of good information.

In the first chapter, devoted to dried beans, dried peas, and lentils. Ms. Jaffrey provides historical background, gives a charming Turkish poem about lentils, and tells us how to store, cook, and season beans, peas, and lentils. Some recipes from this chapter include Black Beans "Charros" from Mexico, Black-Eyed Pea Fritters from Nigeria and Mali, Chickpea and Potato Curry, Caribbean Style from Trinidad, and the very interesting and scrumptious Chickpea Flour French Fries or Panisses from France. Ms. Jaffrey doesn't just provide one recipe for each bean, pea, or lentil but quite a few recipes for each, with commentary and special notes to help guide you through the cooking. There's also recipes for Red Kidney beans, Mung beans, Adzuki beans, Pigeon peas, White beans, Lentils, (red, green, and the black French kind), Lentil sprouts, Bean curd, Split peas, (yellow and green), Cashews...and the list keeps going!

Chapter Two is about vegetables and again Ms. Jaffrey provides, historical background, information about spoilage, storing, buying, and seasons as well as more great recipes. Try a recipe for Artichoke Stewed with Potatoes from Morocco, or Asparagus Stir-Fried with Ginger and Red Pepper from Hong Kong. Sadly, I'm terribly allergic to beets but if I weren't you bet I'd be cooking Boiled Beets and Beet Greens with a Horseradish Dressing from Greece or the yummy sounding Beet and Mushroom Curry from India. There are also several recipes for Daikon, Corn, Endive, Celery, many Eggplant dishes, Mushrooms, Okra..whew! (you get the idea), there's just THAT many and more!

Chapter Three is about grains. Read about and try recipes from Korea, Indonesia, El Salvador, Mexico, India, Ecuador, Scotland, and Italy. Rice, Polenta, Oats, Cornmeal, Millet, Buckwheat, and Quinoa. There's numerous recipes for tortilla's, flatbreads, Naans, Pilaf's and Risotto's. Ms. Jaffrey provides some fairly good recipes for these plus more. Some recipes I've tried with success include: Risotto with Peas also known as Risi e Bisi from Italy, Lemon Rice from India, and Scallion Pancakes from China. mmm… scallion pancakes.

Halfway through the book there's a photo section, with lovely full color photographs of some of the dishes, as well as photo-illustrations and examples of grains, rice, legumes and extras that Ms. Jaffrey uses and talks about throughout the book. These are the only pictures in the book, and the chapter is not a large one, its there (in my opinion) just to provide a small segue into the second half of the book. It's effective, while not overwhelming and seducing you with pretty pictures. There’s just enough to satisfy the readers’ curiosity for some of the more unfamiliar ingredients and then it moves on.

The second half of the book has chapters on Dairy, Soups, Salads, and Drinks, Sauces and Added Flavorings, and Equipment, Glossary and Resources. The glossary and resources section itself is well worth having the book, if you don't live in an area where some of the more exotic ingredients can easily be found it's great to know that at least you can find them somewhere, even if it means ordering online or by telephone.

Before I give you the wrong impression, and make it sound like everything I've cooked with this book has only ever been perfect and wonderful, I have on occasion had a few duds. To be fair, some of those duds were from not following the recipe correctly or, in truth, just plain old fashioned not liking the dish. Try as I do to always expand my world and tastes, sometimes I do find things I just can’t seem to like. I do think that sometimes Ms. Jaffrey tends to be a bit conservative with the spices, so I tend to add a bit more than she usually calls for, but this is a preference issue more than anything else.

I want you to be able to at least consider this book the next time you're looking for a good cookbook on world cuisine. Does it matter that's its vegetarian? Not really, if you're like some folks I know cough...Tom…cough and have to have meat with every meal, it's very easy to adapt the recipes. The book is really flexible which is yet another reason why it's well worth a spot on your shelf.

Written by Deb on April 17, 2003 12:05 AM