„Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen“

By:
Richa Hingle

9.3 / 10

Who wrote it?

Richa Hingle, the self-taught, awesome, and award-winning chef behind the blog VeganRicha.com. There she shares a variety of recipes not only from Indian cuisine. Illustrated step-by-step instructions make the recipes easy to follow and recreate.

And what is it about?

As the title suggests, the book contains veganized recipes from Indian cuisine.

What does it look like?

The look is worthy of an Indian cookbook: a bit squiggly and colorful, with gorgeous food photos for almost every dish, which Richa also photographed herself.

What can I expect?

According to the cover: “150 traditional and creative recipes to recreate”, divided into the following chapters: “Breakfast”, “Small Dishes and Snacks”, “Side Dishes and Vegetable Curries”, “Dals: Lentils and Beans”, “Stews and Casseroles”, “Main Dishes”, “Flatbreads”, “Desserts”, “Chutneys, Spice Blends and Basic Recipes”.

In the introductory section, there is also a detailed product information, in which mainly spices and pulses are presented. Other additional information on kitchen equipment, how to handle the recipes, and the classical Indian way of presenting the food are also available here.

Can I do that?

Richa describes the individual steps in detail, but in an uncomplicated way, so that anyone with the right ingredients and kitchen equipment can easily recreate the dishes. It is also always worthwhile to read the introductory texts to the recipes carefully. These contain not only anecdotes, historical backgrounds, etc., but also useful tips that should make even the trickier recipes a success.

What do I need?

A well-stocked spice collection is indispensable! Richa’s recipes rarely include spice mixes, and when they do, there’s a DIY recipe for those, too. Instead, many individual spices are used, which provide the depth of flavor of the dishes and their authenticity. Conveniently, Richa provides a shopping list for these essential ingredients in the book – including the Indian names, so that you really get the right spices at the store.

Your kitchen should also be equipped with a strong blender or hand blender, pans, pots, colander, and sharp knives for preparing the dishes. A mortar or spice grinder may prove equally useful.

Substitute products?

Plant-based alternatives to yogurt or milk, as well as tofu or tempeh as “meat substitutes” are used. There are no real highly processed substitutes in the recipes.

Who needs it?

In my estimation, absolutely anyone who has read this far and seems to have a basic interest in vegan Indian cuisine. The presentation and scope also make it a great gift for the group of people just described.

Oh yes, and does it taste good?

YES! …me and my in-house co-taster loved all the dishes we tried, and there are now almost 15. The taste varies from good to absolutely fantastic! The recipes regularly rank high in my monthly top 5.

You can find all the recipes tested and my recipe reviews on Instagram under the hashtag #VCRveganrichasindiankitchen.

Recipe tips to get cooking:

Mango curry tofu (find the recipe here)
Kashmiri Rogan Josh
Tempeh Tikka Masala

Conclusion

This book quickly cooked its way into my heart. As a fan of Indian cuisine, the hurdles were admittedly not too high, yet the book also objectively impresses with a high degree of authenticity and simply great recipes. Once you have some basic equipment, especially when it comes to spices, you can often just start cooking because there is a lot of flexibility with fresh ingredients. Even if you sometimes resort to frozen vegetables, the results are always excellent and tasty. If you still hesitate to add this collection of recipes to your cookbook shelf, feel gently but strongly urged to do so, because this book is nothing short of a must-have.