A great buy for those interested in the quickest path to good Indian food
Feature image credit: Murdoch Books
With modern life getting busier and busier, there’s an increasing pressure to find more ways to speed up every-day processes like cooking. If your goal is to fly through meal prep so you have more time for other things, and you’re a fan of Indian food, 15 Minute Indian is a tool you’ll want in your arsenal.
This bright and colourful tome by Anjula Devi proves that Indian cooking doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. It can seem that way to beginners, thanks to the often long lists of ingredients. But the simple and concise recipes in this book show that you can whip up tasty and authentic Indian dishes in a quarter of an hour (more or less) with minimal ingredients.
Not one for carnivores, this is a pescatarian recipe guide focusing on vegetables and legumes, fish and seafood, paneer, eggs, rice, breads, and chutneys. Potato-lovers will be thrilled to know that there’s also an entire section on the starchy veg! Many of the recipes can be made ahead, including the pastes and masalas, making the cooking process even less stressful. At the end of the book, Devi includes a ‘Feasts’ section, which matches up the best recipes from each prior section to create a generous feast for between eight and 10 people. ‘The Simple Feast’ (page 196), for example, suggests serving Beluga Lentils (page 40), Fresh Cauliflower & Peas (page 48), Hariyali Monkfish (page 80), Paneer with Okra (page 94), Cumin & Garlic Potatoes (page 117), and Quick Vegetable Rice with Cardamom (page 170) together to impress guests.
The simplicity of the recipes makes this book easy to read, since fewer words allows for bigger and clearer text. Wonderful food photography accompanies most recipes so you’ll get a good idea of what your dish will (or should!) look like. The glossy pages are practical, too; it’s easy to wipe off splatter if you choose to bring the book into the kitchen with you.
Overall, this is a great cookbook for someone who loves Indian food but is intimidated about cooking it themselves, or even a beginner cook looking for some easy recipes to kick off their culinary journey. The recipes are also creative and refreshing, straying from many of the typical contenders we think of when imagining Indian food.
Prawns with Indian five spice (page 91)
This dish was a roller coaster of flavours, and the perfect way to use leftover cooked prawns. Many prawn recipes require them to be green and uncooked, and understandably so as working with cooked prawns can result in tough flesh. But this simple recipe managed to keep the cooked prawns tender and only took around 13 minutes to make. Most of the ingredients were available at the supermarket, but there were a few that required a trip to the Indian grocer. With sweet and tangy notes that work wonderfully with rice, this recipe is definitely going to become my go-to for cooked prawns!
Aubergine Bhaji (page 51) and Easy Rotis (page 157)
I was doubtful that I’d be able to pull off making rotis from scratch, but as the book promised, this recipe was super simple — and surprisingly, a success! The first few rotis that I cooked didn’t puff up, so I may not have cooked them long enough or the pan may not have been hot enough, but the later rotis were perfect. You can get the chapati flour from Coles in a 5kg quantity, but I bought a smaller amount from an Indian grocer.
The aubergine (eggplant) didn’t come out as flavoursome as I’d hoped so I added some salt to compensate, and unfortunately, I was a little heavy handed and this came out too salty. But it was still enjoyable when served with rice, the roti, and yoghurt. I wasn’t a huge fan of this one, but luckily, the book has plenty of other recipes I can’t wait to try.
Reviewed by Vanessa Elle
Instagram: @vanessaellewrites
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Murdoch Books
Released: February 2025
RRP: $49.99
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