Kim's Review : The Sood Family Cookbook

The Sood Family Cookbook is a brilliant collection of recipes by Aparna Jain, from various members of her Himachali family. While their roots might be Himachali, the recipes are much more global.

She does share a lot of Pahaadi recipes from chaachwale alu, rajroopiyama (dry urad dal), mittha and fiddlehead ferns to Rali mili dal, maani, Pahadi Dhaniyawala chicken and Pahaadi Mutton.

The book is divided into Breakfast, Comfort Food (Pahaadi recipes and her favourite family recipes - there are a lot of Manglorean recipes in this section, courtesy her Sister-in-law Nita), the light and healthy section of salads, from near and far (recipes range from I-won't-cook Tagliatelle to Hangover Vodka Pasta and Dushmani Chicken) soups, snacks, chutneys, drinks and desserts.

The index at the beginning of the book is easily color coded - green for veg, yellow for dishes with egg and red for non-vegetarian dishes. There's a very good balance of veg and non veg dishes in The Sood Family Cookbook.

There are some beautiful colored illustrations attached to each recipe (as you can see in the picture above) and the writing style is simple, yet engrossing.

The Sood Family Cookbook is the most recent addition to my Cookbook Shelf, so when I signed up for the Cooking from Cookbook Challenge, I started randomly browsing through it and chose a mustard dressing from the book to make a summer salad.

I only used the dressing recipe, I improvised on the salad ingredients to use what was easily available and to add substance and ended up with a Bocconcini, Lettuce & Cherry Tomato Salad with Mustard Dressing

The recipes are quite straightforward and easy to try, there are specialty Himachali recipes and global recipes that would look great on your table at a dinner party, so this book makes a great addition to any cookbook collection.

Rating : 4 / 5