Introduce rich, complex Indian flavors to your everyday cooking with 80 easy recipes and ingenious guidance from Julia Child Best First Book Award winner Maya Kaimal.
In Indian Flavor Every Day, Indian cooking authority Maya Kaimal proves it’s possible to experience the joy of this cuisine with minimal time and just a handful of essential ingredients like spices, ghee, and dried chilies. She distills foundational flavor-building methods, like creating spice blends and sizzling whole seeds in oil to release their essence, and applies them to accessible, versatile ingredients any home cook has on hand.
These adaptable techniques open a world of possibility as you’ll not only whip up traditional dishes but also amp up the flavors of your favorite ingredients or meals whenever a craving strikes. Why not swirl some popped mustard seeds into a butternut squash soup or top ho-hum steamed broccoli with a crispy garlic-chili-cumin tarka? How about serving charred carrots with a gingery yogurt sauce next to your roasted chicken, or adding a pinch of garam masala to your cookie dough?
With many vegetarian, gluten-free, and wholesome, hearty offerings, Indian Flavor Every Day includes both simplified classic dishes and new twists. Recipes like Golden Noodles with Tarka Crunch, Roasted Asparagus with Tamarind and Crispy Shallots, and deeply flavorful Chicken Chettinad with Black Pepper Coconut Masala are designed to build your confidence and spark inspiration, so incredible new flavors can become an everyday pleasure.
Embrace the simple tips in this book, purchase a few ingredients for your pantry, and Maya Kaimal promises that Indian flavors can be woven into your meals with delicious ease.
Maya Kaimal is an award-winning cookbook author and the founder of Maya Kaimal Foods. Her first book, Curried Favors, won the Julia Child First Book Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She has appeared on the Today show, Martha Stewart TV, Food Network, and the Discovery Channel, and has written features for Saveur, Food & Wine, and Gourmet.
“Maya Kaimal loves to cook traditional Indian dishes with inventive twists, from smearing tandoori marinade on cauliflower steaks to adding garam masala in the pastry crust of a chocolate tart. The 240-page cookbook is filled with recipes that reflect her cooking style. Get a feel for tarka techniques and masala mixing to embark on your own adventures in the kitchen.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Every year we try to widen our skillset in the kitchen and there’s no more enjoyable way to keep our low-key resolution by diving head-first into a simple, yet obscure (to us) method. . . . This year we’re planning on exploring the warm pages of Maya Kaimal’s Indian Flavor Every Day to keep our kitchen curiosity alive.”—Tasting Table
“‘Every day’ might make you think these recipes are dumbed down. But the thing about Indian food is that it is made every day. Kaimal reminds readers that ‘Indian food’ is not a monolith, and that it is only complicated if you want it to be.”—Eater
“The assiduously sculpted recipes in Maya Kaimal’s Indian Flavor Every Day promise not only a kitchen filled with captivating aromas and delicious food, but a suite of transformative techniques to bolster a home cook’s roster of skills—for example, tarka, the process of sizzling whole spices in oil to amplify and distribute their flavors, resulting in a much bigger bang for your spice-rack buck.”—The Wall Street Journal
“For years, I have relied on Maya for insights into Indian cooking, and Indian Flavor Every Day captures so many of the foundational techniques that have made me a better cook. This book clearly distills the vast knowledge of so many Indian cooks into clear, actionable recipes to inspire cooking on any night of the week.”—Chris Morocco, Bon Appétit food director
“I’ve been cooking from Maya’s work for twenty years, and I’m thrilled to have a whole new batch of recipes that will inhabit my kitchen for the next twenty years!”—Amanda Hesser, founder of Food52
“Maya Kaimal needs no introduction; she isa household name all over America. Indian Flavor Every Day does . . . is an amazing compilation created from a lifetime of celebrating the beauty of one of the most ancient and diverse cuisines in the world.”—Maneet Chauhan, chef, restaurateur, and author of Chaat
“Simple yet not simplistic, Maya Kaimal’s latest book is great for anyone looking to add more South Asian flavors into their rotation. Maya concisely coaches you through the cuisine’s foundations and then makes them stick with flavorful keepers.”—Andrea Nguyen, author of Vietnamese Food Any Day and Ever-Green Vietnamese
“This brilliant and beautiful book breaks down Maya’s way of cooking Indian food into easy-to-understand nuggets of information that can be applied to almost every recipe.”—Susan Spungen, author of Open Kitchen: Inspired Food for Casual Gatherings
“Indian Flavor Every Day is a modern-day classic. Maya Kaimal is a gifted teacher who empowers you to cook Indian food with confidence. The book is a brilliant collection of irresistible recipes with a wealth of kitchen tips that will elevate your cooking.”—Grace Young, author of Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge
