15-Minute Indian: One-Pan Recipes Using Minimal Steps and Ingredients

Devi (Spice for Life) sets out “to make Indian food more accessible and less time-consuming” in this fresh and user-friendly cookbook. To that end, she encourages readers to take a faster, lighter approach to the cuisine, whether by creating “just one dish to enjoy on its own” as opposed to a spread, or by serving sides of salad instead the traditional rice and breads. Key to many of her 15-minute, one-pan recipes is a novel technique: boiling water is added to ingredients (often chopped smaller than usual) and the dish is cooked lid-on, then briefly reduced without the lid. She shows readers how to use this approach to create butter beans with carrots and yogurt, chili and garlic paneer, and five bean rice with tamarind. Also included are quick stir-fries, chutneys and pickles, and some intriguing quick breads, including beetroot and pomegranate molasses rotis. Though Devi streamlines where possible, sourcing spices may require some initial effort and expense for newbies to Indian cuisine, and stated prep times can be ambitious; the instructions for carrot, orange and chili flatbreads, for example, claim it will take just five minutes to peel and grate carrots, mince chili, and make the dough. Nonetheless, this collection is a gift to those wishing to expand their Indian repertoire. (Feb.)