Indian-ish by Priya Krishna

Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family by Priya Krishna, feat. Ritu Krishna | 2019 | Mariner Books| Hardcover $28

A witty and irresistible celebration of one very cool and boundary-breaking mom’s “Indian-ish” cooking — with accessible and innovative Indian-American recipes.

Indian food is everyday food! This colorful, lively book is food writer Priya Krishna’s loving tribute to her mom’s “Indian-ish” cooking — a trove of one-of-a-kind Indian-American hybrids that are easy to make, clever, practical, and packed with flavor.

I first became interested in this book after the whole Bon Appétit blow-up back in 2020. In the early stages of the pandemic, that magazine’s articles and cooking videos were like a lifeline towards normalcy for many folks, including myself. When that publication slightly imploded and many of its content creators went their separate ways, I tried to follow along with some of them on their continued adventures. I was delighted to find this cookbook had recently been published by one of them, Priya Krishna.

I was particularly intrigued by the fact that the author had grown up in Texas, like me. In fact, her parents still live here and her mother was a major contributor to the book. This somehow made the new-to-me cuisine less intimidating. After all, at the very least I should be able to get all the ingredients for curbside pickup at my H-E-B, right?

There is a little Tex-Mex influence here; the recipe for white bean stuffed poblanos is the most obvious example. But most of the featured foods are clearly the product of a family with roots in India… and I did end up having to track down a South Asian grocery shop to explore, after all. And I have to admit that I still ended up subbing a couple of harder-to-find ingredients. Still, I’m quite glad for the experience and I’ll definitely be back at that market for more. (They had SO many interesting pickles I’m dying to try.)

I had a fun time cooking my way through this book. One of my favorite sections, besides the recipes themselves, is titled “Fantastic Spices and Lentils (and Where to Find Them)” — which includes truly lovely multi-page super-detailed charts, like Cupid’s arrow straight to my heart.

I would recommend this cookbook to anyone who is interested in trying recipes for “Indian” food that are actually super accessible to home cooks on this side of the globe. The only little caveat is that if you don’t live anywhere near a grocery store that specializes in stuff from India (or someplace that has carries a similar set of products, like a halal market), you’ll need to be prepared to order some things online.

The only real downside to this book, as a physical object, is that it doesn’t have lay-flat binding (or even a relaxed enough binding that would allow it to stay open on a tabletop, even if not fully lay-flat). I also want to give fair warning that many of these recipes call for cilantro (a.k.a. fresh coriander); if you, like me, are genetically predisposed to feel that this herb is in fact a noxious poison, just keep that in mind… but IMHO, these recipes tend to rely on bold combos of herbs and spices for flavor, so it’s really no big deal to sub with that one thing with parsley or just leave it out.

Cheesy chile broccoli

Just cheesy and spicy enough to be interesting, but not so heavy or hot that it’ll compete with your main dish.

Kadhi, a.k.a. turmeric-yogurt soup

I originally bought a bag of chickpea flour for another recipe in this book which was fine but not necessarily bookmark-worthy, so I was left with a bunch of chickpea flour and no idea what to do with it. Enter this recipe for kadhi, a soup which is thickened with said chickpea flour. And it looks like sunshine in a bowl!

Malaysian ramen

This one was an instant hit with the husband, and earned the coveted sticky note bookmark for regular reappearances on our table for weekend family dinners.

Spicy chickpea dip

I mean, it’s hummus. But spicy!

Spinach and feta

The full name of this recipe is spinach and feta cooked like saag paneer. I actually like this version even more than the saag paneer we’ve had at restaurants. However, I’m not sure how often it’ll end up on my dinner table, since the recipe requires breaking out the blender (I’m a lazy bum).

Tomato-cheese masala toast

Kindly ignore the charred crust here. I’m a chronic over-toaster. Regardless, this is an easy, straight-out-of-the pantry sort of lunch that feels a little extra special for very little effort.

Tomato rice with crispy Cheddar

Here’s another sticky note bookmark recipe. I make it two or three times per season for our shared family dinners.

I also tried the following recipes and liked them well enough, but didn’t get good photos:

Kaddu, a.k.a. sweet-and-sour butternut squash
Roasted aloo gobhi, a.k.a. cauliflower and potatoes
Shortcut chhole, a.k.a. chickpea and tomato stew
Sun-dried tomato and chile dip
White bean stuffed poblanos
Yogurt

Finally, I tried the following recipes but did not really care for them, personally:

Chickpea flour green beans
Orange peel fish

Of course, this is really down to my own taste; it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give these recipes a try if you like the sound of them!

If I were to dive back into this cookbook again, I think these are some other recipes that’d be worth trying:

Aloo ka rasa, a.k.a. spicy potato-tomato soup
Caramelized ginger mushrooms
Dalia, a.k.a. savory bulgur wheat bowl
Ginger-pepper chai
Kachumber tilapia
Khichdi
Lima bean and basil dip
Lotus root and jammy tomatoes
Pav bhaji on potato rolls
Shikanji, a.k.a. Indian Gatorade

Links:

Publication information: Krishna, Priya. Indian-ish: Recipes and antics from a modern American family. Boston, MA: Mariner Books, 2019. Hardcover.
Source: Private library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.

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