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    Home » gluten free

    Tips for Cooking Indian Food, Book Errata and Availability update

    Published: Jun 25, 2015 · Modified: Jan 13, 2019 by Richa 35 Comments

    Cabbage Kofta Curry from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    A quick update about things going on with my book. Its already been a month! See the Errata at the bottom of the post for errors and missing things.  A big Thank you to everyone who has been cooking from it. I love seeing all the awesome food pictures!!

    Availability in UK:

    The book info has a later release date in UK and Europe on some websites as they need a metric conversion chart. The chart was missed in the first print and will be in the second printing. Books are however shipping, have shipped and are available to order since release date of May 19 on Amazon.co.uk  and Bookdepository.com. For other International availability links, see here.  If you find the book elsewhere, do leave me a comment with the link!

    International and kindle orders also quality for the Free Bonus recipe Bundle! That offer is only till the end of June(email me at veganricha @ gmail).

    Pictured above – Cabbage Kofta in creamy tomato sauce (Patta Gobi ke Kofte). Pictured Below – Saffrom Cream Fudge (Malai Peda) Dairy free!

    Now for some interesting Tips for cooking Indian food and some insider info from Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen. 

    1. Spices, Herbs and Pantry Shopping

    Most Indian Spices and herbs are available in regular grocery stores. Some of them though are only available in Indian stores local or online, or on amazon.com. Find your nearest Indian grocery store, or online shopping options on the Indian Pantry page. Similarly most dals, lentils, pulses, beans are also available in many regular grocery stores. Some of them might be available only in Indian stores or online. In the book, I do try to provide alternate dal/bean options wherever possible. 

    Depending on where you buy the Spices and pantry ingredients from, they might use just the English names, both English and Hindi names, or just the Hindi/Indian names (eg. in Indian stores). English names sometimes also depend on the country or shop (for eg yellow lentils can mean any of the yellow dals). Take a picture of the Grocery list from Page 12 in the book to take with you while shopping. It has both the English and Hindi names and variation of the names mentioned to make it easy to find the right spice, herb or dal!

     

    2. Food comes out too spicy, Bland etc: Whether its my recipe or any other Indian recipe, to adjust the heat, reduce or increase the hot spices to preference like cayenne, pure chili powder, black pepper, pepper flakes, hot paprika etc. Age and brand of the spices also matter. Hot green chilies can sometimes be too hot or can be a dud. So if they are the main source of heat in the recipe, the range of heat will depend on the chile. If unsure, use less of the green chile and adjust the heat later by adding some cayenne. 

    Indian food is rarely ever on the bland side unless by design for everyday veggie sides or khichdi etc. If the flavorful recipes are making bland food it could be either of the following issues. The food needs more 1.Salt, salt often will bring out the layers of flavor in the dish when it correctly salted to personal taste. The dish needs fresher spices – 2.old spices can have a very low flavor pay off and you might need to add more of the old spices or get a fresh lot. The spices are not getting 3.roasted long enough. Some recipes use whole spices that are roasted a certain way to release all their flavor into the dish(Try oil roasted cumin seeds vs unroasted, its a big flavor difference). If those spices are not getting the heat or time they need for the roasting, they don’t infuse the dish well. They will eventually infuse the dish after a day but the initial flavor pay off might be underwhelming. 4. Expectation: Not all Indian food has layers and layers of spices and flavors. A lot of everyday Indian food is simply spiced with a spice or 2 to add a hint of flavor, to appreciate the local produce and beans in their natural flavor/texture and enhance them with complimentary spice/herb flavor, For eg. Mung Dal tadka uses only mustard seeds, garlic and chili, blissful. 
    Malai Peda from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    3. Curry powder is not garam masala and is never used in India. 🙂 Curry powder is less flavorful and has turmeric and other additions that are usually not present in garam masala. Curry powder is a British or Western spice blend approximating the masala spice blends from north and south India. It works well as a spice blend to add to dishes, but is definitely not a traditional or authentic flavor profile. Use garam masala spice blend or the mentioned spices in Indian recipes. I generally buy or make whole spice garam masala as the whole spices stay fresh longer (upto 1 year). I grind a small amount like a 1/4 to 1/2 cup and keep it to use in a month or so. 

    Oh yes, And curry powder has nothing to do with curry leaves 🙂

    Curry Leaves -Kadi patta, also called kadipatta, karivepallai, or sweet neem leaves, come from a subtropical tree native to India. The leaves are highly valued as a seasoning in southern and west-coast Indian and Sri Lankan cooking, and are usually fried along with the chopped onion in the first stage of the preparation. In their fresh form, they have a short shelf life and do not keep well in the refrigerator. You can freeze the fresh leaves very loosely packed in an airtight container for a few months. They are also available dried, though the aroma is largely inferior. You can add them to food whole or chopped. The curry leaves can be eaten along with the food or removed during eating. There is no good substitute for curry leaves. 

    Vegan Paneer Kadhai with Gluten-free Oat Naan from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    The term “curry”, when used for Indian dishes, simply means a sauce. Therefore, dals can be thought of as legume curries. “Curry” is used to describe sauces, not a powder or flavoring or one sauce. Curries can be dry, thin, thick sauces, and orange, yellow, red, brown, green, cream and other colors!

    Often curry is added to the name of the dish to help one understand what to expect. For example, Balti Veggies, Chettinad Veggies, Chana Palak, Madras Veggies etc make a bit more sense with a curry or sauce added to the name, like Veggies in Chettinad sauce. If you don’t like one sauce/curry, try another one or rather one from about a 100 in the book!

    Below: Rasmalai – Spongy balls in Saffron cream in the book. so good!

    Rasmalai from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    4. Besan and Chickpea flour! The mix up or is it? !!


    Chickpea flour is made by grinding up garbanzo beans, usually white garbanzo beans in the United States. Besan (gram flour) is flour of skinned brown chickpeas (often Chana Dal, which is skinned and split Brown chickpeas). Besan is also more finely ground than chickpea flour. In most recipes, chickpea flour and besan can be used interchangeably, as the flavors are similar, but they are not the same. 

    The recipes in the book specify which type of flour works best. Chickpea flour is more readily available than besan in regular grocery stores and online in the US.

    Chickpea flour needs more water than besan to give the batter a similar consistency. To substitute besan with chickpea flour in a recipe, use more water than mentioned. To substitute chickpea flour with besan in a recipe, use less water (or more besan) for the same consistency and result.

    Spicy Kashmiri Rogan Josh – Spicy Paprika Yogurt Sauce with Tempeh and Cauliflower (below)

    Tempeh Rogan Josh from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    Asafetida (hing) is great to add to tempering for beans and dals to help with digestion. It has a fetid fragrance, but in cooked dishes it delivers a flavor reminiscent of leeks and garlic. Always store asafetida in an airtight container. Asafetida itself is gluten-free, but it is usually ground along with a starch which is generally wheat. Hence, the ground asafetida is generally not gluten-free. It can be found ground with rice flour/starch or corn as well. Always check the label. Get the whole asafetida crystals to avoid gluten contamination and get them ground at a spice shop with the flour/starch or choice.

    Indian Dals are generally a bit over cooked. The preferred consistency is more porridge like or really soft whole beans that can easily get mushed into the sauce. The book recipes mention to adjust cooking time to preferred consistency of lentils, split peas, chickpeas and beans. Check earlier towards the end and take off heat when they are done to preference. 

    See Pictures of the most common dals and beans with their English and hindi names here.

    Chickpea Eggplant Stew from Vegan Richas Indian Kitchen

    Tomatoes: I usually use fresh, just-ripe Roma  or other tomatoes. They are firm, not too sweet, and just tart enough and work best in Indian recipes. I rarely use canned or crushed tomatoes as they are sweeter and add so much tomato flavor to the sauce that they tend to mask the complex magic of the spices and herbs. If you are in a rush, use half fresh and half canned, plus add more spices to taste later if needed. 

    Below- Pistachio Cardamom Cookies – Nan Khatai.

    Nankhatai from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    Fenugreek seeds, dried or fresh leaves have a bitter flavor which is essential in certain dishes. Ground fenugreek seeds can be substituted for the dried leaves. Use 1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek seeds for every 1 teaspoon dried leaves.

    Skillets: Skillets are important in Indian cooking. A separate nonstick or cast iron skillet for crepes or flatbread is needed to make crepes, flatbreads, and pancakes. I have two dedicated skillets: one for pancakes, omelets, and crepes; and one for rotis, naan, and other flatbreads. Using the skillets for other cooking that involves stirring or juices in the food can cause the skillet surface to change. Crepes such as dosa and chickpea flour chilla will then begin to stick to the skillet, creating a mess! I actually have another dedicated skillet for only Dosa crepes.

    Taste Adjustment: Tastes are very personal. Through the testing of the book and my personal preferences, the recipes have worked perfectly for the testers in terms of spices (for flavor), heat (cayenne, peppers), salt. All of these are adjustable to preference. If you are unsure about the spices, heat, salt, start with a lower amount. Taste and add more towards the end of cooking of the dish. On the other hand, If you feel the dish seems a bit bland, add more salt, spices, heat. Most often, extra salt and some extra cayenne/red chili powder should work. Traditional Indian food is generally salty. Salt is often the one ingredient that can support the rest of the spices to bring the flavor together. 

    If you cooked from the book and loved it, please do leave a review on Amazon.com! It would be so helpful. Thank you to everyone who did and left me such wonderful and kind words! <3 

    Below – Vegetables in luxurious Royal Sauce – Navratan Korma. This sauce has helped the kids finish up the veggies on their plate and ask for more! And yes, the bay leaf gets blended into the sauce! Bay leaves are also a part of garam masala in ground form. 

    Navratan Korma from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

    Errata:

    1. Page 39: Aloo bonda, is missing the label soy-free. 
    2. Page 71: Bhindi masala, is missing the label nut-free
    3. The picture on the cover is Tofu tikka masala, not mango curry tofu
    4. Page 259, Troubleshooting Vegan Paneer: If the vegan paneer is too dry (over baked or almonds were not blended well), cook it longer in sauce, or crumble and add to any of the veggie kofta balls.
    5. Page 203, Step 1 mentions to use urad dal flour, which is the same as black gram flour mentioned in ingredients. 
     
    6. Added this to Troubleshooting Avocado Naan as the avocados have a lot of variation in moisture which can lead to a harder dough:
    1. Use a very ripe avocado. Mash the Avocado really well. Mash and whisk and mash so it is a very smooth creamy mixture.
    2. Use 3 cups of flour instead of 3.5 cups of flour at Step 3. Its easier to add flour later than adjust moisture in a harder dough.
    3. Keep the dough very soft/sticky-ish. Add extra water at any step by spraying some water on the dough, shaped dough balls or shaped Naans.
    4. Let the shaped Naan rise for 5 minutes before baking/cooking.

    Before you go Checkout all #VeganRichasIndianKitchen on Instagram! 

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    1. sarah

      November 17, 2020 at 5:08 pm

      Can you make a post about the different varieties of butter chicken? I hate how they never taste the same.

      Reply
    2. Trotter

      April 24, 2020 at 4:26 am

      Nice Recipe. I just test this recipe and enjoy with my kids and family.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        April 24, 2020 at 10:23 am

        great!! Thank you

        Reply
    3. Ron Booker

      July 24, 2019 at 7:53 am

      I like how you mentioned that taste is important when preparing a dish. My nephew wants to try Indian food, and that’s why I’m looking to find a good dish to try. I appreciate you helping me learn more about Indian food. I’m going to start looking for an Indian restaurant.

      Reply
    4. Brooklyn Johnson

      June 21, 2019 at 11:04 am

      I like how you stated that most Indian spices and herbs are available in regular grocery stores. I love Indian food and want to try making it. I will definitely keep all of your great tips and information in mind when trying to make Indian food.

      Reply
    5. Toby

      January 15, 2018 at 7:08 pm

      I received this book for Christmas and have been cooking from it a few times a week, being Vegan and loving Indian food this book is a gift from the heavens! Thank you so much for this amazing book! I love your book and blog! Please keep sharing your amazing food!

      Reply
      • Richa

        January 15, 2018 at 7:51 pm

        Thank you for this wonderful note Toby! I am so glad everything turns out great!

        Reply
    6. Jim Stevenson

      April 29, 2017 at 4:10 pm

      Hi Richa, I have been making Indian (or Indian-like) food for many years and have always looked out for the cardamom pods when eating to avoid bitting into one. The experience is always a bit unpleasant. So I now am working with different garam masala recipes to determine which I like the best and am wondering about the cardamom pods. Do you grind up the cardamom pods along with the other spices, seeds, sticks, leaves, etc.?
      I am thinking of getting your book as a good, authentic source of Indian recipes.
      Thanks.

      Reply
      • Richa

        April 30, 2017 at 6:41 pm

        Yes they get ground into a powder with the rest of the spices. You can also use just the black seeds from inside the pod and grind them up. Use half the amount of seeds. Whole cardamom pods are used in some recipes like Biryani. You can discard the popds after cooking like bay leaves, before serving

        Reply
    7. Marie

      August 15, 2016 at 8:25 am

      Thank you so much for this blog, it’s an amazing place to get inspiration !!
      I love yourway of cooking and everything is soooo mouth-watering !!!! 🙂 🙂

      Reply
    8. Tally

      August 06, 2016 at 5:57 pm

      Hi! I bought your cookbook last week and I am loving it.
      What are the recipes pictured on the back cover?

      Additionally, I have found a few typos – should I send these somewhere?

      Reply
      • Richa

        August 06, 2016 at 6:40 pm

        Awesome! thanks! Tempeh Tikka Masala (pg 159), Maharashtrian Amti Dal (pg 114), Avocado Naan (190 ), Coconut chutney pg 242, chili coconut chutney pg 243, and Gulab jamun pg 318

        Please email them to veganricha at gmail.

        Reply
    9. Marian Hollander

      October 22, 2015 at 6:31 pm

      So enjoying your book! I’m hoping you can answer this question about the Korma on pages 156-158. After tempering the cardamom seeds, cloves, and bay leaves in oil am I supposed to remove them from the oil and discard? Or do they all actually get blended into the sauce (those are some pretty gigantic leaves!)???

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 22, 2015 at 6:39 pm

        hi Marian, thank you getting my book! You blend them in. If you are not sure, remove half and blend half of the leaves in. you can add the remaining leaves in the sauce while simmering. Bay leaves are used in both whole and ground form. Garam masala also has ground bay leaves.

        Reply
        • Marian Hollander

          October 23, 2015 at 3:44 pm

          Thank you so much for your quick answer!

          Reply
    10. Priti

      July 06, 2015 at 7:28 am

      Hi Richa, I borrowed your book from our public library. Its beautiful and I couldn’t resist cooking from it. Usually I borrow books and read them to get inspired but rarely cook from them. I tried your Baked Cauliflower Manchurian and we loved it! It was nice and crispy and we didn’t miss the frying bit at all. My husband is from Nagpur and loves and misses the Savji curry dearly. I have tried several recipes over the years but cannot nail the exact taste yet. I am going to try your Savji Chickpeas to see if it comes close. 🙂 Which are your most favorite recipes from the book? Please help me choose what to try next.

      Reply
      • Richa

        July 06, 2015 at 9:57 am

        thats awesome! Thanks for getting it from the library. i am so happy the manchurian came out so well!
        For the savji sauce, maybe add beyond meat brand vegan chikin strips to the sauce and simmer in it over low heat for a bit. The chikin flavor with all the spices and sauce will be closer to the authentic savji curry since it was always such a meat based dish.
        I love the makhani sauce and add tempeh or beyond chickin or seitan to it for the weekends we have guests. the navratan korma is also usually a hit, so is gobi mussalam, pasanda, shahi sauce, madras chili masala, malai kofta made with cashews etc. For weekdays, i make any of the dals and veggies. 🙂

        Reply
        • Priti

          July 06, 2015 at 10:50 am

          Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my queries.

          Reply
    11. IR

      June 28, 2015 at 1:15 pm

      Your book is amazing! I will try a recipe when I am better and have most of the ingredients!

      Reply
    12. Cadry

      June 27, 2015 at 9:11 pm

      I am wary of garam masala, because I’m not a huge fan of cardamom or cloves. Very small doses are okay, but I don’t like more than that. I have ruined dishes with the garam masala in my cupboard. (Eventually I threw it away to stop myself from using it on accident.) Do you think your garam masala recipe would be okay without those ingredients or at a reduced amount?

      Reply
      • Richa

        June 27, 2015 at 11:43 pm

        sure. use half or less of both. i have also noticed that Garam masala (ground or whole) from a world spice or non Indian store often has more of cardamom, cinnamon or cloves than what I use. Also, black cardamom is an entirely different flavor profile than green cardamom. it may or may not be the ingredient that you like. Try smaller batch with your variations to see how it goes.

        Reply
        • Cadry

          June 29, 2015 at 5:24 am

          Thanks, Richa! I’ll try it with your suggestions.

          Reply
    13. Ruth

      June 26, 2015 at 10:28 am

      How do you best grind fenugreek seeds? They seem to be too tough even for my coffee grinder, and forget the mortar and pestle.

      Reply
      • Richa

        June 26, 2015 at 10:52 am

        it works fine in my spice grinder and magic bullet. Try a larger amount in a small blender. Or Maybe buy ground fenugreek seeds.

        Reply
    14. Marta

      June 26, 2015 at 6:55 am

      Ok, I love your blog, most days I would give my left arm for any Vegan Indian Food deliciousness, soooo… I’m buying that book!
      I can’t believe I just found out about it. Oh wait, I just had a baby, that’s why!

      Reply
    15. Anna

      June 26, 2015 at 2:39 am

      everything looks so tastyyy!!! yummy

      https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/

      Reply
    16. Amanda @ Sweets and Greens

      June 26, 2015 at 1:42 am

      Thanks for the tip about curry powder. I’ll be looking out for garam masala from now on.
      And the cauliflower kofta looks so simple but delicious.

      Reply
    17. Lia

      June 25, 2015 at 11:56 pm

      Hello,

      I just signed the petition, “President of the People’s Republic of China: STOP THE YULIN DOG MEAT EATING FESTIVAL.”

      I think this is important. Will you sign it too?

      Here’s the link:

      https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china-stop-the-yulin-dog-meat-eating-festival

      Thanks,

      LIA

      Reply
    18. Farha - faskitchen

      June 25, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      Love all the colors in your dishes, Richa. You have an amazing eye for detail. As for skillets, nothing can match the cast-iron skillets, isn’t it? Even though I have both.. the recipe always tastes better in the cast-iron..

      Reply
    19. Cassie Tran

      June 25, 2015 at 4:38 pm

      Do curries often require some sort of fat such as cheese, oil, butter or milk?

      Reply
      • Richa

        June 25, 2015 at 5:08 pm

        No, not necessarily. It depends on the type of sauce needed. For example, jalfrezi is a just tomato and water based sauce with vegetables.

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Richa! I create flavorful plant based recipes that are inspired by my Indian upbringing, including many gluten-free, soy-free, and oil-free options.

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