The Easy Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook: Prep-and-Go Restaurant Favorites to Make at Home

20 minute prep time, my a--. Ok, now that I've gotten that frustration out of the way. I've cooked three recipes out of this cookbook, and each one was delicious. So on recipes, (it seems to have all the favorites from your local Indian buffet) and flavors I give it 5 stars.I cut it back by one star, because despite the name of the book having the word "easy" in it - I did not find the recipes "easy". And the prep times are extremely optimistic - if you're not used to cooking Indian, or haven't cooked these recipes before, expect prep time to be 2X or even 3X more than what is stated.There are also some questions I have about the recipes asking you to toast and grind spices - I'm sure it's better, and certainly more authentic, but if you're putting out an "easy one pot" cookbook, I think it would be better just to give the measurements for the already ground spices.Expect to have to buy spices - possibly a lot of spices - that you don't already own. Which was fun to shop for, but can be expensive. And some of them - like the fenugreek - I never did find, none of my local stores had that, so I just had to leave it out.Lastly I have some critiques on the recipes where the author would list ingredients, but then wasn't very clear in the directions on when to use them. And other places where they definitely could have streamlined the process. Some of the directions were a tad muddled.Still all in all, I like this cookbook, and my family really enjoyed the dishes I cooked. Just remember that the recipes are going to take more time than stated and plan accordingly.

I even read and enjoyed the introductory material (which I usually skip). The Indian Kitchen chapter was particularly useful in explaining the spices. I appreciated the descriptions of taste and texture of what you should have when finished. There are even some notes scattered throughout about health benefits. I've cooked about a dozen recipes before this book so not a novice but I feel that a beginner would not be lost.

I follow Hari's recipes on her web site and on her app so had to buy the book. The recipes are easy to follow and for being new to Indian cooking I have learnt so much. Hari details a lot about the ingredients, spices and history of the meals at the start of the book so you are not going into cooking without background of the dish and how it is put together. I liked the history as it was a great knowing the background to the culture of this beautiful food. You do need to buy various spices which are easily found in the UK supermarkets or indian grocer. When you consider how many meals you will be able to produce and it is home made and healthy it is very low cost cooking homemade. I used to feel intimidated by spices but the advice Hari gives is great and it is like a friend learning you to cook. Every recipe I have made, over a dozen have turned out perfect, just like a high end restaurant. I love that Hari has made the recipes for a slow cooker which takes the worry out of leaving something on the stove as you can walk away and leave it. I would definitely buy a second book and I look forward to another coming out. I would love to see more photos of the finished dishes in another book which I cannot wait to buy. I highly recommend Fenugreek Chicken, Hot Goan Style Coconut Chicken, Chettinad Chicken, Chicken Biryani, Red Lentil Dhal but cannot fault any recipe I have made. Thank you so much Hari for the recipes.

The book has very interesting recipes, and I like the fact that she doesn't use the silly approach of "set it and forget it", that in my opinion ruins most dishes prepared in the slow-cooker. The reason why I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5, is the lack of photos. There are no photos for any recipe in the book, and for an author who has a very reputable food blog, making a cookbook without photos is a bit surprising.I am a very visual person, and love to see what the dish should look like - I understand that it rises the price of the book, makes its production more complicated, and would settle for a book in which not every recipe comes with a picture. But no photos at all? That's a bit much. Still, the recipes are so detailed and she evidently has a ton of knowledge and experience, so I am giving it 4 stars... Maybe in her next edition she can work on adding great photos too? ;-)

I just received this wonderful cookbook 2 days ago, & I can't wait to start digging in to all of it's delicious-sounding recipes! I love the way the author has sorted out the "must have" spices from the "nonessential" for us. She has also included a glossary of terms as well the Indian names of the dishes. There are plenty of cooking tips, too, with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure. Although I have eaten Indian food for many years, I am still a novice at cooking it. I feel this cookbook is for all of us who want a lovely Indian meal at home!! कृपया भोजन का आनंद लीजिये! (kripyā bhojan kā ānnaṅd lijīyai)--please enjoy your meal!

Easy might not be entirely accurate. You do have to track down the appropriate spices, but once you do that it is easy to follow! And delicious!!!

I have not used it extensively, but so far so good. Today I made the yellow mung bean soup or whatever it is called ( I forget the title! ). I just happened to have a bag of split yellow mung beans on my shelf (doesn't everyone keep yellow mung beans in their pantry? :) ) as well as the spices needed to make the garam masala. So I threw this together, and it took 10-15 minutes. Cook the garlic and cumin in some oil, dump everything in the slow cooker. Easy Peasy.Some of these recipes call for ingredients you can't just run down to Wal-Mart and get, you need access to a few spices needed for the garam masala and curries, but any good Asian store will have these.

Good option to explore new taste horizons. This adventure is varied, not time-consuming. Great way to experiment before getting totally involved cooking from scratch!

Great recipes and quite easy to follow

There were too many ingredients that I wouldn't buy just to make the occasional Indian meal.

I love these recipes. Great for beginners and pros alike.

Some recipes are not delicious.

I'm a massive fan of both Indian food and Hari Ghotra. Her website is first class - informative, easy to use, and conversational. I was expecting the book to follow suit, but I'm left unexpectedly disappointed.The American delivery (as other reviews mention: measurements, words, spellings) grates on my very soul, and should be made explicit in the product description somewhere. This is clearly a US book - there is no British price guide printed on the back. It's just in $ dollars.On top of this, the book feels nasty in my hands, with cheap paper, ropey print, and outrageously flimsy soft cover. I only paid a tenner for this, but it just feels like a knocked up pamphlet. I realise Hari was not expecting to sell thousands of copies and needed to keep the price of press down, but it's a little deflating.All this aside, the content is typically great. I love Hari's style, and the recipes look fantastic (I'm yet to cook any, but I know my way around). It doesn't bother me that there are few illustrations (cost saving again), because this makes more room for more recipes.Other reviews have made roughly the same comments and given only one star, but that seems unfair. There's a great recipe book in here somewhere under the physical object, so it's three stars for me. Time to dust off the slow cooker.