Indian Culture and Cooking

Indian Culture and Cooking is a well written, colorful, and inviting booklet for middle grade readers by Lindsey Lowe. It's part of the Exploring Cultures in the Kitchen series. Released 1st Aug 2023, it's 48 pages and is available in paperback and library binding editions.

The first part of the book focuses on the various cultures and traditions of different areas of India. The second section, containing the recipes, is arranged thematically: classic recipes, national celebrations, family celebrations, and life in India. The author/publisher have also included some handy appendices: a glossary, links and resources lists, and an index.

Recipes are written in clear, basic language. All the ingredients are listed in a bullet sidebar. They're provided with imperial (American) measurements only. Most will be readily available at any well stocked grocery store. Some of the spices will require a trip to an international/Asian grocery store.

All the recipes have easy to follow step-by-step prep and cooking directions, and all are accompanied by one or more tutorial photos. Special points of interest are written into highlighted text boxes throughout.

Four stars. Well written and age-appropriate; these dishes could be prepared by an 8-11 year old (the target audience) with minimal adult supervision. It is a very short booklet, but would make a nice choice for public or school library acquisition, gift giving, and home use.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lindsey Lowe for access to this Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much ! I love Indian food and the recipes seem simple enough to try at home. We also learn fun facts about India, the culture, the history. I would recommend this book 😊

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book to review)
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Readers explore the cultures of India through its food in this creative collection of accessible recipes. From spice blends and curries to sweet treats, each recipe is broken down into simple, clear steps that often feature photographs to help readers visualize the cooking process.

However, readers learn far more than just how to make traditional Indian dishes. They discover the importance of food as part of Indian daily life and special celebrations. This insightful cultural context is presented through main text and fact boxes that are paired with colourful photographs and helpful maps.

“Indian food” is a misnomer: there are so many regions in the country, and they do not seem to eat the same food from area to area … much like the USA and Canada. Inland inhabitants eat less seafood and Hindus eat no beef and the pockets of Muslims have their own food rules as well: a billion people live in India so it is bound to be divergent in lifestyles and food. This book shared both recipes and culture – I do wish that the photos were visible on the review copy - and the recipes seem to be a cinch to make by a cook of any level. This is a tiny book - almost a pamphlet - but still worth reading.
#shortbutsweetreviews

Exploring Cultures in the Kitchen is a series of children’s cookbooks that help children understand the cultures of different countries with a few easy recipes that showcase each country. One of the installments is Indian Culture and Cooking. This book is for children ages 8-11. This book is well-written and easy to understand; although it’s written principally for children, adults will also enjoy the information that is simplified for the age group. The recipes are also well-written and easy to understand, so children can make these recipes, but definitely with adult supervision because the stove and knives are involved. Also included are step-by-step instructions for basic cooking skills that are needed to make the recipes. There are few recipes, but they are for the most popular Indian dishes which are perfect for an introduction to the flavors of the country.

The cultural information includes fun things that children can relate to such as holidays and celebrations, birthday celebrations, and weddings, as well as an explanation of industries that keep the people working. It also includes explanations of the ingredients and spices used in the recipes.

The book is colorful and includes photographs of Indian people in different scenarios and of every recipe. This is a fun book for children and makes it fun to cook with them in the kitchen. Most children who like to spend time in the kitchen will enjoy this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I loved the Indian Culture and Cooking book.
It is made up of recipes and information about India and the Indian culture.

Readers can learn so much about the Indian people abs their culture from the book. It covers population, places, the people, traditions, holidays, city life, rural life and more. The information is presented brilliantly and holds the readers attention. The pages are colourful, drawing you in.
I also loved the glossary at the back of the book.

The recipes are also presented beautifully. The ingredients are clear and the cooking instructions are very simple to follow. A young reader would be able to follow the instructions easily, with minimum input from an adult.
The use of photos showing the cooking process, spices, the dish are eye catching and brings the book to life.

Overall, I love this book. I just wish there were a few more recipes to try.
I would recommend this for ages 8+.

Indian Culture and Cooking is a colorful delight celebrating the cultures, traditions, and foods of India. After a short tour around India, we learn a little about the food and agriculture of the country and get to try three popular Indian dishes: garam masala, Lentil dal, and chapatis.

Then we have a chance to look at some fun national celebrations, such as Independence Day, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, and Colorful Holi. Then we are treated to Vegetable Curry and Seviyan. We then get to look at some family celebrations: birthdays, samskara rituals, and wedding festivities! The recipes for the popular tandoori chicken and vegetable samosas are included here. We finish up the book with colorful photos of city and rural life, and the tasty recipes of cooling lassi, rogan josh, and coconut pilaf.

This book is a beautiful celebration of India and its vibrant tastes and cultures. What a treat to visit this diverse country through this book. This would be a fantastic book for children to be exposed to new cultures and foods! Loved it! ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advanced review copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review on the book!

What a fantastic cookbook for kids! I loved this so much that I looked, hopefully, to see if this was a series. I appreciated all of the facts about Indian culture and the recipes interspersed between informative pages of cultural facts and celebrations. The recipes are simple enough for younger kids to follow and they are interesting enough, with spices and marinades, to make good family meals. There are also a lot of general cooking tips and facts mixed into the book to make it a good general cooking resource for kids.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rosen Publishing Group for providing an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) for my honest review of this book.

A great book to introduce children to Indian culture. Good balance of images, factual information and accessible recipes. Just enough to whet the appetite and make them interested.

This is a great book to teach about Indian food as well as the culture and holidays. This is such a joyful, colorful book, with easy step by step directions, and delicious meals on every page. I think this will appeal to all ages, and anyone who is interested in cooking food from another culture. I highly recommend this book.

This cookbook is fantastic! First of all, I have always loved ethnicity/culture-specific cookbooks that give you more than just the recipe; learning more about the culture as a whole while cooking just seems to give it more flavor somehow. Not all the images would show up on my Kindle app, but the ones that did were beautiful. Also, a lot of the recipes seem to be safe for many diets, which doesn't always matter to me, but this month I'm off added sugar and wheat, and some of these are really going to get me through the hard times!!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and my only concern would be that I hope that more of the images will show up properly in the final publishing. Some did, some didn't, and I'd have liked to see them all.

As someone who is married to an Indian man, and cooks mostly Indian inspired food, I can really appreciate the simplicity of how the recipes are provided. One can navigate the recipes with such ease. I love the tidbits of Indian Culture provided along the way as well. It really gives insight into Indian life! To someone who does not normally cook Indian recipes, which can be complicated, this book really breaks down the process and makes it possible for newer Indian cookers to feel confident!

Short children's non-fiction book on India that is part culture (holidays and celebration, traditions, and daily life) and part cookbook. The information in the book flows well and the recipes seem to be ones that many children could cook, often with some adult help. Well illustrated and provides a lot of information in a short amount of text.

What a fun book! It talks about the couture and teaches recipes from India. Looks like it’s a series so I can’t wait to read the other ones about other countries too. The recipes are: Garam masala, lentil dal, chapatis, vegetable curry, seviyan, tandoori chicken, veg samosas, lassi, Rogan josh, coconut pilaf. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

A sweet book for little ones to learn about Indian culture and food. The recipes are easy for little ones to understand and even help make. The pictures are wonderful.

This was an interesting cookbook. It had all the recipes I would have expected in an Indian cookbook. The recipes were not that difficult to make and what I did make tasted great!

This book contains a basic Indian history and culture lesson along with some simplified recipes that are common Indian foods. Colorful photographs show readers exactly what the cooking process looks like for the recipes.

Indian Culture and Cooking provides a view into the lives of others. The book contained recipes, national celebrations, family celebrations and life in India. The book included lots of visuals and charts to help readers comprehend. A glossary at the end helps readers to understand unfamiliar words.