Chetna's Healthy Indian: Everyday family meals. Effortlessly good for you

I'm Indian and bought this book for my diabetic parents. South Asians have a bad history with heart disease and diabetes. We are diagnosed with both at alarming rates. I really thought this book would offer some healthy versions of classic dishes but its mostly the same classic dishes with little to no alternatives. She just highlights the dishes that are veggie heavy (which I guess is fine but we already knew how to cook these). There were some salads (that look unfilling...) and soups though. The problem with Indian cooking is that it uses A LOT of oil/butter/ghee and is combined with carbs (rice and roti/chapati) and she did not really offer no resolution for this. For example, Chetna recommends sunflower oil. Oil and carbs are going to be the death of the Indian community. I would've appreciated if she recommended a heart healthy oil w/ high heat index such as Avocado oil which is generally more healthier and offered tips on how this oil would work best in Indian cooking. Ugh the sunflower oil is not even expeller pressed. I thought that the rotis/chapatis would be made with a healthier flour such as almond, whole wheat, or something but nope, same old same old. And rice, sigh. She uses white rice (which is crucial to indian cooking BUT white rice has such a high glycemic index, it really should not be in a healthy cookbook). It would have been nice if Chetna could have found a way to spice up brown rice and make it Indian friendly or even quinoa. Very disappointed in this cookbook and there's nothing really healthy about it once you're past the veggie/spice filled curries. I will say that the only thing that offered mildly healthy versions were the desserts. A lot of them still had flour and refined sugar but the majority of them had nice alternatives to sugar such as dates or guava nectar which is better for overall health and taste. Overall I am very disappointed with this cookbook as an Indian person and am considering returning it. I think this would be a great cookbook for somebody who is not familiar with Indian cuisine but keep in mind that just because it says "healthy" does not necessarily mean it is... especially when using sunflower oil, flour, and white rice.

This is the best Indian cookbook I have ever used, and one of my favorite cookbooks, now, period.(1) The recipes are easy. Sure, you might need to order some ingredients online that you don't use for other cuisine, but the recipes don't require much skill at all. Stress-free.(2) They're pretty quick. There are a lot of cookbooks that offer estimates that are waaaay optimistic, like I chop my vegetables at light speed and need zero time to locate ingredients in my cupboard. Chetna does not offer any such estimates, but they're actually pretty quick for the most part. My first attempt, I made four dishes in about 90 minutes (plus rice), which isn't too shabby particularly considering I was unfamiliar with the recipes. The next day, I made two more dishes in less than an hour, and a good bit of that was passive time at the end, so I was able to clean up the kitchen a bit.(3) The previous two points only matter because the food is delicious! Dangerously so. If someone cooked that coconut chicken curry for me, there is a real chance we would be married within hours. The chickpeas with sea bass was a borderline erotic experience. There were tears of joy. Two other recipes I tried were just ok - the black lentil and kidney bean dal and the cauliflower and potatoes - but still good, and with a little tweaking to my preferences, will be worth repeating. The stuffed okra was more work than I would be willing to put in very often, but quite good. And the tamarind coconut green beans were a real delight.

Just got the book. Have tried a few and really, really liked them. My husband does not like HOT food. I make these by using about one fourth of the required amount of hot peppers. Husband liked every one. Makes me feel good. Love my husband and love my Chetna.

I really like this cookbook. It is simple to follow, uses healthy ingredients, has nice photos of the dishes and the recipes I havetried so far have turned out well.

I love this cookbook!The recipes are easy to follow and delicious. There is a wide variety of recipes, and I want t try them all.My favorite part is that many of the recipes suggest different toppings, making it easy to adjust for the ingredients that you have on hand or that are in your local store.I have been cooking from this cookbook every week, and it does not disappoint.

For me, this book has been a great doorway into easy, but flavorful Indian cuisine. I did have to stock up on some basic Indian pantry items to make many of the recipes, but now that they are in the cupboard I'm good to go. So far, all of the recipes have been easy and reliable, suitable for weeknight cooking. Naturally, I have liked some dishes more than others, but I've already found a number that I am adding into my rotation.

I've made a couple of recipes from this book and they were all delicious. Chetna's recipes are always good and you can watch her make several on her YouTube channel.

Love it. I'm a fan of Chetna and watch her cooking videos as soon as they come up. I'll be trying recipes from this book!

I love the fact this book has such a diverse selection of dishes to try, but also that it suggest accompanying dishes that go well with one another - this gives you a lot of choice about the flavours you can put together.Instructions are clear, ingredients are simple to get hold of in most supermarkets, and the pictures are great too.A finely balanced indian cookbook, finally! I've been looking for something like this for ages. Follow Chetna's Youtube channel (Food with Chetna) too because she's cooking some of the dishes you see in the book.

I like this book alot. BUT.....many of the recipes state mustard oil. It seems to be banned in the UK? If it's not banned i'd very much like to know where I can buy it. If it is banned then this is very careless from the Editorial team (and really annoying).

What I love most about Chetna's recipes is that they are always full of flavour, and they are always practical to make. One of the great things about Healthy Indian, is that many of the recipes come with variations: different ways to serve staple recipes like tarka dal, or tomato curry, among many others. I also love Chetna's practical advice: don't have the exact quantities of the five lentils for dal? Well, just mix and match, the dish will taste different, but that's no reason to agonise over exact weights and not make it! The recipes all use staple ingredients of any kitchen that regularly cooks Indian food, nothing difficult to find. And most important of all, everything bursts with flavour, without the addition of a crazy amount of salt. I'm so grateful to Chetna for her hard work in making this book, and thoroughly recommend it!

This book is an excellent cookbook for those who are intrigued by Indian cooking and would like to give it a try. The book has numerous easy to follow recipes with nice picture illustrations. There’s something for everyone from vegetarian dishes, to fish dishes and chicken dishes. There’s also a section on chutneys and pickles and on Indian sweets. She also shows us how to make delicious Indian salads that are mouthwatering. I like her introductory chapter where she describes in detail what brought her into cooking in the first place. It’s very inspiring. This book is excellent value for money and is highly recommend.

I have all 3 of Chetna's books and was so excited to get my hands on this one! It has great recipes for every occasion. I made the Peppercorn and red chilli chicken tonight, my son loves it! The recipes are easy to follow too. Making the red kidney beans curry tomorrow....another family favourite!!