Rasika: Flavors of India – Modern Indian Recipes and Reimagined Classics by a James Beard Award-Winning Chef

I first borrowed Rasika: Flavors of India from the library but ended up purchasing my own copy to try out the recipes at home. The one recipe that caught my eye right away was the Mango Tarte Tatin. I was a little intimidated at first but the instructions were thorough and easy to follow. Only ingredient I needed to purchase was the mangos. Rest of the ingredients were common in every kitchen. The recipe resulted in a delicious dessert that was devoured by my family. I ventured onto Carrot Halwa and wasn't disappointed. Today was my second time making the Kashmiri Cinnamon Salmon with the Mint Cilantro Chutney and it was simply amazing! I was skeptical at first about how the cinnamon flavor would go with salmon. When I tasted the finished salmon, all the flavors just came together to create a sweet and tangy fish that was just delicious and the sauce was the perfect complement. The instructions for all the recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are common in any Indian household. The book is filled with vibrant pictures and is visually stunning. I have many Indian cookbooks but this is by far my favorite to cook delicious and impressive dishes! I can't wait to try more recipes from here!

Rasika is a destination restaurant with an amazing staff. Each time I have been there, I have discovered new flavors and approaches that I wish I could create at home. Now that THE Rasika book has been published, I may have a chance to learn some of the secrets. The background behind the restaurants of Ashoka Bajaj is wonderful and makes me want drive up to DC and go to Rasika or Rasika West End. The recipes of Vikram Sunderam are presented clearly with beautiful photos. I appreciate his tips within the recipes. I doubt my Chicken Tikka Masala will ever taste as good as theirs. All the same, when not in DC, I can learn more about Indian cuisine and experiment with a variety of recipes while I dream about the next time I am at one of their restaurants.

I have really enjoyed reading this book. The photography is stunning. There are brief backstories on the owner and chef's journey that was interesting to learn. There is also a section on the ingredients and techniques. For a food lover who enjoys Indian cuisine, especially the creative dishes at Rasika, but has little experience with Indian preparations and spices, this is a wonderful and informative book. Some of the recipes are straight forward and I will certainly try them, others like the famous Palak Chaat, are more involved and I will leave to the professionals.

If you love Rasika and like a challenge in the kitchen, add this cookbook to your library. The recipes are challenging and techniques take a couple of tries to master in many cases, but the outcome is worth the work to get there. Before you embark on a recipe, be sure you have the ingredients, the equipment and that you understand the technique. Trying to figure any of that out "in the middle" of cooking is very difficult.

I haven't yet visited Rasika, but I love Indian cooking and this one had a number of dishes that I enjoy so I decided to try it out. Having an Indian grocery accessible will definitely help in creating the recipes, but you could also order things online if they aren't as accessible in your area. So far I have made the makhani sauce, paneer makhani, and the saffron pulao. They are a tad time consuming as you are cooking with fresh ingredients. It also helps to have a vitamix to puree the sauces to be smooth. There is mention of freezing things before adding cream or salt, so it may be advisable to double quantities if you're going to make many sauces. I found the recipes to be approachable, although there were a few hang ups I encountered along the way. Sometimes the directions were slightly vague and mustard oil is often marked not for consumption, though many people cook with them anyway. The results were good. I wish I could give this a 4.5 star rating. I had to doctor some recipes up with extra salt and I decreased the amount of water for the makhani sauce to have it a bit more thick and rich. The saffron pualo is nice. I like the technique to make it and will use that again without question in other recipes. I think the recipes are do-able and not as fussy as others have mentioned. It may depend on your comfort level and time to invest in making these foods.

I am an experienced and fast home cook - I tend to race through recipes and this cookbook has given me the motivation to slow down and enjoy the process of bringing together new flavors to produce amazing modern Indian dishes. The restaurant is also one of my favorites - a must if you are in Washington D.C.

I checked out Rasika from the library first to try out several recipes. I made Chicken Green Masala, Chicken Makhani, Kashmiri Cinnamon Salmon and Sea Bass in Banana Leaf. All of the dishes were fun to make and outstanding in flavor. This is my 4th cookbook of Indian cooking and I'm happy to say that it provides different recipes than my others and I can't wait to make more of them. I also look forward to my next trip to DC, as I plan to make reservations to eat at the restaurant Rasika. Highly recommend!

The recipes are so involved, will dirty every dish in your kitchen, require a trip to an Indian specialty store and take all day to make, BUT in the end you will have a dish that tastes great. This cookbook just made me really appreciate the price of food when I eat at Rasika because I don't think I'll be making much from it again.

I have made two recipes both of which were delicious, but time consuming. A number of recipes recommend the use of a NutriBullet for lengthy periods of time. I made the Kashmiri Chili Paste, which instructed blending for five minutes (and some recipes have longer blending time). I’ve included a picture showing the results of blending for the recommended time (overheating and a paste explosion)! If you’re using a NutriBullet follow the appliance’s instructions very carefully rather than just following the book’s instructions like I did!!!

I liked this book very much. I particularly like the curried chicken with pistachios. Some of the ingredients were difficult to source in my town.