Rating: 
Summary: A must-own for Indian food fans
Review: I disagree with those who said Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking was simpler--I found this one easier to follow and the recipes less complicated, yet equally as delicious. For the beginner, Sahni also takes time to explain basic techniques, concepts, and spices which are necessary to Indian cooking but may be unfamiliar to Westerners. She even explains how to make chenna and paneer (and then how to turn it into ras malai, which I recommend highly). The recipes included are wide-ranging (definitely more in here than Jaffrey's) and an excellent introduction to Indian cooking. It's the best basic book on the subject I've used.
Rating:
Summary: Good Stuff, no, GREAT STUFF
Review: I first purchased this book for my mom who loves Indian food with the promise that I would cook a few recipes for her. At the time, I knew virtually nothing about cooking. No matter: Ms. Sahni includes a thorough and extremely helpful introduction that describes both essential cooking techniques and ingredients. She puts a lot of effort into adapting Indian cooking to the American kitchen without cutting too many corners (although I am not Indian, so take my opinion with a grain of salt). I have tried probably 20 recipes or so from the book and have been extremely pleased with all except I found the tandoori chicken to be pretty disappointing. She also gives lots of useful hints including which recipes should really be prepared a day before - my taste tests fully confirm her recommendations. Other useful pointers include which recipes freeze well. Since many of them require a fair amount of work, knowing which recipes I can double and freeze for later is great.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you need to know
Review: I first purchased this book for my mom who loves Indian food with the promise that I would cook a few recipes for her. At the time, I knew virtually nothing about cooking. No matter: Ms. Sahni includes a thorough and extremely helpful introduction that describes both essential cooking techniques and ingredients. She puts a lot of effort into adapting Indian cooking to the American kitchen without cutting too many corners (although I am not Indian, so take my opinion with a grain of salt). I have tried probably 20 recipes or so from the book and have been extremely pleased with all except I found the tandoori chicken to be pretty disappointing. She also gives lots of useful hints including which recipes should really be prepared a day before - my taste tests fully confirm her recommendations. Other useful pointers include which recipes freeze well. Since many of them require a fair amount of work, knowing which recipes I can double and freeze for later is great.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE 'CLASSIC '
Review: I have been a fan of Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking for as long as I can remember, shall we say decades, cooking great Indian food for my family and friends. When my children moved out, I gave each a copy of this book. Today they are cooking Julie Sahni's recipes for their circle of friends. How fortunate for us that she shares her authentic family mogul treasures, which we now call our family food. You will find this book easy to use because Julie Sahni, an amazing teacher and writer, has made it all so simple. There are almost 100 pages devoted to cooking techniques and description of spices. The instructions are clear, precise and detailed without being overly long. Every recipe is delicious, producing results exactly as described. Just try Rogan Josh-lamb in fragrant garlic cream sauce, Murgh Khoobani- Moghul spice braised Cornish hens with apricot or Goan Vindaloo-hot pungent curry and you will understand the definition of 'extraordinary flavor'. Classic Indian Cooking is one of my three most treasured possessions (the others being Julia Child's French and Marcella Hazan's Italian). I seriously recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: If you want THE Indian cookbook, this is it!
Review: I love Indian food. I love to cook- I come from a family of seriously devoted chefs. I lived in Pakistan a number of years ago and still find myself craving the recipes I tasted there. My husband grew up in a Sikh community and he craves the dishes of his childhood. I got this book hoping it would give me an easily available reference, and the reviews were all so wonderful. I have had the book for over a year now and I have not made a single dish from it that I was excited about after the tasting commenced. Her descriptions sound enticing enough, but I have been very disappointed in the flavour, texture and appearance of the dishes. I have tried not to play with the ingredients in dishes too much (like I usually do)in order to give them the opportunity to be as authentic to her recipes as possible, but I have come to the conclusion that I would rather eat from any stall in any street in Islamabad than any of her recipes. I have made fabulous recipes from recipes found on the internet, but I really wanted a more comprehensive, authentic resource for finding recipes quickly, but her spice combinations are way too uniform, her methods inordinantly time consuming for not a better product, and the curries come out sadly wanting for excitement. I am so sorry to say this, because I wanted to find the best source, but more often than not I abandon her book when I am researching something tasty in the Indian genre. I can do better winging it on my own. Don't bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I hoped for
Review: I love Indian food. I love to cook- I come from a family of seriously devoted chefs. I lived in Pakistan a number of years ago and still find myself craving the recipes I tasted there. My husband grew up in a Sikh community and he craves the dishes of his childhood. I got this book hoping it would give me an easily available reference, and the reviews were all so wonderful. I have had the book for over a year now and I have not made a single dish from it that I was excited about after the tasting commenced. Her descriptions sound enticing enough, but I have been very disappointed in the flavour, texture and appearance of the dishes. I have tried not to play with the ingredients in dishes too much (like I usually do)in order to give them the opportunity to be as authentic to her recipes as possible, but I have come to the conclusion that I would rather eat from any stall in any street in Islamabad than any of her recipes. I have made fabulous recipes from recipes found on the internet, but I really wanted a more comprehensive, authentic resource for finding recipes quickly, but her spice combinations are way too uniform, her methods inordinantly time consuming for not a better product, and the curries come out sadly wanting for excitement. I am so sorry to say this, because I wanted to find the best source, but more often than not I abandon her book when I am researching something tasty in the Indian genre. I can do better winging it on my own. Don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book.
Review: I love this book. You can easily follow the recipes and the techniques. There is also a wealth of background information. And last but not least the food is delicious.
Rating:
Summary: An easy-to-use introduction to Indian cooking
Review: I'm on my second copy of this book. I learned the basics of Indian cooking from it (ghee, cheese, etc.)and still use it frequently. Illustrations and step-by-step instructions help master unfamiliar techniques.
Rating:
Summary: Superb book
Review: I've owned a copy of this book for several years, and some of the pages are falling out. If I was cursed to own only 5 cookbooks, this would be one of the titles I'd choose.
Rating:
Summary: Clear instructions for real Indian dishes
Review: My husband is from India and I purchased this book shortly after we married. My favorite recipe is the Royal Vegetable and Rice Casserole (Vegetable Biriyani). The first time I made it took me all day because I made my own Paneer and followed the recipe in a linier fashion. Since then, I've been able to get it down to about 2 hours start to finish if I use Paneer from the Indian shop. I made this for my mother in law when she came from India to visit. She was so impressed that she's still talking about it to her relatives and friends in India. While some of Julie Sahni's instructions are rather long and detailed, she gives the reason and history in addition to the steps. She explains why to wash and soak the Basmati rice, how to make Paneer, etc. Be sure to take the time to read through the recipe completely before you begin, as some instructions are a bit complicated the first time.
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