source: screenshot from www.AnjumAnand.co.uk
I’m so excited to introduce you to Anjum Anand, my new food crush. I discovered her televised series over the weekend while stumbling around the web. The discovery seemed uncanny since I just published my first Indian dish last week. As soon as I started to watch the videos online, I was immediately hooked on Anjum.
Maybe I’m just the last one to find out about Anjum, I wouldn’t be surprised. Erin of Erin Cooks already had the inside track and knew of Anjum, as well as other BBC food celebs. Everything is better in Britain — can we send Rachael Ray or Bobby Flay over to the UK in trade for Anjum Anand and James Tanner? Actually, I’m fine with just sending Bobby Flay over, we don’t need him back.
So, aside from the enjoyment I get from saying her name “Anjum” (I repeated her name constantly over the weekend … Joe was so annoyed with me and Anjum), she presents Indian cooking in a simple and healthy way. More importantly, she adapts the recipes for those interested in cooking who may not have specialized equipment, like a tandoori oven. The presentation of her program is equivalent in style and quality to that of Giada De Laurentis, but I find Anjum more personable and down to earth.
“Indian Food Made Easy” by Anjum Anand
This video series was televised on BBC in summer 2007 in six parts. I’ve been able to locate 5 of the 6 episodes online, each segment is 29 minutes in length. Two and a half hours of wonderful Indian cooking! I haven’t watched all of them yet – I’m pacing myself this week so I don’t burn through them all in one day :-)
Segment 1
Segment 2
Segment 3
Segment 4
Segment 5
Recipes from this series are available from the BBC website. The are 39 delectable recipes from which to choose. I’ve found other recipes at other locations on the web as well.
Although she has authored a couple cookbooks, her most recent two cookbooks are not currently available in the US. I found a new copy of her latest book available from a UK seller on eBay and snapped it up. Hopefully, in another week or two, I’ll have it and then watch out :-)
I made two of her recipes tonight for dinner and they both turned out amazingly well, a classic northern chicken curry and freshly baked naan.
Ginger & Pepper Romaine Stir-Fry
Not a single nook or cranny!
Roasted Potato Pockets
Creamy lentils and rice (khicheri)
Creamy congee (jook) is so comforting
In love with a magical Moussaka
Baked Doughnuts Recipe
Ciabatta Bread (in less than 5 hours)
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Well, I can certainly see why she would be anyone’s food crush :) Her program just screams Nigella’s production company. In fact she does seem like her counterpart in many ways. Which is good, because for the most part I love Nigella.
I hope she makes it big across the pond (oh, haha, I’m cracking myself up). People should start to realize that there are only a handful of really difficult recipes, and much less if you don’t count desserts. Indian food just needs a little more commitment when it comes to ingredients.
Oh God, keep Rachael Ray, please. I have to say, despite my partial distaste for Flay, his Iron Chef creations never fail to look really good.
i agree – let’s just send Flay over……i can deal with Rachel……..let’s also send Sara Lee :0) i’m scared i’ll get hooked on Anjun….i bet i can find her cook books in Sydney! hah hah hah – q
I’ll be the rebel and stick up for Bobby…he’s an Iron Chef for a reason.
There’s good & bad on both sides of the pond and currently Delia Smith is on everyone’s poo-poo list.
Thanks for introducing me to Anjum Allen. I sat and watched a few of her vids and I loved them! She makes it look quite easy.
So jealous that you scored a cookbook. I can’t wait to see what you make!
Manggy: As Anjum puts it, if you can make chili or a stew, you can make Indian food. It’s just a matter of using a different set of spices and herbs. Oh, didn’t you hear? We’re sending Rachael Ray to the Philippines so she can make some 30 minute balut :-)
Anonymous: Don’t be afraid, embrace Anjum. It’s worth it!
Peter M: Haha, always a rebel :-)
Peter G: Glad you enjoyed Anjum – she really does show how simple it can be.
Erin: Well, there are more cookbooks on eBay so go crazy. I found one for $30 US which included shipping.
Having lived in the UK for almost four years, ten years ago [after previously leaving there at 10yrs old] I can tell you even I was shocked at how fabulous the cooking is there now. If you are a fan of new fresh clean foods and cooking it was all happening there then.
Sainsbury’s supermarket used to have a wonderful magazine, glossy, big, fab. gorgeous pictures, recipes and articles, free, for all their customers. Boy do I miss it. To a smaller and lesser degree so did some of the other UK supermarkets. And they also had initiated self check out points, nifty containers you took home and returned with [needing no supermarket bags]…no one here had anything like either at that point.
Search and see if Sainsbury’s have an online presence now –most of the famous British cooks [whose names escape me at the mo.] eventually had a recipe, article or some such in Sainsbury’s mag.
Oh, yes! You can send Bobby AND Rachel elsewhere…I didn’t watch her cooking shows much. And not at all after seeing her behavior, hearing her aggravating voice and just how annoying she can be on another program [other than cooking] where she didn’t stop talking long enough for the guest to actually be able to have her say! Why Rachel bothered asking questions of her guest, when clearly she was much more interested in her own answers, I do not know!
I’m off to follow your lead, yum!…Thanks! – elizaduckie
Oh wow. She is beautiful and so is her food. She could easily be my new food crush too :-p
Thats so funny – I “discovered” Anjum’s recipes and was looking for more on the Web, when I saw your post listed first on the list!
Her cooking is really amazing! I just made her savory semolina cake which came out so well!
I love this lady Anjum Anand and I worship her!
She is not only my Kitchen God but also my Mentor with all her inspiration and positive attitude. Its like whenever I enter the kitchen I think I’ve to be like her..I have tried out her recipies and i’m trying to acquire her style of cooking. Her recipies have turned out to be simply heavenly! i have tried out her North Indian Chicken and her Coconut Fish Curry and Shahi paneer and they are just wonderful and also very easy to make and ofcourse healthy as they require little oil.
Long Live My Kitchen God!!
I have just watched the start of the new series and I would like to say a couple of things.
First of all, like Arundathi I too tried the savoury semolina cake which was delicious.
Second I also tried her salmon wrap recipe again delicious, but maybe too much peanuts! (but that is an individual preference)
However, as a Gujarati I am disappointed with her so called ‘Gujarati recipes’. We do not, as she said on her programme, eat chips often as part of our diet. She then conjured up some spicy chips with nuts! Also she made what she called a Gujerati undhyu. Again, not how it is supposed to be made. we use dumplings in it and also do not add coconut and peanuts to it….which I may like to add that she does with quite a lot of her dishes!
She also claims to be cooking healthy Indian food, which I was then horrified to read on a recipe on the bbc website for potato curry with cashew nuts and the potatoes were fried! My mother-in-law makes a wonderful version of this with no fried potato in sight.
So although some of the recipes are good, many contain the same ingredients of coconut and peanuts – so if you are not a fan of either you could be left disappointed.
Like most cookbooks you need to take the best of each one and adapt it to suit you.
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