Shocks and Shoes

Personal

Weekly Goals Update – 22 January 2012

5:46:00 pm

Food

Recipe for the Week – Bunny Mac

3:07:00 pm

Fashion

Birthday of the Hubs, and first Outfit Post of the Year!

10:28:00 am

Personal

Weekly Goals Update – 15 January 2012

6:12:00 pm

books, Food

My first book review of the year!! Also, this is the perfect book for this time of the year, considering everyone’s just about made their New Year resolutions and are now wondering how to execute them. And no surprises for guessing the topper on everyone’s lists :-).

This review is part of blogadda’s book review program and the book being reviewed today is ‘Thinner Dinner’ by Shubhra Krishan.

Title: Thinner Dinner

Author: Shubhra Krishan

Plot: Shubhra Krishan, a formerly hearty diner from the heartlands of Haryana, explains (very convincingly) how ‘thinning’ down your PM meal can be the best decision you take on your journey to a slimmer and fitter you.

This isn’t just a cookbook, with the author presenting her personal experiences, peppered with fun cartoons, interesting anecdotes and of course, lots of information about how and what to have for dinner.

Shubhra Krishan talks about her journey, the incident that gets her thinking about her diet and how she began tweaking her dinner to make it healthier and yummier.

Quite a variety of cuisines are covered, which is very useful considering the sheer number of options the urban Indian has today for his/her dinner. As a result, we have dals, parathas, rice dishes, pasta, vegetables, non vegetarian dishes, sizzlers, pizza and more.

Review: The first thing that stands out in the book is its non preachy, fun, conversational style which is a pleasure to read. The author is no nutritionist or diet expert and neither does she claim to be one. However, she does come across as a passionate foodie and her love for food is quite contagious!!

So, the dals come to life, you feel the fluffiness of the rotis, you can smell the fragrant rice dishes. The best part is that these basics of Indian cuisine are given due importance and considering that they form the average Indian’s comfort food, this book scores major points here.

Ms. Krishan doesn’t claim all the recipes as her own and gives credit where it is due. It is quite refreshing to read someone who doesn’t claim to be the know-all of cooking and yet provides enough facts and content to keep you interested throughout. Most of the recipes are simple, with basic ingredients and easy to follow instructions – hardly anything requires any special cooking expertise.

The humor is another vital component of this interesting little book. The author herself gives amusing comparisons and analogies to put her point across. “[The difference between a haath-ki-roti and a roti rolled out using a chakla belan] is really the difference between a waif-like model and a full figured woman.” is one such gem.

Even foods considered diet villains – aloo parathas, pulaos, pizzas – are given a quick makeover and converted into heroes. The author stresses on maintaining the wholesomeness of all dishes and also emphasizes the importance of eating with all your senses.

One minor glitch (if it can be called that) is that eating in front of the TV seems to be encouraged a lot. This was probably done keeping a single person in mind, but it does kind of feel odd after being repeated a few times. Also, families having fussy kids or toddlers might not take too kindly to eating dal with a teaspoon of rice in it. However, this is but nit-picking; the rest of the dishes are more than family friendly :-)!!

Do try out this book, you will definitely not regret it. It’ll bring a smile to your face, especially if you’ve been among the trying-to-cut-down-my-portions/carbs crowd. It’ll also provide you many simple dishes from ultimate comfort food to slightly more advanced sizzlers. Bon Appetit!!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!