"Vikram and Meeru are passionate restaurateurs, but they also have
a home life infused with the good food they share at their
restaurant. They recently shared their love of home cooking in a
new book, Vij's at Home: Relax, Honey.""
The Kitchen
""It would be hard to imagine a warmer, more easy going
introduction to Indian cuisine in North America than the one put
together by the Vancouver restaurateurs Meeru Dhalwala and Vikram
Vij in their Vij's At Home: Relax, Honey.""
New York Times
""While [Meeru Dhalwalla and Vikram Vij] could easily have
succeeded on the strength of their culinary expertise, it is the
personal touch that has brought renown to their restaurants and
cookbooks. That feeling emanates from the restaurants' walls and
keeps visitors coming back, and the same feeling will follow them
home in Vij's cookbooks.""
Edible Vancouver
""[Vij's] features easy-to-make-at-home, family-friendly dishes
that are designed for busy households.""
Chef Magazine
""Vij's At Home is a guide from some of America's most famous
restaurateurs on their specific and beloved craft, authentic Indian
cuisine. With a wide assortment of dishes to satisfy the palette,
be it sweet or spicy, savoury or sweet, these recipes will prove
easy to prepare and provide for excellent meals.""
Midwest Book Review
""Vancouver's culinary super-couple eases your entree to the
delicious, but often daunting, world of Indian cookery with a guide
for home cooks that's as accessible as its cheeky title
suggests.""
Indigo Gift Guide
""This book widens the lens on comfort food for Canadians, from
signature lamb 'Popsicles,' to plentiful vegetarian dishes,
chutneys, sustainable seafood and a delicious butter chicken
schnitzel.""
Montreal Gazette
"[Vij's at Home] is a family affair...The recipes come with plenty
of explanations for those not so familiar with Indian cooking, as
well as a description of the spices used and how to prepare
them."
Waterloo Region Record
"This attractive, well-designed book introduces non-Indians...to
everyday cooking in the home of an Indian-born Canadian couple,
Meeru Dhalwala and Vikram Vij, who operate two Indian restaurants
in Vancouver. In Vij's at Home, they invite us into their home and
introduce us to their family, their foibles and their
interpretation of homestyle Indian cooking. They share recipes that
they make, not for restaurant clientele, but for each other and
their daughters. The book is well-illustrated with plenty of
photography by John Sherlock showing techniques, completed dishes
and the authors in action. The writing is conversational and fun to
read."
The Guardian
"Ideal for first-time cooks or experienced chefs, the recipes
include everything from vegetarian dishes that can be prepared in
less than 45 minutes to seafood, poultry and meat dishes that can
be prepared in 20."
FoodServiceWorld
"[Vij's at Home] is about simplifying Indian cuisine, taking things
out of the restaurant and putting them into the home kitchen...It's
about nutritious, healthy and flavourful dishes that can be on the
table quickly so the family can eat together."
Star Phoenix
"Vij's at Home: Relax, Honey...reveals Vij's year-Iong experiment
with spicy roasted crickets plus coveted instructions for Ranqoli's
most popular vegetarian dish: portobello mushrooms with bell
peppers in a creamy curry."
WestWorld
"Vij's At Home offers a vision of the pair at home sipping wine
while making a simple Indian meal for the family after a long day
at their restaurants. The cooking represents their days and their
moods, which means easier, healthy meals on work nights and fun,
creative elegant repasts on their days off."
Hamilton Spectator
"'Relax, Honey,' is a phrase that speaks of love and cooking in the
home of Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala, owners of Vij's, a Vancouver
restaurant where great Indian food is prepared. The cookbook Vij's
at Home: Relax Honey-The Warmth and Ease of Indian Cooking brings
readers into their home with stories and recipes they enjoy as a
family."
Calgary Sun
"[Vij's at Home] promises accessible recipes, with a sampling of
the kind of dishes Meeru and Vij enjoy at home. If they are any bit
as warm and inviting as the two of them, I am sure it will become a
well loved staple in my cookbook collection."
Foot Network
"Vijs at Home takes elaborate cooking down a notch. The
subtitle-Relax, Honey-refers to nurturing through cooking. Recipes
are geared to busy families and include Butter Chicken-Schnitzel.
Simple Goat Curry, and Titapia in Yogurt and Ginger Curry. The book
has an abundance of vegetarian options, such as the restaurant
staffs favourite zucchini soup."
Georgia Straight
""It's a useful quick and easy guide to inspired Indian food: all
preps can be done in less than 20 minutes plus cooking times.
There's a full-range of vegetarian, seafood, poultry, meats and
desserts...There is also the occasional memoir material on Indian
family life. And some really sharp notes on wine pairings with
Indian food."
Wine and Food Books in Review
"[Vij's at Home] is divided into handy sections with useful primers
on Indian spices, wine pairings...and tips for easier Indian
cooking for those who might otherwise be intimidated. Recipes
feature signature 'secrets' such as the family's own garam masala
spice mixture, plus basic staples including how to make your own
Indian cheese or paneer."
TV Week
"A week of Indian home cooking. We'll be breaking out the spices
and cracking the spine on the new cookbook by renowned Vancouver
chefs Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala. Vij's at Home: Relax, Honey is
the follow up to Vij's, the couple's first cookbook, which was
awarded the Cordon d'Or's Gold Ribbon for best international
cookbook."
National Post