This cookbook is my go to book for "classic" Indian recipes, even more than Sahni's book called Classic Indian cooking, which is also an excellent book.

I like this book because any time I am preparing a vegetarian meal, I am often preparing it for a mixed crowd of vegetarian (sometimes vegan) and usually meat eaters.  Sahni's dishes provide a middle ground of truly tasty dishes, some of which are vegan and almost all of which can be modified to be made so.  The dishes are elegant enough that you can make a magnificent menu with a little practice on the individual dishes. 

For those inexperienced with Indian cuisine there are useful suggestions of coordinating recipes.  It is less good at suggesting alternative vegetable ingredients, but add a dash of imagination and you can cook almost anything from this book. 

Prepared as directed, many of the dishes exhibit medium heat.  If you're looking for really hot food, youll want to bump up the amounts of those ingredients in these recipes. We typically have not had to reduce heat very much for children.

Because the book was prepared in an older era, many users will want to reduce the amount of fat used.  I regularly do so with no ill effect on the final product.