While her husband has been instructing Iowa State students in computer science, Madhu Gadia has been working at home on some instructions of her own — cooking instructions.

Gadia, an Ames resident and wife of Shashi Gadia, recently had published “Lite and Luscious Cuisine of India,” a new ethnic cookbook.

Madhu Gadia, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, is a part-time dietitian at McFarland Clinic and teaches a diet-busters class.

“I used to teach cooking classes at Cook’s Emporium, and that’s where I got started compiling recipes, and [I] turned it into a book,” she said.

After growing up in northern India, Gadia said Indian cooking is what she knows best.

“I probably dabbled in the kitchen when I was 14, 15, but I did most of my cooking when I moved to this country because I had to. Before that, you just kind of help Mom out,” she said. “It’s called necessity.”

Gadia compiled more than 100 recipes from all over India in her book, along with information about healthy eating, reducing fat and cholesterol and tailoring meals for special diets, including vegetarian, diabetic and weight-loss meals.

“When I started teaching the cooking class, everybody wanted to know the nutritional value of the dishes I was cooking,” she said. She realized a need for a cookbook that gave the nutritional information for each dish.

Gadia said the recipes in the book are authentic and can be modified to be low-fat if needed. There are quick versions of recipes and easy to follow, step-by-step directions, she said.

The book also includes pictures of the different dishes.

Gadia said it took her about a year to compile all the recipes.

“Gosh, it’s a long process,” she said.

Recipes include everything from appetizers to desserts, she said.

Gadia did most of her work on her book at home during her days off and on weekends.

“My family probably got sick of me talking about what I’m doing more than anything else, but they enjoyed testing the recipes,” she said.

Her husband and two children were her guinea pigs for each recipe.

“Mom never, ever cooked that variety of foods as when I was writing the book,” she said. “They loved it.”

Shashi Gadia said he thinks his wife’s book is great.

“She likes to cook,” he said.

He said he has many favorite dishes from her book, including mater paneer. “This is a vegetable, you might say, and it has a lot of gravy in it,” he said.

Gadia said her favorite is the tandoori chicken, a skinless marinated chicken which can be “baked on the grill outside or you can bake it in the oven in the winter.”

She said it is one skinless chicken that is moist, flavorful and actually tastes good.

John Wacker, professor of management, is quoted on the book’s back cover as saying, “[the book] provides even the most novice cook simple recipes that turn out better than the gourmet Indian restaurants I’ve been to in the United States, Hong Kong and England.”

“Cuisine of India” is Gadia’s first book, with 3,000 copies printed in its first edition in August.

She said the book is doing well so far and has gotten positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, the Book List and other publications.

Gadia said her interest in food and nutrition evolved while she was attending college. “I enjoyed my nutrition courses and slowly moved toward that,” she said.

“I love my field and I love my job and so I guess it’s become a part of me after all these years,” she said.

Gadia received her master’s in foods and nutrition from the University of Illinois.

She earned her bachelor’s in India before moving to the United States and then to Ames with her husband.

Visit the Cuisine of India Web site at http://www.cuisineofindia.com.