The Essential South Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Into South Indian Cuisine and Culture Paperback – October 8, 2019

Very useful handbook with good pics and recipes!!

good choice of recipes. I've enjoyed the different flavors and think this is one of the best indian cookbooks out there.

This is a wonderful cookbook for fans of South India cuisine -- and, yes, count me among them. Two of my favorite dishes are Chicken 65 and fish in a yellow turmeric sauce; you will find great versions of both of those dishes in this book. I love the treatment of specialty rices in this book, because South India has so many and they are so delicious. Of course, the recipes for lentil dishes and for vegetables are wonderful. I have found the recipes easy to understand. I never add sugar to a vegetable or meat dish, but I have found skipping the sugar in these recipes to be harmless -- in other words, the dishes turn out great without the added sugar. BTW, I had always heard the Chicken 65 got its name from the 65 spices used in its preparation. The recipe in this book uses only 10 spices, and the author gives an alternate source for the name of the dish. Check it out!!In summary, I have a handful of Indian cookbooks that I cherish. This one is added to my list. Oh, I gave only four stars because of the lack of sufficient photographs. No problems with anything else, and I love this book even without sufficient photos.

One of the best South Indian cookbooks ever!

Liked

I'm currently living in the home of a South Indian couple and I'm planning to return to South India to live for a few months. So I bought this book thinking it would be beneficial to have that way I can cook food that others would recognize. In the actual words of my house mates, "This is not it. The author sold a book but you didn't make TRUE South Indian food." I guess basically, these recipes are 'Americanized' for our delicate palates, because the biggest complaint with the lack of spices, and I followed the recipe to a T. The lone recipe I made that they found merely acceptable was the Onion Masala, and that's only because onion masala is literally the basis of which almost ALL South Indian dishes are made.Do I like the book? Yes. Do I suggest it? Yes, just don't think you're gonna impress you South Indian friends.

Most of the Indian food served in restaurants in the US is not true Southern Indian food. So I found this book to be a great resource for new recipes, such as banana fritters or poppy seed kheer. Both of these recipes are reminiscent of recipes you find in Indian restaurants in the US, but put their own unique spin on them and to be honest, some recipes take maybe some time getting used to. Coming from Europe, the idea of poppy seed in desserts was nothing new, but when I mentioned it to my American friends and colleagues they were initially turned off. But actually appreciated the end product. So while you can still find the usual curries and masalas, with their own spin, in this book, I really encourage the ready to try out recipes that may include unusual ingredients or ingredients in a new use than traditional US cooking. I really enjoyed this book because it did give me new ideas on meals that have an Indian spin, but are not the usual green or yellow curry you find in many restaurants. You will have to allocate time to prepare the food because this is not intended to be a quick homecooked meal on the table guide. This may be the only drawback of the book, but real home cooking does take time.I received a free copy from the publisher

Great book.Wasy to read.

Fabulous recipes…. Looking forward to trying them all

Brought this as present for a friend who loves indian food but is afraid of indian cooking.He just told me this solved that problem.i ve tried some of the kerala recipes and they are pretty simple and turned out great in my home.

Good book, I need to move this book along in order to read other books and make these lovely recipes.The method for this is difficult and unfair, particularly for books that have a generic value, a timebound value and a family history value. Enjoy, together, learn from each other xxxxx

A lot of ingredients will be hard to find for the average user, unless they have an Indian community.

Great and very easy to follow.