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Decided that if I wanted to eat good and healthy South Indian food, I had to cook it myself. Bought this book. Am not an expert cook and don't have much time to search around for 1/2 teaspoonful of XYZ. Luckily this book has been good in that respect. Only 5-6 standard Indian spices (all available from Indian grocery stores), with a few specialized spice mixes, will allow one to create authentic dishes like sambar and rasam. Food photos are excellent, and some days, I just look at those pictures to satisfy my hunger for South Indian food!
Thus far, have tried a few recipes, and all turned out well. In future, I plan to expand my menu.
I hope this book helps to make South Indian food popular among Americans. In my view, South Indian staple food like idli, dosa, sambar, rasam, and various rices are healthy and tasty unlike those overcooked, oily Punjabi food they serve in Indian restaurants. My wish is for the author to come out with a vegan version of this excellent book, because I think veganism is the way to go for all for health, for environment and for compassion. :) Thanks for reading.
Quote: Greatness of a country is judged by the way its animals are treated - Gandhi.
I would definitely not recommend "Savoring the Spice Coast" from Maya Kaimal like the Berkeley reviewer did. This cookbook uses absolutely the right ingredients, and unlike Maya Kaimal's cookbook, does not treat curry leaves and bay leaves as equivalents. For dosas in the USA even in a California winter, one needs to ferment the batter in a warm oven at least overnight. In Chennai, 4-5 hours at room temp would have done it. And in terms of spiciness, I use more jalapenos than I would serranos, and of course habanero chillis i use sparingly. And with ginger, young ginger is very mild. How fine you chop/grate also makes a difference to the spiciness obtained.
I buy this book for friends, and even have a copy for our vacation home since I find it hard not to have on hand. An absolute must if you cook S. Indian. though not quite as comprehensive as the long time staple "cook and see"
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