Customer Reviews

Samayal: The Pleasures of South Indian Vegetarian Cooking (Winner Gourmand World Cookbook Award)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In all the 10 years that I have been cooking I have not found another book that has vegetarian recipes interpreted the Palghat (Kerala)way! 'Samayal' gives these recipes and much more in a very easy way. The calorie chart after each recipe makes it more interesting.
My mom who is an excellent cook jotted down a few of the recipes that she thought I would try and learn. But this book has made it so simple for me that I need not them learn anywhere else. These days my husband loves what I make and the photographs make it more tantalising.
I would highly recommend this book to a novice interested in learning these cuisines (Palghat and Tanjore)!

Just got this book last month and am frequently trying out the dishes. Being a bachelor in the US necessity has made me a decent cook. What I like about 'Samayal' is that the dishes are simple and uncomplicated to prepare. Feel really good about it!
Indian recipes in the US restaurants are only mostly North Indian dishes that are greasy and quite often unhealthy for the palate. The rare Udipi restaurants in CA and Houston do not sustain quality which is pretty sad.
Which is why I recommend this book to all and sundry and even those who are unfamiliar with this cuisine. These recipes were not invented a few years back like the paneer for instance. My maternal aunt was married to a tamilian from Tanjore and she is a great cook! Tho' we have a good number of healthy dishes in the Maharastrian repetoire nothing seems to beat the variety in this Kerala and Tamil cooking. I do not find any flaws in this book at all!

At last, we have a detailed, well-researched cookbook that reflects the author's passion for this fine art and is a tribute to the Tamil Motherland, Her people and culture. The range and diversity of South Indian cooking is showcased in this magnificent collection of authentic recipes from South India. The tantalizing array of curries and delicious dishes are very beautifully presented in a book that is visually stunning.

Coffee table looks apart, every recipe that I have tried so far has been an instant hit with family and friends. This book is great for both the novice as well as the accomplished cook. I find myself reaching for this book again and again. The delightful aromas from the various spices used in the recipes will titillate your taste buds and make each meal a pleasurable experience.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in healthy South Indian vegetarian cooking.

The unique feature of this book is the calorie chart provided for each recipe. This is indeed interesting for 'sambhars' and 'rasams'.
The variety of these cuisines point out to the fact that our grandmoms had so much to share with us. Almost all of them are authentic recipes.
I try out the rasams quite often as they taste good. More than my husband I am fussy about the food I create in the kitchen. The spices in 'Samayal' are mild and full of the flavors.
I find the recipes quite simple to prepare. With healthy recipes the book comes well recommended!

I own several popular books specifically on South Indian Cuisine (Dakshin, Curried Favors, Healthy South Indian Cooking)... While the others are not bad, this is the first book I reach for if I am cooking South Indian food. The recipes use basic indian ingredients (unlike some of the other south indian books - Dakshin is way too elaborate; uses a lot more ingredients for the same recipe); The instructions are easy to follow and the measurements listed generally work fine. The book also has good color photos (but Dakshin's photos are better).

My biggest complaint is the lack of detailed organization of the book... There is some organization based on broad, sensible categories (helps me to look for recipes I need). But each of these categories contain tens of recipes and you have to browse through the pages to find what you are looking for. I just noticed a new book by the author that seems to have more detailed table of contents, but I don't own it yet.

Also, it would have been nicer had the author devoted a few pages on explaining the basic ingredients. So, if you already don't own an Indian cookbook, you may need to google some of the terms used, but the process is fast and works well. If you need more help in this department, "The Indian Grocery Store Demystified" by Linda Bladholm might be a good place to start. Please note that this book also suffers from some organization problems!

In an ideal world, I would have given it four stars for its lack of table of contents and the absence of an index, but the recipes are simply great (and hence, the five stars). I cannot believe that I can make such great "vengaya sambhar" and "tomato rice" among others. In my opinion, the main strength of this book - simplicity without compromising authenticity. Now, if only I could find a similar book for South Indian Non-Veg...

I had visited the south of India a couple of years back. The natural beauty of the scenery and temples of Tamil nadu and Kerala was undescribable! So was the vegetarian cuisine and I instantly fell in love with it.
I found this book 'Samayal' a year back. And since then I feel proud to be familiar with this unique cuisine. Having been a meat eater for so many years, we westerners know very little about great tasting vegan food. I am talking about vegan food that is so healthy and delicious at the same time.
The recipes in 'Samayal' have very little oil and have the richness of freshly cooked vegetables simmered in its own juices. In the introduction the author has given various ways of cooking the dishes - i.e. in a pressure-cooker, rice cooker etc! The photographs are sensual and authentic. One other south indian vegetarian cook-book that I had purchased did have photographs that looked more like meat dishes to me. Nothing looked like that in 'Samayal'. I have a south Indian colleague in my office who swears the goodness of my food whenever I try out dishes from 'Samayal'. Isn't that great?
He vows that he will make sure to get a wife who knows to cook these recipes! I wanted to share these thoughts with whoever wants to purchase this great book!

Frankly, I am surprised on the number of high ratings for this book. I have had this book for over a year. It seems that maybe the original version of the book was in Tamil and this is a English translated version. Be what it may be, the overall quality of the english leaves much to be desired. While the book has a extensive List of contents, it is missing an index section.
One of the biggest deficiencies of this book is the generally cryptic and often times confusing method of preparations. Even with 15 years of cooking experience in Indian food, it is often difficult to follow her directions. Quantities are vague, steps are missing, cooking times are unspecified, and frankly you are left scratching your head many times. Now I guess people who are already fimiliar with this particular style of regional cooking maybe be better able to decipher the recipes, but I have yet to prepare one satisfying dish from this book. I would not buy this book again, and it is hard to recommend this book in this present form. The recipes may be great, but with such garbled directions it is hard to judge the quality.

Like another reviewer, I had a hard time following these recipes. Many ingredients are given in Hindi -- for example, "brinjal" or "hing powder". I know that it is possible to google these things, but it's still an unexpected nuisance. Additionally, the chapters run right into each other without a break. There is no index. There are pictures of dishes, but you'd be hard pressed to find the actual dishes because... no index.

One recipe I had trouble with was the rice pudding. The recipe calls for 12.5 cups milk(!!) and 2 tablespoons of rice. Holy smokes, that's a lot of milk to reduce. The recipe might say, "this will take hours of stirring". Thanks to the comments below. I realized later that the recipe was correct, but did not update the review. Also, many recipes call for 1/4 cup of veggies. Wow, very small portions as another commenter noted below.

Some day, there will be a nice book for non-Indians on South Indian food -- until then, I think I'll have better luck with recipes from the internet.

My aunt was a great cook. I bought this book a month back and found all the dishes that that she used to create in the kitchen. Viji has written 'Samayal' in such a simple and easy to follow method that most of them I had found complicated has been made - oh so simple. I would say that even non-Indians can find this cuisine easy to follow as she has made difficult complicated cooking easy. This is the first vegetarian cuisine from the south that has some authentic and fabulous photographs. A coffee table collection really! The section comprising of chutneys 'thovayals' is truly gourmet south Indian! Truly the healthiest of Indian cooking is found in 'Samayal'.
I would reccomend this an excellent gift for any bride!

The author has brought out the best facets of a healthy cooking that is not much known in these parts. Every dish is authentic and requires no hardship in learning. They taste delicious when prepared. A balanced eating of this form of food is sufficient to give us a nutritious well regulated protein rich diet.
This is the kind of food that my grandmom used to talk about. I do wish she was alive today. I would have shown her my copy of 'Samayal'I really loved this book which is well worth the price for the near 200 recipes that Viji Varadarajan has so well dealt with!