Vegetarian Samayal of South India: Delicious Cooking from a Tamil Cuisine [Paperback]

Viji Varadarajan (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009

The food cooked in a brahmin home was sathvic paying special attention to the balance and nutritive value of the dishes prepared; the ladle of plain cooked dhal served before the rice and the topping of a dollop of homemade clarified butter/ghee; the balance of plain and spicy food, and the benefits of yoghurt as a final course to set right any imbalance in the food eaten for the day - were scruplously maintained. Most days even now, onion and garlic are not used in cooking. The word curry is originally derived from kari a Tamil word for a preparation of a dry vegetable with spices. Gradually the British added water and meat to curry and hence it came to be known as the Madras Curry . Hence curry/kari is basically vegetarian and later began to be associated with all meat dishes. In the Chettiar, Mudaliar, Nadar or Vellalar community a stir-fry vegetable is known as poriyal . This book is specially formatted to suit all who desire to plan a good tamil vegetarian meal - what is today known as combos. The tambram cuisine has an amazing range of vegetables cooked in a variety of methods - in the form of stir-fry, 'kuzhambus'/gravy vegetables or dhals, sambhars/vegetables with dhals, 'kootus'/vegetables with coconut or and, with plain dhals. Visit - vijisamayal.org

Editorial Reviews

Review

DOING CHENNAI PROUD Since quantities have been carefully measured and recorded - something traditional homecooks, who work with a pinch of this and a handful of that just won't do - and all available shortcuts, including microwaves, blenders and pressure- cookers, have been used, Viji's books are as useful to home cooks as they are to the many young students who carry them abroad, for their first independent stab at sambar. --Shonali Muthalaly - The Hindu

These books are not only for those interested in cooking - there is a deeper message. We have a heritage, we must remember. I compliment the author for the combination of science and spirituality that went into her books. The intergration of spirituality with food is striking. --Dr MS Swaminathan, India's greatest agricultural scientist

About the Author

Viji Varadarajan was inspired to write this book as so many of her friends wanted these recipes to be recorded in a menu format. This is the fifth in her series of the Tamil Brahmin cuisine. Here, the author has approached it in a novel way to simplify the enormous variety available in this cuisine. The combo menus are fitted to suit one and all interested in trying out these recipes and those who do not know how to go about it. 3 of her cookbooks have won World Gourmand Cookbook Awards in 4 different categories. As the Hindu newsmagazine puts it - this is the author's humble way of bringing the 'paruppu usili'and 'thayir saadham' to the world stage.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Orient Enterprises; First Edition edition (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8190287613
• ISBN-13: 978-8190287616
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,683,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Viji Varadarajan is one of the new wave of cookbook authors promoting a return to the healthy, wholesome, additive-free menus of the past. Not surprisingly, her work has been gradually garnering attention abroad. Her books 4 out of 5, have won at the Gourmand awards in 2008 and 2009. Her recipes, inherited from generations of women in her circle of family and friends, are being translated into Japanese by Kurumi Arimoto and Akemi Yoshii, the former a cook book writer. Tamil Brahmin food relies more on the taste of individual vegetables, cooked gently with carefully matched seasonings, which fits in comfortably with the Japanese culinary ethos. We are poised at the beginning of a new wave: foodies travelling the world to learn cooking from individual households, recipe hunters leaving no page unturned in their quest for something new, cooks tracking down each other to swap techniques. And in the most unexpected corners of the U.S., young Americans are experimenting with Viji's brand of Tamil Brahmin cuisine. She sincerely believes that South Indian Tamil Brahmin cuisine is mainly vegetarian and is based on the concept that food shapes the personality, mood, and mind.
Sophie Girot was so fascinated with traditional Tamil cuisine that she and award-winning author Viji Varadarajan have put together a cook book in French Heat oil. Pop mustard. Squint into kadai and yawn. After all, it's hardly the Mona Lisa.
Try telling Sophie Girot that. Her eyes are closed, as she delightedly takes deep breaths of the mustard busily popping in her saucepan. "Listen," she says, hushing the crowd, "And breathe. That smell. It is so good." Everyone sniffs experimentally. It suddenly dawns on us. Mustard really does have an alluring fragrance. In Chennai, she also tried the Indian food at restaurants, "but it was always so spicy." She adds, "This food is so different. It is healthy. Less spicy. Less oily. I thought, 'Oh my gosh - I really like this."
The French book features recipes sourced mainly from Viji's book "Samayal: The Pleasures of South Indian Vegetarian Cooking". Targeted primarily at the French expatriate community in Chennai, and eventually the rest of India, it has simple recipes using cooking techniques that can be carried out in a Western kitchen, without a bevy of elaborate Indian implements.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, Authentic, and Tasty Tamil Veg Cuisine, December 30, 2006

By 

Sriram Natarajan (Charlottesville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vegetarian Samayal of South India: Delicious Cooking from a Tamil Cuisine (Paperback)

My wife recently got this book and finds it to be very helpful. The cooking (and I am one of the prime beneficiaries) had improved perceptibly and has a lot of added variety. The author is very approachable by email, clarifies doubts (e.g., "cup" is equivalent to American teacup, types of onions, tomatoes to use) and offers suggestions for new recipes. It doesnt get better than that.

My wife also *highly* recommends the book on Tamil festival cooking by the same author.

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She has seen the other book mentioned by Amazon (Dakshin) which she feels is relatively "complicated" as the recipes use many ingredients.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Indian Cookbook!, December 15, 2008

By 

R. A. Joslyn "miamiflash" (South Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vegetarian Samayal of South India: Delicious Cooking from a Tamil Cuisine (Paperback)

My husband and I are not of Indian extraction, but we've always enjoyed the food, both eating and cooking, and we own a personal library of over 65 Indian cooking titles - including "Dakshin". I tell you this by way of introduction. So when I say that this (and "Festival Samayal" by the same author) is the BEST cookbook of the cuisine - especially South Indian cuisine - that I have ever used, it is no overstatement.

I have made many recipes out of this book, and have never had a failure yet. So far, the most universally loved recipe is the Vellai (White Coconut) Chutney. As Emeril might say, you could put this stuff on a bumper and it would taste great!

Viji (the author), herself, is very personable and encouraging. When I had a special dinner party coming up, she provided me with several sample menus that might be appropriate for the occasion. She also told me about this new edition (I've been using the original) of the book, that simplifies the recipes and menu planning even more. That's what I'm doing here today. Buying a copy of the new one.

I cannot overemphasize this - If you'd like to try your hand at Southern Indian cooking, you can't do any better than this.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic cookbook for Tamil cooking, June 23, 2007

By 

Samayal Expert (Ellicott City, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vegetarian Samayal of South India: Delicious Cooking from a Tamil Cuisine (Paperback)

The author has made recipes simpler. Shortened recipes and measured cooking times. The reason Viji's books are so interesting is because they act as a record of the recipes of a Tamil Brahmin food, resurrecting old favourites as well as keeping traditional everyday cooking alive. At a time when a sort of pan Indian cooking is invading every kitchen -- rice, dal, paneer, garam masala -- books of this sort are important to preserve the identity of a culture. For identity is inextricably tied up with food habits.

Samayal, for instance, her best-selling book so far, lists 12 kinds of rice, including vaangi bath (brinjal rice) and maangai sadham (raw mango rice). Besides a variety of gravies, vegetables, curries and pachadies, she even gives eight recipes for rasam, and a list of `tiffin' items.