Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
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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.

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.

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.

This book has quickly become one of my most used cookbooks. The book contains a wide variety of easy to cook recipes, including many tasty sambars, rasams, curries, and side dishes. There is nothing fancy about the book and I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed when I removed it from the box. However, the disappointment turned to delight when I tried the recipes. Everything I cooked was delicious and well enjoyed by my family. The recipes were fairly easy to prepare, used a manageable number of ingredients, and cooked fairly quickly. Most recipes use a combination of red lentils, coconut and/or tamarind, giving them the distictive and familiar south indian taste. If you are interested in learning south indian cooking, I suggest you give this book a try.

Fabulous book. Takes me to my grandmother's kitchen. Well written, clear, simple, beautiful photos. I have two grown girls and it is the best present I have got them. Living in America, we miss the Indian kitchen, their flavours and taste and what a great way to pass on that experience to the next generation, thank you Viji and keep it coming!