Rating: 
Summary: Keralite's "Delites"
Review: Having spent many vacations in Kerala visiting family and friends, I found Maya Kaimal's recipes to be informative and authentic. I wish there were more enticing pictures of the food, as in Kaimal's first book. But overall, the descriptions, pictures, and recipes give a clear understanding of Kerala cuisine and its diverse culture. I tried a number of recipes such as lamb korma and various vindaloos, and all were delicious. This is an excellent book for those who want to cook like their Keralite mothers and grandmothers(like myself) as well as for those interested in learning about flavorful and diverse South Indian foods. Kaimal succeeded again! I would recommend her first book as well. Get them for yourself or as gifts!
Rating:
Summary: excellent book
Review: I am a grad student in New York, who spent the first 15 years of my life in Kerala. This book takes me closer to what I grew up eating, than any other Kerala cookbook I know of. Even as a grad student, I find myself cooking at home every single night using recipes from this book. I'd recommend this book very highly to anyone wanting to experiment with Kerala cuisine. It's definitely the REAL thing.
Rating:
Summary: Authentic Kerala Food
Review: I am from Kerala and know how authentic kerala food is supposed to taste.
However, being a new bride and new to cooking altogether,this book was a life saver
Basically, Maya Kaimal showed me how to make my mom's food with the same mouth-watering taste.
Everything comes out great!Besides being a visual treat in itself, this book is specifically designed to
show anyone and I mean anyone..how to easily and with moderate effort recreate
the wonders of the tantalizing cuisine of a little southern state
of kerala in India. The recipes are not the standard fare found in Indian restaurants..so if you want to recreate
the tikka masala etc..this is not the book.
If you want to savour some delicious tastes with a tropical feel that are easy to cook in the american kitchen,
this book will fit the bill.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I got this book because my family is from Kerala, now they live in the states and I am living in Europe. Even though I am familiar with most of the recipes and I can always call my mummy for a recipe this is a very good book to have on hand. The directions are written excellently and follow the traditional style that I have seen my whole life. If you are away from your Indian family and you want some home cooked food this is definitely a book to keep on hand.
Rating:
Summary: Authentic Food Simpified
Review: I was quite skeptical about ordering this book as, I thought delicious Asian-Indian dishes would be impossible to create in America! I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the book for the first time! The ingredients list is "translated" into things we find in our "American" supermarkets everyday!! The author provides several substitutions of the more specialty items too and...if you want to be as authentic as possible, at the end of the book, there is even a list of places to purchase the ingredients!! The cooking directions are idiot proof! Very explicit and, most importantly...the food turns out terrific!! Even my 8 and 4 year old loved it!!! That evening, not only did we get to sample a "curry" but also, several "dahl" recipes and...the kids got to learn all about the wonderful Asian-Indian culture! Finally, the pictures of India's culture delighted us all. The colors, the places and the people all transported us through an exciting adventure to another land!!
Rating:
Summary: Really good book on South Indian Cooking
Review: I've tried a few books on south Indian cooking, but this one comes out best of all for non-vegitarian south Indian cooking. Kaimal is meticulus in the details. Wonderful book from a wonderful cook.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: if u are a mallu or a south indian or north indian or any one who loves indian food and want to try a very authentic keralite malabar cuisine- this is the book- u can say AMMA's cuisine just like ur moms cooking tastes so good when u try these receipes
the appam the cardamom coffee,banana fritters.fish, avial etc etc
this book canbe recomended along with Maya"s other work curried flavours
for those who are longing to eat like home in other countries
i would strongly recommend to buy this book
maya has travelled to her ancesteral home to collect these reciepes for the mouths in United states and has done a excellent job i do respect her as i do respect late Chef Raji Jalepalli of Memphis Tennesse, USA. Charlie trotter of Indian fusion cuisine
Rating: 
Summary: Recipes from God's Own country
Review: Maya Kaimal has done it again!! She has taken south Indian cooking to amazing heights which is so delicious, yet requires simple skills to conjure up these aromatic dishes. Being a native of Kerala but brought up in the Middle East and now married to my husband from America....my life has been a journey of transitions and now being away from home has made me realize, how much I miss home cooked food. Without any cooking skills, I was in a dilemma as to how to go about our Keralite cooking which my husband loves.When I reached this country last year, he presented me with Maya Kaimal's first book "Curried Favours" and it gave me a different perspective in to South Indian cooking. It has always been a joy to cook from Maya's books which are very simple to follow with easily available ingredients. This new book is like a work of art with more recipes, beautiful photographs and literature about Kerala which allows the reader to look at the state at its entirety. I always cook dishes from her book for guests and they simply love it. And many of them have gone ahead and bought her books.....and thus goes another culinary story! A wonderful book to have and create magic at one's home... Way to go Maya!!
Rating: 
Summary: Very usable, but not as strong as Curried Favors
Review: This book features the cuisine of southwest India, a region whose cuisine is very different from the brown glop Americans think of as Indian food. The food is very varied and very fresh, featuring lots of vegetables and legumes with subtle gradations in spicing. It's a pleasure to make and a pleasure to eat. And it makes terrific party buffet food. That having been said, this book is not as effective as the author's other book, Curried Favors. The introduction is wonderful. The author goes back to the India, weaving together explanations of the origins of the cuisine and its various influences with portraits of her family and how they taught her to cook it. This section is delightful. You come away much wiser and yet feeling as if you've been immersed in her culture and embraced by her family. But the recipes themselves could be a little better. It's not that the results aren't terrific. They are. But the recipes lack the perfect clarity and sequencing of Curried Favors, where the ingredients list is set up to facilitate prep and the instructions lead you confidently through to a successful conclusion. Sometimes it takes an extra reading or two to figure out how to line up your prep or how the dish will be put together. If you're patient and read again you'll be just fine, but if you started with the other book you'll be a little frustrated that this one isn't just as wonderful. Net net -- if you're looking for your first Indian cookbook, buy Curried Favors over any other book -- including Madhur Jaffrey, by the way. If you love Curried Favors, you can buy this one as a supplement. But you'll still reach for Curried Favors first.
Rating:
Summary: Vibrant & Colorful Indian Tropical Food
Review: This is not what one thinks of in Indian cooking. Here from Kerala, where the mainland of India meets the Arabia Sea comes an abundance of wonderful cuisine, fragrant from spices and seafood and lamb.
There are over 100 recipes, a few which have been attempted with success and great satisfaction: Fish in Fragrant Cocunut Milk; Spiced Meat Samosas (dense meat pastries).
This is exotic food and it helps with her clear sections on Pantry and Background. Explore, this is unique and tropical, and the cookbook is clearly a beauty, with its wonderful color photography and excellent writing.
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