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Summary: THE BEST book on South Indian cooking, I ever came across.
Review: I combed all over Australia, Germany and the Netherlands to get a few copies to give as the best gift to close friends. It is a real classic in the field of traditional vegetarian cooking especially of Brahmins. Every young girl getting married and valueing traditional cooking should keep at least 2 copies of this book. I came to know about this book through my niece in India, accidentally. It has excellent color pictures with all the minute details. You don't find such details in any of the cook books even in India. My German friends are still combing all over to get 2 copies. I wish I could contact the author to get copies. It deserves reprints for ever and for ever.TES Raghavan, Professor of mathematics, University of Illinois at Chicago
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Summary: A book that captures the essence of South Indian cuisine
Review: I happened to come across this book by sheer accident and fell in love with its style and presentation.
The recipes are authentic,clear,well selected and carefully layed out. The pictures are a gastromical treat and are enough to get the juices flowing.
A lot of times I don't even prepare the recipes from the book, instead I just skim thru the pages to build a good appetite.
Thanks Chandra
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Summary: A Very Average Vegetarian Cookbook!
Review: I have quite an enviable collection of South Indian cookbooks which I have been using for some years now. I am indeed versatile in this art of cooking as my husband and I always go in for a healthy form of vegatarian cooking.
What is nice about this cuisine is that a huge variety of greens and lentils are used for various dishes. They are delectable and good to prepare healthy for the stomach when eaten in a balanced form!
Some of the dishes in 'Dakshin' are too strong in spices and it does burn the tongue. This is not typical of a South Indian tamil household. Using less chillies is still good in bringing out the flavor of the dish.
I have one more book of the South Indian vegetarian cooking that I purchased from Amazon. This is a really good book!
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Summary: Explore South Indian cuisine
Review: I have read over ten S. Indian cookery books & tried out several recipes. This is the ONE book which has simple instructions with great results, food tastes like traditional home cooked fare. A must have for anyone interested in S. Indian cooking.
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Summary: great variety of recipes!
Review: I have to say that this is one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I always thought South Indian cooking required a lot of effort, but this book sure proved me wrong :)
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Summary: A Must for the Cook Who Needs to Cook the Real Thing
Review: I received the first edition of this cookbook from our bestman's wife. She, like me, had to learn how to cook her husband's favorite foods from home. This was a challenge as I had never eaten spicy foods let alone cook them. I've grown to enjoy the dishes and this book taught me how to cook them. The book teaches the method and is very easy to follow. Many of my guests (women who learned to cook in India) have asked for the name of the book and author. One relative bought a copy for each of her daughters to give to them when they left home. I always receive a very favorable comment from my in-laws when I prepare a meal from this book. My only regret is that the hardback edition is out of print. I would urge the publisher to bring it back into print.
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Summary: Great book at a great price!!!!
Review: I would have to strongly disagree with the reader from berkely, CA. This is the most wonderful and used Indian cooking book I own. Lots of my friends also own this cook book and I am yet to find a cook book that can make authentic south indian recipes. The thing I like the most is the colorful mouth watering images, and very simple and easy to follow recipes. I have tried several cook books in the past and nothing comes close to this.
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Summary: best south indian cookbook
Review: I've been looking for a long time for a south Indian cookbook that would produce some of the delicious foods I've tasted at my in-laws in Tamil Nadu, and this is the best one I've found. The food tastes authentic, and is really interesting as well, while the recipes are easy to follow. I'm so glad I found this book.
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Summary: Absolutely authentic South Indian recipes
Review: If you follow her instructions exactly, the results taste exactly like my mom's cooking, or my aunts. I go a little slower on the chillies, but that is a personal preference and depends on the type of chilli used. Its perfect in terms of flavor for sambhar, rasam, avial, mor kuzhambu etc. However, the recipes don't include chettinad flavors etc. i.e. I found that her non Rasam type dishes do turn out a little watery. So I would personally be a little more generous with the thuvar dhal(make extra and add to thickness/taste) 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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Summary: Yummy!
Review: In an attempt to increase my culinary repertoire, I've bought quite a few cookbooks over the years, but this is the only one that I use almost on a daily basis. The recipes are easy to follow (there are lots of them too) and the end result is truly mouth watering. As an added bonus, the packaging and the presentation of this book are impeccable. Whether you are a beginner or an expert cook, this book will make an excellent and useful addition to your kitchen.
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