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Summary: Authentic Recipes !!
Review: It's amazing. They say there's nothing like home-cooked food. This is the only - repeat ONLY - cookbook I have ever found to be true to my cousine. I'm a Brahmin Iyer from Tamil Nadu and these recipes could have come straight from my grandmother. Anyone who knows India knows that cousine varies with geography & caste. For example, Brahmins dont eat garlic for religious reasons, while other castes do. I'm staunchly against the caste system in India; I mention it now only to stress the authenticity of Padmanabhan's book. So if you want unadulterated (i.e. not catering to a Western palate) recipes, here they are.Also, the photos are AMAZING.
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Summary: Julia Child of South Indian Cooking
Review: Its very difficult for Indians and Americans, possibly Europeans and Asians to get South Indian food outside of India, and arguably outside of South India other than the those tiring stereotyped 'dosa' and rockhard 'idlis', if at all. Its all too North Indian whereever you go out, and the world, as a result, is blissfully innocent of South Indian Food. So, you have to cook it yourself.
South Indian food is extremely modular in structure, process and style - Vegetables, Meats substitute/compliment vegetables and viceversa, [this book is vegetarian], Sauces, Garnishes, Curry Powders, and Order of frying, boiling, roasting, steaming - and this is an excellent book to get a hang of the varieties you can make in South Indian Cooking. If nothing else, its an education even to those familiar with indian food that there are half-a-dozen 'sambars', 'rasams', 'dosas'. The end section which puts together a buffet menu is simply devine. The garnish for this excellent book is the glossy photographs to every recipe that's very essential for visualization as well as make anyone drool. Everytime I flip the pages I land up cooking something from it. I keep it along with Julia Child's How to Cook and How to Bake Books, which I may remind the readers graduated America from Canned Beans to Food! I hope this book will graduate the world from Naans & Chicken Masala. Just writing this review has made me hungry...
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Summary: OK, but not great
Review: Just a quick review after seeing the others up there. I got to say, I don't love this book. I find that often the recipes do not come out right - sauces are too soupy, the food is often too oily, and that masala dosa has NO spice to it. I ended up adding WAY more to just make it have taste. All in all I suggest getting 'The Spice Coast of India' instead. You will be limited to Keralite cooking (sorta) but at least everything will come out as planned. Belive me, it is really depressing to spend 25 hours on one recipe and have it not come out.
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Summary: Perfect Format. Way Under-Priced.
Review: Large full-color pictures of every recipe. Authentic. Delicious. Should sell for more than $30.00.
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Summary: More Tam Bram than Dakshin
Review: Loved the pictures, enjoyed the recipes - definitely value for money. For the finicky cook, I must point out that the collection is somehat biased in terms of recipes from Tami Nadu. The attention to detail / organization still makes it a good buy.
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Summary: South Indian Cooking Made Easy
Review: My boyfriend is from India, hence he loves the spice that South Indian cooking has. I was very fearful about cooking with Indian spices and dals (grains) that I had never heard of. This book makes it easy. The instructions are easy to follow, the recipes are written clearly and easy to comprehend. Even though I have come accross more Indian cookbooks this one remains my favorite. I sometimes use this as a guide because it has all the spices need, menus and a glossary of the terms used in Indian cooking. A must for anyone interested in learning the art of Indian cooking.
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Summary: Amazing food in no time
Review: My husband and I recently had guests over and I cooked 4 dishes from this book in just over an hour! The cooking always receives compliments, is comparable to "grandma's" homemade cooking, and takes little time. All those complex recipes are simplified. There are several longer ones, but if you plan, they work well. In addition, it helps to have a pressure cooker for items like dals and some vegetables, as well as a rice cooker to cut cooking time often in half or more.
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Summary: Excellant presentation. At par with "Samithu Parr"
Review: One of the excellant cook book I have read and used. I have presented this book to couple of my Australian friends they have fallen in love with South Indian cooking.
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Summary: Outstanding booth on south Indian cooking
Review: South Indian vegetarian cooking differs from North Indian cuisine in that dishes typically use less oil, little/no dairy products and are typically based on lentils of various types. The eggplant rasavangi (like a lentil stew flavored with eggplants) is one of my favorite recipes from this book. Another plus is that this book uses vivid color illustrations to show you what the finished product looks like which makes it easier to decide what you want to cook. A great buy if you like spicy (oil/dairy free) vegetarian Indian food and you have access to the right Indian spices.
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Summary: Authentic South Indian Cooking
Review: The most authentic and comprehensive bunch of South-Indian recipes that describe all the nuances of fine South-Indian cooking which has not yet been discovered by the world. Thanks to Chandra Padmanabhan and her team for such a huge service done to the exotic taste of South-Indian Cooking.
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