Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India

Rating:
Summary: a wonderful cookbook
Review: Well, what can I say other then this book is the greatest!
It has opened up a whole new world as I have very little experience with South Indian food.I find most cook books are beautifully designed and very inspiring until you actually cook from them and then you find out quickly that the author is culinarily clueless.
The recipes in this book look like the accompanying photos which is unusual in the cookbook world
I made a Sambar dish and offered to an Indian aquantence who works on my block. He tells me that my Sambar is better then his wife's , who is from India. He sitll can't quite comprehend a white American Male cooking Indian food. He keeps asking me for more ,I'm sure his wife doesn't know...
(On the side, one photo comment:
The photo of mixed vegetable Kootu has mustard seeds sprinkled on it but the recipe does not contain mustard seeds...OK, I'm getting picky..)
All in all this is now my favorite Indian cookbook and has tweaked in me the desire to travel to South India.