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Summary: An Excellent Cookbook
Review: "Healthy South Indian Cooking" is a must for anyone interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The recipes in this book guide the reader in making delicious, healthy meals based upon South Indian cuisine. I have lost 60 pounds and have successfully changed my eating habits such that Indian cooking is now a mainstay in my family. Losing the weight -- and keeping it off -- is easy with the wonderful meals I prepare based on this book. Thank you, Alamelu. I love your book!
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Summary: Excellent, userfriendly introduction to South Indian Cooking
Review: A word ahead; I used to live on reheated chili, fatty pizza and store-bought muffins, in the dark ages. But it is never too late for conversion. "Healthy South Indian Cooking" is a perfect introduction to South Indian cuisine. Who would have imagined that familiar vegetables could be ennobled and transformed into irresistible dishes like this! The recipes are described step-by-step and easy to follow, and lend themselves to new variations and combinations. "Healthy South Indian Cooking" turns you loose and sets free your inner Indian. While various coffee table volumes on Indian cooking remain untouched on the shelf, my copy of "Healthy South Indian Cooking" is decorated with colorful stains, blots and other traces of repeated feast preparation. And all this extravagance remains budget-friendly; a starter kit of spices and dhals is all that is needed to turn apparently mundane ingredients into delicacies --- not by magic, but by the mere act of South Indian cooking. Very highly recommended.
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: After taking a cooking class with Alamelu and sampling her delicious cooking, I bought the book and tried some of her recipes on my husband and friends. What a hit! Everyone likes the taste and the recipes are easy to prepare using ingredients that are readily available. I have also substituted vegetables and gotten great results. This book is one of my favorite sources of cooking ideas.
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Summary: Great for a low chloresterol diet
Review: Having battled high chloresterol for all of my adult life, I am always looking for good-tasting, low fat low chloresterol food. This cook book has it all. The recipes are prepared with a little canola oil, and the rest of the ingredients are tomato sauce, fresh or frozen veggies, beans, lentils, and rice. The spices add tremendous flavor and eggplant and cauliflower never tasted so good. Now, instead of adding flavor to veggies using butter, cream and salt (which is how they are usually flavored) everything I put in the pot is good for me and my family. My kids have accepted this food because they are used to the flavors in Asian cooking, but instead of deep-fried egg rolls and MSG, they are eating natural foods and the flavor is great! If you want to omit some ingredients like coconut or cashews, the taste is not compromised.
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Summary: I'm eating much better these days!
Review: I absolutely loved the first book by these authors (Art of South Indian Cooking). This new one has everything the old one had, and a lot more. Many more recipes, and loads of helpful information for toast-burning culinary adventurers like me, such as explanations of herbs, spices, and basic cooking techniques, suggested menus (a BIG help), nutritional info, and even pictures of many dishes.Thanks to Alamelu and Patricia, I'm now able to frequently cook healthy food that I love, without taking the day off from work. This will probably add a few years to my life, AND make it more enjoyable. What more can you ask?
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Summary: Vegetable magic!
Review: I love to cook and have several shelves full of cookbooks, but this one is something very special: it transforms ordinary vegetables (green beans, spinach, cauliflower, etc.) into addictive, exotic, habit-forming dishes that will amaze you and your guests. One of the great frustrations of some types of `ethnic' cuisines is that it seems impossible to recapture the exotic flavors that can be enjoyed in a good restaurant. I used to think Indian food fit into this category; with Healthy South Indian Cooking, that's no longer the case. In fact, one dinner guest, expressing his surprise that my husband and I actually cooked the food we set before him, commented that we served far better food than any of the Indian restaurants in town! Not only is the food great, the recipes are easy to follow, and are straightforward to prepare. Once you have a few spices on hand, more or less any vegetable (or chicken or other meat) that catches your eye in the grocery store can be turned into something truly memorable with a minimum of fuss, bother, and time.
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Summary: Healthy , Delicious and Simple South Indian Cooking
Review: I've had an interest in Indian cooking and have bought several books but had a hard time getting started. This book got me in gear! It includes a list upfront of what spices and ingredients are needed and suggestions for combining recipes and sample menus in the back. With the spices on hand, I have been able to quickly make delicious foods. The recipes are easy to follow and voila we have delicious meals in 20-30 minutes.
Because I'm a registered dietitian I have wanted to know how to make Indian cooking in a lower fat, healthy manner. This book does that too by using tricks like using powdered coconut powder instead of higher fat coconut milk. The recipes also include a nutritional analysis. Don't let this put you off because there has been no sacrifice in taste to accomplish the healthy aspect of these recipes. The flavors are subtle and wonderful. I attended a cooking class with Alamelu and her love of cooking and good food are woven throughout this cookbook. Enjoy!
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Summary: Vegetables made interesting!
Review: The recipes are easy to follow. Once you have the basic spices in your kitchen, the procedures are similar and well described. I know it's healthy to eat lots of vegetables, but just boiled or steamed, they become boring. With Indian spices carrots, broccoli, beans and spinach can have a variety of tastes, and I have learned to like brussel sprouts! I now have interesting dishes for entertaining and to take to potluck groups and have fun experimenting with new dishes.
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Summary: Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alamelu Vairavan
Review: This cookbook has become my bible. Personally, I instantly became one of Alamelu's many enthusiastic fans after having the pleasure of attending one of her popular cooking courses. The class experienced many of her tantalizing dishes firsthand, which she followed straight from her cookbook. Alamelu's wonderful personality reflects in her book as well, with colorful, descriptive "background" information to enjoy (such as the benefits, beyond seasoning, of certain spices) in addition to her delicious, healthful and easy-to-follow recipes.
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Summary: South Indian cooking - the best
Review: This is a fantastic book for people concerned with a healthy lifestyle. South Indian cooking is easy , delicious and healthy. This is book worth buying.
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