Curry Cuisine: Fragrant Dishes from India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia

I just saw this book at a bargain price. I immediately snapped it up because of its gorgeous photos and the authors. You can not go wrong with David Thompson and Sri Owen. The book is very well organized by region, with each having an intro which includes a list of the area's ingredients with explanations. I can tell by reading the recipes that they will be easy to make and will be delicious. I can't wait to start cooking some curries!

When I ordered Curry Cuisine, I was looking for a couple of decent curry and rice meals that I could make periodically for my family. I assumed that the majority of the recipes in this book would include hard to find ingredients that would make cooking these dishes only useful as a special treat every now and again. As is often true with the most flavorful foods, I also thought that I'd be looking at long cooking times. Was I ever surprised when I actually opened up the Curry Cuisine. In preparation, I wrote down a list of herbs and spices that I needed at the store (the meat and vegetables required were all items I'd normally get anyway). I was completely shocked when I managed to fill my entire list at my local grocery store. The first night, I planned a few dishes to make for supper. As often happens, I was in a bit of a rush so I had no time to prepare the meat and vegetables beforehand. That's when I realized a few very important things about this type of cuisine. Using these great recipes I could create a complete, tasty, and healthy meal in about the time it takes for rice to cook. Moreover, these recipes were written intuitively. I found myself putting on the rice and then cutting up meat for one meal. While that was cooking, I was cutting up, starting something else, and then going back to the first dish to add spices or other needed ingredients. Then, all the dishes were completed at the same time, like I had actually planned it.

I bought this book in Australia and tried an Indian chicken dish which won rave reviews from my friends. I found that for an Indian palate or for those who prefer their curries spicy, its worthwhile adding extra chillies or peppercorns than stated in the recipe. Otherwise, it would be a milder version more suited to the general palate. Taste wise though, this book lives up to its expectations, and the variety of cusines delights the wannabe chef's heart.

So many books have been written about curries around the world that one might wonder at the need for yet another, but several attributes keep CURRY CUISINE: FRAGRANT DISHES FROM INDIA, THAILAND, VIETNAM, AND INDONESIA exceptional. For one, it provides a pictorial journey exploring curry cuisine from around the world - and adding regional recipes, such as an Alloo Curry from Pakistan or a Burmese Pork Curry with Mango. The focus on spice combinations unique to reach region helps reinforce differences in curry choices between them all, making for an outstanding addition to any lending library strong in Southeast Asian cookbooks. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

I don't usually buy cookbooks that cover many cuisines because they usually do a lousy job of everything, but when I picked up this book at a local Borders, it looked good, so I bought it. I know a little about Thai and Indian cooking, so I knew what to look for. I've tried 3 recipes so far and they've all been excellent. They were from Rajasthan, Pakistan and Africa. I'm going to try more. So if you are an adventurous cook that likes fully flavored food and you want to expand your horizons, I recommend this book. The only advice I'd give you is to always carefully reduce the sauces and correct the seasonings at the end. Many people spend hours cooking a dish and they don't finish it off right. The book has beautiful pictures of many of the dishes.