Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent

I just got this book yesterday and I'm already planning my week's meals based on the recipes! :) I've made Andhra Style Scrambled Eggs so far and they are DELICIOUS, especially served with plain basmati rice, ghee and pickle. All the recipes in here sound very interesting. The dal recipes(tok dal and mountain dal) look like they'll turn out great. Being an Indian, I can certify this book contains authentic recipes that people cook and eat everyday at their homes in India. This is what makes this cookbook different from the other so called Indian cookbooks....the other books just offer a westernized Indian selection while this book focuses on home cooking that is prevalent in India. The previous reviewer perhaps eats Indian only at restaurants where everything is over spiced and the delicate flavor is lost. I just came back from visiting India and I saw that very less spices and masalas are used in rural Indian homes. I LOVE this book and will always refer to it when I'm in the mood for some different Indian food...although I cook mostly Indian at home, this book offers a lot of different recipes and variations from various local regions....so much so that I'm sure I'll be proficient in Indian cooking in no time! UPDATE: These are all the recipes I've tried from their book so far 1) Scrambled Eggs (5 stars) 2) Cachoombar (3 stars) 3) Cauliflower Dum (3 stars) 4) Tamarind Pulao (3 stars) 5) Bangla Dal with a hit of lime (4 stars) 6) Tilapia Green Fish Curry (5 stars) 7) Karnataka Chana (2 stars) 8) Hot Cucumber Salad (2 stars) 9) Fish Bolle Curry (3 stars) 10) Chappatis (3 stars) 11) Prawn White Curry (4 stars) 12) Eggs with curry leaves (4 stars)

I am a novice American learning to cook Indian style. I have studied enough books to know that sticking curry powder in a melange of stewing vegetables is not really "getting it" in terms of creating an authentic Indian meal. In my search for authenticity, I think Alford & Duguid go a long way in presenting just that, scouring the villages & cities of India. What a remarkable book! It's terribly interesting, and it has left so many impressions on me! I haven't made all the recipes, but what I've made have been delicious!!! There is one paneer recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of garlic, minced or crushed (think it's Kashmiri Paneer). I was wondering why I chose it. It was utterly delicious. (I only cook for myself, so I made half a recipe. Another shortcut is to add cubed pre-fried paneer from the local Indian market, if you can get it!) It would break my heart to hear anybody complain about this book, probably, because I gather the authors took pains to put this baby together. One thing: I think if you make dosas, you really should ferment that batter overnight. What I did when I made dosas was left the bowl sitting on top of my stove; I have a range-light that added a little heat. My batter was appropriately sour the next day, I think!!! Thanks, Naomi and Jeffrey

Expertly compiled and co-authored by food culture experts Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, Mangoes And Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through The Great Subcontinent is a 381-page coffee table sized book that showcases the culinary art and artistry of the Great Indian Subcontinent, including the dishes and "kitchen cultures" of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Featuring a mouth-watering wealth of recipes ranging from Rajasthani "Buttermilk" Curry; Bangla Slow-Cooked Beef With Onion; and Nepali Green Bean-Sesame Salad, to Zinet's Chicken With Tomato And Greens; Sri Lankan Fenugreek Dal; and Andhra Spiced Eggplant, Mangoes And Curry Leaves is enhanced with the inclusion of succinct and entertaining stories associated with the diverse feasts presented within its pages. A welcome addition to personal and community library cookbook and multicultural culinary reference collections, Mangoes And Curry Leaves is very highly recommended for its presentation of remarkable, flavorful, memorable culinary particulars of the Eastern Subcontinent cuisines.

One of the joys, perhaps even a requirement of a good cookbook is for it to give you more than an endless list of recipies. It should teach you something about the country or region of the origin of the recipies. It might give you some ideas about the culture, the history, the whys and wherefores of the spices, perhaps the religious aspects. And in this ares these authors excell. As the sub-title says, this book is about their travels throughout the Indian sub-continent. It shows something of the people, the way they live, the equipment they use to prepare the foods being cooked. Then there are the recipies: There are nine recipies for rice alone, one of the staples of my diet. I had shrimp with rice last night. But now I find myself looking at the beautiful color photograph of the Chile Shrimp Stir-Fry on page 216. It also has curry, cinnamon, lime juice, and more. Any reason you can think of for not having shrimp two days in a row? Well, one reason might be the pork curry in aromatic broth from page 279. And to go with either one of these, cucumber salad with hot spiced mustard dressing from pages 61 & 62. Banana-Pepper Rounds which seem to have a crisp caramelized skin over the cooked banana. Maybe serve this over ice cream for a combination of flavor and temperature. Well, I'm stopping this writing and starting on a list to take to the supermarket. Thankfully they've made suggestions on alternates for some of the spices that I am unlikely to find in the small Nevada town in which I live. Very well done guys!