A Taste of Madras: A South Indian Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: Not A Really Authentic Madras Taste!
Review: I would give average to this book. the author says the taste of Madras but truly Madras has more taste and culture in its cuisine.
I have tried a couple of dishes - they turned out okay. Authentic Madras food would also be good healthy vegetarian diet. This book does not come anywhere near this.


Rating:
Summary: Not an authentic south indian cookbook!!!
Review: A huge disappointment!! If you are a Madrasi/looking for authentic or serious Madrasi - tasting dishes, forget it!! This will be O.K for somebody wanting to imitate Madrasi/south indian cooking or for a brand new beginner. Most of the recipes call for couple of basic spices (eg. chilli pd.,turmeric pd.,ginger-garlic)...That's it! But, the names given to these recipes are madrasi-sounding definitely.Any way what kind of cookbook author would call a curry leaf- neem leaf!! I am pretty sure it was not a printing error.

Rating:
Summary: A great overview of south indian cuisine
Review: As a person brought up on South Indian cuisine, but now living in the West, I found this cookbook invaluable in reprising the tastes of my home, and introducing me to some new dishes that I had never tried before. It was clearly written and all the recipes I attempted were very delicious. It has cemented my belief that South Indian cuisine is the 'best kept secret' for the modern food connoisseur.

Rating:
Summary: great for spicy lovers
Review: As a tamil Sri-Lankan-American, I was looking for a cookbook that would give me dishes that were more spicier than what you would find in most north indian styled restaurants. This book turned out great. The recipes are very easy to follow and the curries turn out well even if you aren't exact about what you're adding. Some recipes take a long time but worth it.

Rating:
Summary: A great overview of south indian cuisine
Review: For anyone who already owns an Indian cookbook - and the place to start is Madhur Jaffey's encyclopedic Indian Cooking - this is a rich source of authentic South Indian recipes. I have tried most of them, and have yet to be disappointed. Be warned though, these recipes produce hotter dishes than most Indian cookbooks, and assume a basic familiarity with Indian cooking techniques. South Indian cooking is associated with vegetarian dishes, but this is Tamil cooking, and there are as many meat dishes as vegetarian, including beef, lamb, pork, chicken and duck. As for seafood, there are wonderful crab, lobster, shrimp and fish recipes. This is an excellent source of recipes for an underappreciated region of Indian cooking.