A Taste of Madras: A South Indian Cookbook

by Rani Kingman

Part travel guide, storybook, and shopping list, this large-format cookbook not only shows how to prepare Southern Indian dishes, but introduces food lore, folklore, myths, legends and religious traditions that give the recipes a cultural context. The book includes information on mail-ordering some of the uncommon ingredients.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566561957
• ISBN13: 9781566561952
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Interlink Publishing Group
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.6" x 10.6"

Customer Reviews

A great overview of south indian cuisine

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.

great for spicy lovers

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.

Discover South Indian Cooking

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.