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660 Curries, Cookbook of the Day

cover of 660 curriesThe first year I was in grad school, my roommate was an Indian doctor. He was in the last year of his residency and was looking for an inexpensive place to live. He wound up renting my second bedroom and in the year we shared the apartment, he tried to teach me how to cook Indian food. Sadly, most of the teachings he tried to impart unto me went un-retained and these days I typically turn to the Indian restaurant that is located just steps from my building when I have a curry craving.

However, I recently acquired a cookbook that I'm hoping will remind me of Madhu's cooking lessons and ween me off my weekly orders of Chicken Tikka Masala. 600 Curries is an 800 page volume that hopes to make a variety of Indian dishes more accessible to the average Western cook. I must admit that I sometimes end up feeling a little intimidated by cookbooks with this many recipes, as I feel like I don't know where to start. This one feelings surprisingly accessible, despite the volume of recipes it contains. I think it has to do in large part with the careful and detailed instructions that are broken down to be easy to follow.

When I first picked up this book, I was concerned that it would be filled unappealing, Americanized recipes. This is because I know that curry as we know it isn't indigenous to India. However, as I worked my way through the book, I realized that the author, Raghavan Iyer, is using the word curry as an all-encompassing term that can embrace a whole spectrum of Indian and Indian-influenced foods. So it actually contains a wealth of recipes that can really spice up your weekly meals. This is one I'd recommend to cooks who want a single ethnic cookbook that will have the ability to inspire new dishes for years to come.

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Filed Under: Cookbook Spotlight
Tags: 660 Curries, 660Curries, cookbook of the day, CookbookOfTheDay, Indian Food, IndianFood, Raghavan Iyer, RaghavanIyer

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

Murli

6-27-2008 @12:43AM Murli said... I picked up this book at Costco, a month ago. What i really liked about this book was the numerous recipes for fish. My wife and i have been trying them out and our kids love it. I really like his approach and use of ingredients. Good fun overall :)
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Dean

6-27-2008 @8:19AM Dean said... I also picked up this book at a grocery store and fully agree with this review. There is a wide range of apparently authentic recipes. I was surprised at the large number of pork recipes as neither Hindus nor Muslims eat port. Nonetheless, this is cookbook well worth owning. The recipes are clearly written, practical and cover a wide range of dishes. I also enjoy Iyer's sense of humor which is prevalent throught the book.
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Pam

8-21-2008 @11:58PM Pam said... If you'd like to see some recipes from this book take a look here.

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3 Comments / 1 Pages

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