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From: rajeev@sftri.UUCP (S.Rajeev)
Newsgroups: net.cooks,net.nlang.india
Subject: Re: Chickpeas in Tamarind Sauce
Message-ID: <369@sftri.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 9-Mar-85 19:34:50 EST
Article-I.D.: sftri.369
Posted: Sat Mar  9 19:34:50 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Mar-85 08:13:20 EST
References: <10006@ulysses.UUCP> <428@harvard.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Summit N.J.
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Xref: watmath net.cooks:3600 net.nlang.india:154

> You know, it might be more productive to exchange experience with
> cookbooks rather than individual recipes.  For Indian ones, we can
> presumably limit ourselves to those which start with individual spices
> rather than curry powder.  I'll start things off with three:
> 
>     Dharamjit Sen, Indian Cookery (Penguin), cheap paperback
>      Excellent!  Emphasizes method--certain tours de main make a tremendous
>     difference in some dishes.  Concise but complete.  Many recipes.  No
>     atmospherics (`my grandmother's kitchen', `as the sun sets over the
>     bay of Bombay'...).  Some anglicisms (prawns, aubergines, ...) only a
>     very few of which are opaque.  Assumes more kitchen savvy than others.
> 

"Indian Cookery" by Dharamjit Singh (not Sen) is available in a Penguin edition
for $3.95: I bought my copy at the Asian Book Store on Bow/Arrow St (?) in the
vicinity of Harvard Square. It has a large number of recipes; however, I find
some of them unnecessarily complex and even intimidating. Perhaps
the highfalutin'-ness (eg. "despite what ordinary mortals say, one NEVER adds
garam masala to a dish except as a garnish", or words to that effect) is meant
to let it be known that this is haute cuisine, Indian style; perhaps the author
went overboard in his zeal for authenticity. Anyway, it makes good reading, and
is free of pretty pictures and other distractions: it's serious and businesslike.
I agree that it's meant more for gourmets, rather than for your average
person trying to make aloo gobi.

"A Taste of India", by Mary Atwood (Houghton Mifflin, Boston) is the most useful
Indian cookbook I have found for someone like me who wants to make something
moderately edible with a minimum of effort. It has a large number of simple
recipes with easy-to-follow directions, and I have, even if I say so myself,
dished up some real neat stuff using them. It is written by an American who
apparently travelled a lot in India: because of this, the directions are meant
for American kitchens. Unfortunately, this book, published in 1969, is out of
print. Its original price was $6.95 (hardcover). One of the reasons I like this
book a lot is that it has plenty of South Indian, especially Kerala recipes,
which, sadly, is not the case with most Indian cookbooks.
-- 
...ihnp4!btlunix!rajeev   -- usenet
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Sri Rajeev, SF 1-342, Bell Labs, Summit, NJ 07901. (201)-522-6330.