[.ca] The Turmeric Trail: Recipes and Memories From an Indian ... (ISBN 0312276826)

From Amazon.com:
The Turmeric Trail's beguiling author, Raghavan Iyer, arrived in America at the age of 16, steeped in the southern Indian cooking of his youth. In addition to his love for the extraordinary vegetarian Tamilian food that his grandmother and mother prepared, he had enjoyed the tempting street fare of Mumbai (Bombay), where he was born and raised. His book includes 125-plus recipes encompassing curries and stews, rice dishes, chutneys, poori and other breads, grilled kebabs, ginger-laced chai, and sweet fruit desserts. Readers will delight in authentic, approachable formulas for irresistible fare like Corn with Roasted Chilies and Coconut Milk, Chicken in Saffron Almond Sauce, and naan (grilled bread) with fenugreek and garlic--versions they're unlikely to encounter in other Indian cookbooks. But the greatest pleasure of the book is Iyer, who writes with a droll, impish wit and the sure ability to evoke scenes of Indian domestic and public life in all their teeming intimacy. For example, after being slapped by his "otherwise favorite French teacher," Iyer recounts a trip, instigated by his "newly arrived sister-in-law," to eat lentil croquettes sold by a distant vendor. "There's nothing like Mumbai street life to diminish the shock of a slap," he continues. "The piercing horn of the three-wheeled rickshaw, noisy as a pressure cooker's whining, and the angry ringing of a bicyclist's bell jarred me back from my self-pity to the life-risking task at hand--crossing the street." The croquettes, finally, justify all. "After the first mouthfuls, I understood \omy sister-in-law's\c zealous fervor.... Suddenly, I was a disciple, too, having been blessed by their divine presence that nudged me to open my heart's door to my brother's wife." With an enlightening introduction and comprehensive glossary on ingredients and techniques, good tips, and many more wonderful stories, the book is an entrancing and practical treat. --Arthur Boehm

Warm memories:
As another south indian settled in USA the book brought back very vivid and warm memories of southern india and mumbai. While the recipes are as standard and perhaps lacking in detail in some ways, the stories and memories associated with them are very real and common across many south indian households. The introduction with the grandmother's story brought tears to my eyes - and i also loved the flowing and somewhat natural way of relating food to people (the sindhi lady, sardari vendor) and the strong familial ties to his sister and family that are expressed through food. That said - indian lifestyle, however, is fraught with tradition and rigid, lot of times oppressive beliefs that are not obvious and very hard to come to terms with, especially if you are a woman. I dont' believe it is within the scope of this book to address those issues but i do believe in some places the author tends to paint life as pinker than it is (arranged marriage, life with in laws, caste/community related issues).

Trite and contrived:
Sorry, I hated this. I actually tried out some recipes and they did not turn out well. I am an Indian and cook quite a bit of Indian food. So I was dissapointed. I felt the recipes slanted heavily towards "street food" rather than a good range of Indian cuisine. I couldnt stand the text - it reads more like one of those travelogues that gives the "foreigners" a romanticised view of India. Blah, blah, blah ... I found the prose heavy-handed and annoying.

Nourishing and organic recipes:
I have many Indian cookbooks and I find myself referring to and using this book a lot more than others. I love most of the dosas, crepes and "pancakes" recipes particularly. They turn out delicious and are full of nutrition, plus they are very easy to make. None of the recipes are overly spicy, yet they turn out very tasty. I saw this book accidentally in my local library, so if you are skeptical in spending the money initially, i highly recommend borrowing the book from your local library first. Like me, you'll end up buying the book.