[.ca] Great Curries of India (ISBN 0684803836)

powerful cookbook!:
this book has all the main superpowers: beauty, variety, indexing, cultural notes, explanation of ingredients, accessibility of ingredients, deliciousness, serving suggestions, flexibility, practical hints. including a recipe for watermelon curry is regarded as an additional special power. my only complaint, which hasn't ever ruined a meal, is that many key ingredient amounts are given by weight. i am not a person who considers potatoes or tomatoes in ounces.

Well presented information on ingredients:
The background information presented on ingredients is invaluable.The author even photographed the most important ingredients as an introduction to the recipe collection. This is very helpful because descriptive terms for spices, peppers and chillis vary so much from region to region. With a photograph you can be sure that you have identified the correct ingredient. The Chicken with Pistachio sauce is divine, worth the price of the book.

Great recipies:
Why Camellia Panjabi's book is so far down the list of best selling books in it's category (102 at the moment) is beyond me! I am the owner of several Indian cookbooks, including some by Madhur Jaffrey's and make it a point to try a new indian dish every weekend. However this book stands out. I have to say that this book has given me the most inspiration to try new dishes and the most delightful results than any other. Why? for starters, a full page photograph for every recipe gives the inspiration and urge to try out a new dish - most cooks like myself need something visual to get the mouth watering before we step into the kitchen! There is also a brief introduction to the recipe detailing what part of the country the recipe came from and usually the direct source from which the recipe was obtained, be it an old lady in a village that Camellia was visiting or a local cook renowned in the region for his speciality. Secondly, I have to say that the recipe's I have tried have not disappointed. Be it the Lamb Rogan Josh or the Goa Pork vindaloo, these recipes are delicious every time. There is also a comprehensive guide to spices and ingredients at the beginning of the book going into such detail such as how to prepare fresh coconut. A word of caution to those new to cooking, this book does not hold your hand throughout, specific cooking times are not always stated, instead the author instructs to "simmer until tender" etc. However the more "mission critical" timings such as adding spices, sauteing onions etc are given, so there is no need to be overly put off by this. This book deserves to be in more kitchens. 5 stars all the way.

Excellent presentation..:
I collect Indian cookbooks and this is one of the jewels of my collection. Camellia brings a delicious flair to the recipes in her presentation. Well chosen curries and fairly good ingredient measurements allow novices to fare well, But If you're from an Indian origin or well-versed in the tastes of the curries, You'd do well to experiment with the ingredient measurements.( Some dishes are made all over India with the same curry base, but varying amount of ingredients and regional produce give the dishes different flavours.)

Excellent Background and Explanations (CORRECTED):
I have a correction to report for my 23-Sept-1999 review: I discovered that my copy of the book was indeed a misprint - an entire section was missing from the back of my copy (it contained, among other things, the missing info on Dhals, some excellent vegetarian curries, and the wine matching section whose lack I complained about). I have since replaced my copy with a complete one, and I've upgraded my rating of this book from 4 stars to 5.