660 Curries Kindle Edition

This book exceeded my expectations. Highly recommend this seller.Shipped via Amazon - unfortunately the book was not wrapped/protected at all and so banged around in the box during shipping.

I've been messing around with this book for 6 months now, having made around 2 dozen of the recipes. Every one of them has been good, with a few being absolutely outstanding, with 1 HUGE caveat. The cooking times are all over the place.I don't know if its cause i'm using a traditional electric oven and the author was on gas or what the source of the discrepancy is, but I've had to make significant cooking time adjustments on nearly every recipe so far. The meats it doesn't tell you to stew nearly long enough, and the veg sometimes it will have you cook them so long all you have left is paste, and other times things will be basically raw. So don't just set your kitchen timer to what he says and forget about it; you need to check it regularly or your first go at a recipe isn't gonna turn out as good as it should. The only ones so far that i haven't needed to make any adjustment to are the Dal's, which are pretty spot on. They do tend towards a more al dente/chunky texture, which how i like it personally; if you prefer a softer/smoother you'll probably need to make some adjustments to these ones too.Also, the spice levels are definitely tuned to an american audience. I double the chilies in pretty much everything. But thats all a personal taste thing, i wouldn't take a point off for it.

I borrowed this book from my Library because I wanted more variety in my cooking. I was getting bored with my usual cookbooks and my usual curries. After trying out a few of the recipes I decided that I had to get this book. I usually do not get books that have a lot of meat recipes as I am a vegetarian (what is the point?). I also have a rule to throw out a cookbook for every new one I get. So I do take care before ordering. This way I am not just accumulating books but actually using them. I got rid of my copy of the Joy of Cooking. I had not used that in 2 years. I now expect 660 Curries to join my rotation: which is usually from1) Madhur Jaffrey: World Vegetarian2) Chandra Padmanabhan: Dakshin3) Habeeb Salloum: Vegetarian Middle Eastern4) Nancie McDermott: Real Vegetarian Thai5) Eileen Lo: Vegetarian ChineseI expect Raghavan Iyers book to replace the Madhur Jaffrey book as my first go to book for Ideas on what to make. Even though I have other books, I usually do not cook from them regularly. Books like the Indian Slow Cooker (Anupy Singla), Cooking with Pedatha, Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian, Mark Bittman's Vegetarian doorstop, 1000 Mexican Recipes, Paula Wolfert's Couscous, Madhur Jaffrey's Invitation to Indian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East (vegetarian) etc etc etc. I list this to just give an idea that I try to be catholic in my tastes when it comes to cooking. I look for variety in the taste, aroma and feel of the various dishes I try to cook.The apparent authenticity of Iyers book is what sold me. I say apparent because I have not really had Bengali cooking before, so I do not know what that tastes like. But the few things I have tried with Okra, Potatoes and Aubergine have all tasted DIFFERENT. And for me that is important. Many (if not most) Indian cookbooks have the same spices and base for starters. All of my North Indian dishes taste kinda the same because I use the same basic spice/sauce. But with Iyers book; my Punjabi style dish tasted remarkably different from the Rajasthani one. And I wont even get into the differences between various mega regions of India. I think that because Iyer grew up in one of the most Cosmopolitan and diverse cities in India (Mumbai); he was exposed to a great variety of cooking that informs his book. I mean not just South Indian vs. North Indian; but Parsi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Maharashtrian, Tamilian, Hyderabadi, Punjabi, Bengali, Keralite, Mangalorean and even Nepali and something he calls "East Indian".I expect to have a long season of "Happy Cooking" (to quote Jacques Pepin) with this book.BTW: I live in Chicago so I have access to most if not all of even the most obscure spice/ingredient he uses. I remember a time when I could not get Kokum or some wierd Indian vegetable like Drumsticks or Snake Gourd or Fenugreek leaves. Now all this is available! So I have no more excuses not to cook as authentically as I can. And in that Iyers book is a real godsend.I gave this 4 stars because there are some niggling errors. He gives some spice mixtures that have no recipes attached to them (at least I could not find any). He says he does not like using an Electric Rice Cooker for Basmati Rice (which is a good idea); but fails to mention whether it is quite adequate for regular Extra Long Grain Arkansas rice that I use for my daily cooking (for which the Rice Cooker is a godsend). He confuses Indian names for certain vegetables or misidentifies them. But these are niggling things that only bother a nitpicker like me. The recipes are where a cookbook should really be judged on; and in my limited experience this book succeeds.This is not for a beginner though. That should be clear. Also this is not a comprehensive book for Indian food. No comprehensive chutneys/pickles/snacks/salads/soups/desserts/breads section. So this should be your "In Addition To" Indian cookbook. There are books that do a better job of a more comprehensive listing. I would recommend Neelam Batra's 1000 Indian Recipes or Pushpesh Pant's book (if you can get it) and use Iyer's as an add on. I am a vegetarian so I do not have those books; but have heard good things about them from Indian omnivore Cooks. For a Vegetarian like me, I expect Dakshin and this Iyer book to fill most of my Indian vegetarian needs.Highly recommended for a moderately accomplished home cook who wants to experiment with more variety in their Indian Curry repertoire. But beware; the recipes are time intensive. This is not "Curry in a Hurry".

I grew up in India and cooked Indian food for years. Recently started up again and Raghavan Iyer's book is phenomenal. My husband--who had never cooked Indian food before--and I have made at least 35 dishes from this book, and only found two of them to be not to our liking (and I suspect I messed up on one of the recipes, not his fault). Everything else has been exquisite.Why I would suggest you buy this book rather than all the others out there:1. He starts with fresh ingredients, including spices that are freshly ground and the difference in taste as a result of the extra 5 minutes to grind them is well worth it when you taste the food.2. He covers a variety of cuisines. Unlike a lot of other books that tend to focus on one region of India vs the other, Ragahavan covers a wide swath of India and gives you everything from Cochin to Kashmir, from Bengal to Bombay. Wonderful way to sample a diverse range of cuisines.3. The recipes are quite different from each other. I can't tell you how many cookbooks--and how many dishes I have made--all start with frying onions, garlic and ginger, adding tomato, blah blah blah. That's a fairly standard base for many Indian dishes and I could do it with my eyes closed. His recipes are different.4. The taste! oh the taste! Authentic Indian food, freshly made, and richly flavored. #1 reason to get this book and start practicing.5. The range of curries is amazing. 660 indeed, and there's a lot of choice in what you make. Perhaps too much for the uninitiated, but if you are familiar with Indian food or looking to expand your horizons a bit, well, worth it.6. His sidebar comments are short but to the point and often contain tips that are quite helpful. No long-drawn story telling, but enough to intrigue and educate.Reasons you might not get as much out of this book as I do:1. If you prefer convenience cooking, and enjoy using canned goods, this book is not for you. I do use canned beans and he recommends them with no reservations, he sometimes recommends frozen veg, but that's it. Everything else is "from scratch" and fresh.2. It takes time to cook the food. But then again, welcome to cooking Indian food. Our "fast food" takes a while to prepare so real food is..time consuming. For an experienced chef, this could mean 1.5 hours to cook dahl or meat curry, veggies, rice and/or bread which would be standard fare at home for a meal.3. If you're looking for one-pot meals, slow cooker meals, etc. this is not the book for them. Pressure cookers are recommended for beans and such, but the rest of it is stove-top, some oven or grill, and it's not unusual to cook things for a while on the stove.4. If you've never cooked or eaten much Indian food before, I recommend starting with his Betty Crocker guide to Indian cooking (I know, that messes with my mind as well, but those recipes are simpler yet authentic.)5. This is not a 5-ingredient cookbook. The list of ingredients is befitting the dish, but due to the complex combinations of spices that he walks you through, the list can get long. It's WELL WORTH IT though, so do not scrimp.6. It doesn't cover deserts really at all. Not authentic ones anyway (Mango cheesecake may be yummy but it's not traditional Indian food). Also not covered are a variety of chutneys and raitas or other raw salads which are typically easy and healthy. I am ready for his next book to cover those (I hope he reads these reviews and sees this! :))I have 10 more Indian cookbooks but ever since this arrived, I haven't used any of them. I love this book so much I'm seriously considering buying 2 more just in case I lose mine and it goes out of print or something catastrophic :)In short, great recipes, authentic flavors, great variety, requires a bit of time, shows you how to do things well but not for novice chefs. Enjoy!

I purchased this book after reading a review from a cookery website. I bought this particular book because I had been looking for some good vegetarian recipes, while I am not a vegetarian I was looking to make some new healthier curries. I wasn't disappointed with the results. If like me, you have a passion for curries and love to read about anything curry I'm sure you will enjoy this book. If you are expecting to re-create a curry similar to a takeaway/restaurant curry then I think you will be disappointed.I have owned this book for just over a month now and have made quite a few curries from it and they have all turned out nice. Raghavan Iyer is an American Indian and as such the recipes in the book are americanised, so you may have to translate some of the ingredients. My wife doesn't enjoy the book as much as I do because there are no illustrations other than the first few pages. If you are expecting to see pictures of the curries that you will be making there aren't any, although that isn't such a bad thing, as I have found most of the glossy curry books show lovely pictures of the finished product, but when you try to re-create the same curry they never look the same.Overall, its a great purchase, which I'm sure I will keep referring to again and again.

Wow! AWESOME curry recipes that really help one to understand how to use an enormous array of spices in different combinations. However the simplest of dishes can often be made with just two or three - genius!Delicious.

The best indian cookbook I've ever used. I love the section on spice mixtures at the front, and the huge variety of potato recipes is a carb-lover's dream. Also love that the majority of the recipes are vegetarian. The variety of sources is impressive.

The preparations are simple. The ingredients are easy to get. Easy to follow even for a dummy. The curries are fantastically delicious. Besides the recipies and tips on cooking, the information on health benefits etc are very helpful and enlightening. A worthwhile investment that brings benefit for a lifetime.

so much information great book needs some reading if unsure of what the spice is just have a look back all the answers are in the book