Summers Under the Tamarind Tree: Recipes and memories from Pakistan

I'm afraid I have to join the tiny minority who found this disappointing. For me it's not about any lack of authenticity (I'm not really in a position to make a judgement on that) but, more worryingly to me, an evident lack of cooking knowledge.Anyone who tries some of these recipes and expects that their mutton, cooked on top of the stove, will be tender after 45 minutes or that onions will turn golden after 5 minutes of frying, or that cubed chicken will only be half-cooked after 15 minutes simmering in a broth or that a 200g chicken fillet will feed 4, is in for a frustrating and disappointing experience.I've kept picking it up, this lovely looking book, desperate to love it and to find it inspiring but have then encountered countless examples of dubious advice as per the examples given and have promptly put it back on the shelf without trying anything.I think it's a great shame when inexperienced amateur cooks are put off cooking by lazy, inaccurate recipes and methods, probably believing that they themselves are to blame for the fact that the dish didn't work and reinforcing the idea that they aren't very good cooks.Don't authors bother to test their recipes any more before publishing? I don't think I'd trust this author to boil me an egg.

We have loads of Indian cookbooks but this is the one my Pakistani husband swears by. The recipes are beautifully balanced and completely authentic and fun to make . Everything turns out perfectly you can talk the recipes have been honed over generations of perfection .The book has beautiful photographs and the stories around the recipes are really evocative . The railway lamb curry is possibly one of the most delicious recipes I have ever made with zero waste . I use this book every week at least and keep discovering new delicious and life enhancing things to try .

This is a really well-made and well presented book. Pakistani food is very different from the Indian/Bangladeshi food we are more used to in the UK and I absolutely love it. Interesting recipes and relatively easy to cook if you have some experience. Liked it so much I also bought it for a friend.

Lovely book with some really mouth-watering recipes! Bought another recipe book from this author called Mountain Berries and Desert Spice and I must say this one is of the same great standard!

This is a beautiful book, good to sit and read. It was great that it had individual spice mixes to try yourself. I've made a couple of the dishes already and the family loved them.