Product Description

Curry is Salmon with Garlic and Turmeric. Curry is Grilled Chicken with Cashew-Tomato Sauce. Curry is Asparagus with Tomato and Crumbled Paneer. Curry is Lamb with Yellow Split Peas, Chunky Potatoes with Spinach, Tamarind Shrimp with Coconut Milk, Baby Back Ribs with a Sweet-Sour Glaze and Vinegar Sauce, Basmati Rice with Fragrant Curry Leaves. Curry is vivid flavors, seasonal ingredients, a kaleidoscope of spices and unexpected combinations. And 660 Curries is the gateway to the world of Indian cooking, demystifying one of the world's great cuisines.

Presented by the IACP award–winning Cooking Teacher of the Year (2004), Raghavan Iyer, 660 Curries is a joyous food-lover's extravaganza. Mr. Iyer first grounds us in the building blocks of Indian flavors—the interplay of sour (like tomatoes or yogurt), salty, sweet, pungent (peppercorns, chiles), bitter, and the quality of unami (seeds, coconuts, and the like). Then, from this basic palette, he unveils an infinite art. There are appetizers—Spinach Fritters, Lentil Dumplings in a Buttermilk Coconut Sauce—and main courses—Chicken with Lemongrass and Kaffir-Lime Leaves, Lamb Loin Chops with an Apricot Sauce. Cheese dishes—Pan-Fried Cheese with Cauliflower and Cilantro; bean dishes—Lentil Stew with Cumin and Cayenne. And hundreds of vegetable dishes—Sweet Corn with Cumin and Chiles, Chunky Potatoes with Golden Raisins, Baby Eggplant Stuffed with Cashew Nuts and Spices. There are traditional, regional curries from around the subcontinent and contemporary curries. Plus all the extras: biryanis, breads, rice dishes, raitas, spice pastes and blends, and rubs.

curry, n.—any dish that consists of either meat, fish, poultry, legumes, vegetables, or fruits, simmered in or covered with a sauce, gravy, or other liquid that is redolent with any number of freshly ground and very fragrant spices and/or herbs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27322 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 809 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Iyer (The Turmeric Trail) makes the enormous spectrum of Indian curry dishes enticing and accessible in this hefty tome, bound to be a must-have for lovers of Indian cuisine. Cooks already familiar with this food will be inspired as they cook through its pages. The term curry encompasses a vast range of dishes, and Iyer has uncovered the best from the subcontinent's many regions and cultures, working his way from Goa (chicken in coconut milk sauce) to Kashmir (hearty braised lamb shanks in broth), Calcutta (tilapia in yogurt sauce), Kerala (spinach in pigeon pea-coconut sauce), and everywhere between. The largest chapter features an extraordinary selection of curries using India's rainbow of legumes, but Iyer includes meat, cheese, fish and vegetable curries, plus appetizers and snacks, biryanis and elegant rice variations and breads. Access to a well-stocked Indian grocery is vital, but past that hurdle Iyer makes the recipes quite approachable thanks to his chatty introductions, many thoughtful preparation tips and helpful ingredient glossary. (May)
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Review
"What a wonderful book! I would shovel my way through a blizzard for Raghavan Iyer's cooking and 660 of his recipes will hold me for a while."—Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Host of public radio's national food show The Splendid Table, from American Public Media

From the Back Cover
Curry is the gateway to Indian cooking. It is the backbone of Indian cooking, it's the glory of Indian cooking. Curry has nothing to do with powder in a can and everything to do with amazing flavors. Curry is the dazzling layering of spices and ingredients, the familiar made new and the exotic made accessible. Not to mention all that tasty sauce to mop up with rice or bread.

660 Curries is Salmon with Garlic and Turmeric, Grilled Chicken with Cashew-Tomato Sauce, Lamb Shanks Braised in a Fennel and Cumin-Kissed Broth, Toasted Tamarind-Rubbed Shrimp, Pork Ribs with a Sweet-Sour Glaze. 660 Curries is traditional, contemporary, extraordinary, and it's jam-packed with easy one-dish dinners that dance on the palate, in recipes created for the home kitchen.

Customer Reviews

What A Project!
I've only begun to scratch the surface of the recipes presented in this book. So far, the ones I've made taste great, though the length of time it takes for many of these traditional preparations is beyond what I often have available. Iyer's personality and sense of humor shine through in his descriptions of people, ingredients and recipes.

It makes good curry
I'm pleased I got this book - it's comprehensive and has accessible recipes. There is enough "theory" to explain how and why to do things and enough simple practical experience to be useful. I've only tried 2 of the recipes but the coconut black eyed pea curry was even better than it sounded in the recipe.

note for international readers - it's American. Only US quantities are given in that arcane and quaint pound ounce thing. Requires translation into metric.

A jam-packed volume of Indian cookery.
I've been cooking Indian food for well over 10 years and my cooking repertoire is filled with more Asian dishes than American. But, there is always something to learn, especially when you are not a native to a particular style of cooking.

660 Curries is a wonderful book filled with plenty of dishes to satisfy your Indian food cravings. I've tried a number of dishes from this book and they do not disappoint. I own a decent collection of Indian cookbooks and this is one of my top, without a doubt. If you are a lover of dhal it is worth the purchase price alone.

The stories that accompany the recipes are also nice to read.

Add this tome to your library, it is worth it.