A great introduction to South Asian Cooking
Sudha Koul. 1993. Curries Without Worries: An Introduction to Indian Cuisine. Cashmir Books. ISBN-10: 0962483818; ISBN-13: 978-0962483813.
Reprint edition: Warner Books, 1993. ISBN: 0446670782, 9780446670784 .
I was new to Chapel Hill and had not been in graduate school for very long when an old friend from home came to visit, and brought her boyfriend with her.
He wanted to take us out to dinner, and being Indian, he chose an Indian restaurant. I had never had any food from South Asia, so I was overwhelmed with the smells, the spices, and the flavors. He took care of ordering and covered the table with curries, dal, breads, samosas, and chutneys, and he explained each dish to us as we stuffed ourselves with all the deliciousness.
A couple days later, I get a flyer from the Quality Paperback Book Club, with a happy little cookbook featured: Curries Without Worries, which I call CWOW. QPBC was a lifeline when I was in college and stationed overseas in West Germany — it was the 80s, no internet, no e-books, and foreign language books were uncommon and expensive in the bookstores near my base. QPBC gave me access to great books via mail, and it was a wonderful day when the flyer showed up in the mailbox.
Having just eaten an amazing meal, the book intrigued me — could I cook this glorious food? So I bought it. The book offers vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, chutneys and raitas, breads, and suggestions for meal planning. I was smitten from the first read-through of this book.
CWOW was my first ‘international’ cookbook, and 30 years on, it still sits on my go-to cookbook shelf.
Sudha Koul knows Indian cooking, and she knows what a typical western kitchen is like. She adapts recipes and methods to what you have in your kitchen, and walks you through the way to approach South Asian food. I did have to buy some spices that I did not know (what on earth is cardamom? Turmeric? Fenugreek???), but I had the tools and most of the ingredients on hand.
She helps a newbie understand the layering of spices and flavors, knowing that the number and potency of the spices used in her recipes is over the top for a beginner. She makes it easy to get the rhythm of the cooking, and very soon, I was able to put a korma, a dal, and a chutney on the table.
And Reader — they were good.
Thus began a love affair with South Asian cuisines, and it is all thanks to this fine little gem of a cookbook.