Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala

This book supposedly focuses on the cooking in Kerala, a state in southwest part of India. But some dishes such as Vindaloo and Biriyanis are more noth-indian style and a lot of other dishes can be found in other books on Indian Cuisine.The recipes are OK and are well-written and easy to follow. There is also a good textual introduction to Kerala and its cuisine at the beginning of the book. I would have given it 4 stars if the recipes are outstanding.

A beautiful cookbook of India! I haven't tried all the recipes, but the ones I have, have been out of this world. I am very partial to Indian cooking, so this book was a Godsend.

Great collection of recipes. I am south Indian 2nd generation (tho not from Kerala). I need instruction on cooking indian food & there is a dearth of south Indian cookbooks out there. This one fits the bill. Easy recipes with authentic results. I have even adapted some dal recipes for my slow cooker. Tastes are very authentic to my mother's andhra & my aunt's madras cooking.Note: this is an out of print book, price can fluctuate to very overpriced. Get it from your library first, try it out, then consider purchase online (I do this for most of my purchased books) when the price comes down. This is an excellent book but I don't use it more than 1x a month, so not worth more than $10-15 for me.

We’ve been using this cookbook for years; I bought a second copy to give away, and a third for back-up. There are a couple of recipes we make all the time; one for green beans, one for fish or shrimp in coconut milk. This isn’t a general Indian cookbook like Julie Sahni’s or Yamuna Devi’s so I wouldn’t start with this, but if you’re already into Indian cooking, it’s a great addition.

We just love this cookbook! We enjoy Indian food but primarily have tried food from Northern Indian provinces, such as from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, so were unsure what to expect from the Kerala region. Kaimal delivers with awesome recipes for full-flavored filling dishes that are easy-to-prepare. Most of the recipes rely heavily on coconut for flavor as well as a host of other spices and are simply irresistible.What I really love about the cookbook is that she divides the recipe into parts and often mentions that you can prepare up to a certain part in advance so that there's less of a rush at the end. In addition, each recipe has a preparation time, which has always been accurate. Most recipes take between 35 minutes to 1 hour to prepare and use ingredients you can find at any supermarket. As for the unusual ingredients, such as curry leaves - she gives a thorough resources page for mail order so and also gives tips on how to store them to keep them as long as possible in your freezer.We've tried over 50 recipes in Savoring the Spice Coast of India, and EVERY ONE has been truly delicious. There is a wealth of both vegetarian and meat dishes, and also side and dessert dishes so you can have a really balanced meal. Highly recommended.

What a delightful little cookbook! First, she gives a great background of Kerala and of her own family. My fiancee is also a Keralite and this book has allowed me to make him many dishes that he hasn't had since he was last home. The pictures are bright, colorful, and visually enticing. The instructions are well thought out and the ingredient listings are logically ordered. In particular, I like how she groups spices under the heading "ground masala" and then in the instructions simply states "add ground masala". It makes it easy to know when to throw it in the mix because I put the ground masala together before I start cooking. This way, I don't have to sort through a list of spices that need to be thrown in quickly.My particular favorite recipes are the piralen, meen molee, and the vadala. Actually, the piralen is now a weekly staple for us because it is so quick and simple to make. Since my prior cooking experiences had been primarily Pakistani and North Indian dishes of a heavier nature, I was amazed at how light and refreshing South Indian cuisine can be. I have just purchased Curried Favors and I can't wait to dig into it!I will be using this book for years to come and look forward to cooking these Keralite delights for my own future children.Now, I am just waiting for Maya's North Indian cuisine cookbook (hint, hint :-)

Not thrilled with the book. Too few photos and the recipes are not that exciting. However, the seller was great. Prompt service and packaged beautifully. So, the seller gets five stars and the book, three. So, 3.5 to 4.0

Hard to find, out of print, expensive! But we love this author and she’s a terrific Indian chef. So it was worth it. Delicious fare, worth the time to prepare these Indian dishes.

I bought this book after a review by nigella lawson about the tomatoey chicken curry in her blog and it has been the best indian cook book i possess ever.I have made a great deal of veg and non veg meals which are in this book and the results have always turned out fabulous.I LOVE this book and couldnt recommend it enough to people.If you want an authentic south indian cook book with great meals then this is it.

Excellent book. I love the cuisine from Kerala using whole spices. It is very far from what we know as Indian food. It spices up a gluten free diet for sure.