Title:	The Essential South Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Into South Indian Cuisine and Culture
	Author:	Srividhya Gopalakrishnan
	Published:	October 8, 2019, Rockridge Press
	No. of Pages:	164
	Cover Price:	$14.99 Paperback, $6.99 Kindle

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Indian food is enjoying a surge as a trendy kind of food. Unfortunately, there are plenty of Indian restaurants with less than appetizing dishes, so many diners don’t think they like Indian food. If you can’t go to India or London, the places that seem to have the best Indian food, you’ll want to purchase The Essential South Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Into South Indian Cuisine and Culture. It contains dozens of mouthwatering dishes that are not only authentic, but very good. This cookbook explores the excellent, but not as well-known dishes in South India (incidentally, the trendy Chicken Tikka Masala, as well as Tandoori Chicken and popular curries are from Northern India). South India has fabulous curries, as well as different types of Biryani and some mouthwatering fish and shrimp dishes that shouldn’t be missed. Rice and lentils are popular in this area of India, and they are prepared in very unique ways. South India features several types of delicious spicy snacks that are deep fried.

Although several of the ingredients called for in the recipes aren’t available at mainstream grocery stores, most cities have an Indian or Asian grocery; it’s fun to search out the different ingredients, and definitely worth the trip.

The recipes in this cookbook are well-written and easy to follow. Most sound wonderful, but unfortunately there are few photographs. A cookbook that features recipes that aren’t run-of-the-mill should at least let the readers know what the dishes should look like. That is really the only negative about the cookbook. Each recipe has an explanation or vignette regarding the dish, which is very helpful.

Recommended for cooks that like to try new dishes, this cookbook is one that will be fun to cook from and will reward you with delicious, unique meals.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.