Cookbook Project, Book #199

[ladysprite]

"660 Curries," Raghavan Iyer

I found this book while browsing secondhand bookstores about a year ago. It's not my usual style of cookbook - it's an enormous brick of a book, and, like Alice from Wonderland, I have very little use for a book that has no pictures or conversation.

But at the same time, it looked interesting. And I'm always on the lookout for good Indian recipes, and it seemed incredibly detailed and well-organized. And it was secondhand and half-priced, so I decided on a whim to bring it home, where it promptly sat on a stack of books to be used for this project for an embarrassingly long time, until about a month ago, when I remembered that, hey, I ought to move forward on this stuff.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I do tend towards a decent number of meatless meals, and I had to narrow down my options somehow (the book is broken down into ten different sections), so I started by looking through the section on Paneer Curries. And, since it's a favorite dish of mine, I decided to try the recipe for Mutter Paneer (or curried peas and homemade cheese, for those of you not fluent in Indian Food).

I admit I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe for paneer, mostly because I know it's easy, foolproof, and delicious. That said? This was one of the most delicious things I've ever made. The spicing was perfect, and the texture was amazing, and the flavor was complex, and the recipe itself was just complex enough to be interesting but not so complicated that I couldn't make it easily for a weeknight dinner, assuming I had time beforehand to make the paneer.

I'll make this again, and I'm already browsing through the other sections looking for interesting options - next week I'm probably going to try something from the Egg Curries chapter, mostly because... well, it sounds cool, and if the rest of the recipes are as good as this one was, I'll be glad I tried it.....

Comments

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

When you try making it again, add some mushrooms. The first time I had Mutter Paneer at an Indian restaurant, they did a version with peas, mushrooms and paneer, which was an amazing combination. Most places do it either with Paneer or with Mushrooms, but not both.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*makes a note of this cookbook*

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

mmmmm! saag paneer and palak paneer are two of my favorites - may have to try this one if I can find mutter paneer at one of our local places. :D

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

This cookbook has been added to my Amazon wishlist -- not so much for me, but as a potential Yulegift for Russ.

[crash-mccormick.livejournal.com]

Very interesting

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Sounds yummy!