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Look and cook

The CD cover says it is dedicated to all housewives living abroad, especially newly-weds. Interesting preamble, and how can we not check it out? ‘700 recipes – Best of Indian Cuisines,’ authored by Lakshmi T. Arasu, contains vegetar ian and non-vegetarian recipes for the generation that likes everything at the click of the mouse.

Tidily divided into region-wise cuisine, Mughlai, idli-dosa, microwave, desserts, kebabs, snacks, dal / rasam, raitha / chutney, Indian breads, sea food, lamb dishes, chicken, egg curries, soups, and veg dishes, each section contains 25 recipes. And, within those 25 recipes, the author has smartly packed in as much assortment as possible.

For instance, the Kerala segment includes the quintessential theeyal, avial, olan, erissery, pulissery, thoran and pachadi, in addition to a host of non-vegetarian curries.

Of course, half the recipes are on expected lines because of its target audience. So, you have everything from roti dough, idli batter, fish cutlets, chicken 65, omelette, cream tomato soup, to masal vada, onion sambhar and tomato rice.

But, where the CD scores is in the not-so-common ones. Each category has a smattering of unusual delicacies. Sample these: Coriander walnut raitha, potato rice, cucumber dosa, cabbage payasam, banana poori, apple chutney and pineapple rasam.

The author keeps the recipes snappy without compromising on the details. The peanut burfi recipe runs to just eight lines! The large fonts and the colourful pictures of the dishes deserve a special mention.

The best part of the CD is saved for the last: the glossary, which also includes a translation of ingredients in English, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada. In all, we think, this CD is not for just NRIs. Or newly-weds!

The CD is priced at Rs. 145.

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