TANDOOR
The great Indian barbecue
Ranjit Rai
Published by The Overlook Press, P/B $49.95

This is a great book to give those blokes in love with their barby as it will make you the welcome beneficiary or a whole range of delicious Indian barbecue offerings. It’s not what you would call a pretty book, in fact some of the pictures are less than enticing but the recipes work in a good practical sense and there is a very good bread section at the end of the book. Tandoor is a good introduction to this style of Indian cooking with concise and practical instructions for marinades and cooking methods and even explains how to build your own tandoor.
In Adelaide, South Australia all of the dry ingredients and spices including special flours for Naan can be easily found at Indian Bazaar, 11 Market Street, Adelaide just opposite the Adelaide Central Markets and if f you’re looking for goat, try Rainbow Halal, 52 South Road, West Hindmarsh. Otherwise go to the Indian precinct of your city or look on–line.

DAKSHIN
Vegetarian Cuisine from South India
Chandra Padmanabhan
Published by Periplus Editions (Hong Kong) Ltd P/B $37.95

This is a book that I have never tired of and with each year that passes it becomes more splattered and loved and in seven years we have tried around fifty percent of the recipes. With pictures to drool over, the recipes are well written but reading Important Notes p.9 before you start cooking clarifies the weights and measures used in the recipes. The book has extensive bread and sweet recipes including the wonderful lacy Semolina Dosai that are utterly delicious with a good vegetarian curry gravy. The great thing about these wonderful recipes is that once you have grasped the taste and intent of the dish most of them can be cooked without rigidly following the recipe. All of the ingredients can be found at Indian grocer.