Mangoes & Curry Leaves

Starred review from October 10, 2005
With their most recent cookbook, Home Baking
, the authors of Seductions of Rice
and Hot Sour Salty Sweet
strayed slightly from the kind of pungent Asian food that is their strength, but they're back on track with this paean to the subcontinent, which they've been visiting separately and together since the 1970s. The many dals, like soupy Easy Karnataka Chana with chickpeas and salads like Nepali Green Bean-Sesame Salad are simple and terrific. Entrees are often spicy and always authentic, like Goan Pork Vindaloo, made by rubbing a vinegar-spice paste into the meat. A chapter on street foods is full of promising tidbits, including the suggestion that readers make fried foods such as Mushroom Pakoras with Fresh Herb Chutney for guests (so long as they don't mind spending a whole lot of time in the kitchen). Reading Alford and Duguid's chatty text and headnotes is like receiving envy-inducing postcards from a college friend who never gave up backpacking—if you have the sort of friends who would be disposed to build a tandoor oven out of clay and manure or visit Arugam Bay in Sri Lanka based on a tip from a snake-bitten fellow traveler. This is a comprehensive book filled with compelling writing—a worthy addition to the couple's impressive body of work. Color and b&w photos.

Starred review from February 1, 2006
Alford and Duguid ("Hot Sour Salty Sweet") delight readers once again with their latest culinary travelog, exploring the gastronomic cultures of the Indian subcontinent: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. This beautiful tome contains more than 200 recipes and remembrances of the authors' last 30 years traveling and eating in these countries. Arranged by food type, chapters range from chutneys and breads to dals, meats, street foods, and sweets. Each recipe is introduced with a paragraph or two describing the dish or where the authors first encountered it, such as Simmered Spiced Soybeans from Nepal and Katchhi Village Potato Curry, first eaten in western India in the home of a friend. Interspersed throughout are memories of traveling and culture -visiting the chai shop, wandering through the outdoor food market, and bargaining. The black-and-white and color photographs of the food, people, and landscape, included on nearly every page, transport readers overseas. Highly recommended for all collections." -Pauline Baughman, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR"

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