If you like Indian food and you like cooking, I highly recommend this book.

I am very new to Indian cooking, I have only started experimenting and attempting cooking this year (only about 7-8 months) and started off with 5 spices, 50 dishes, which was a great introduction into cooking tadka style and using (and finding) Indian spices. But I got through that one very quickly and was left with a craving for more.

I found my "fix" in this book! I have not tried any of red meat recipes, as I tend to keep to chicken and fish only for my meats, but what I have tried so far has been fantastic, delicious, and easy to make!

I have cooked about 15 recipes so far (and OH how many to go still!) and I have not yet been disappointed. Most recipes have taken me about 1.5 hrs to make, but some have taken less than an hour, which I have found surprising considering the spices and mixes and marinating some of the dishes require.

All in all, this has become my kitchen bible and I absolutely love it!!

Great selection. All the curries that I have made (about 8 so far)came out wonderful.

I am of Indian origin and have been dabbling in cooking for a few years now. Most cook books that I have tried seem to have ornately complex recipes or belong to the other end of the spectrum. Everything I have tried from this book has been very good and relatively quick to implement. My wife is finally impressed with "my" cooking.

I love this cookbook! I have made about 2 dozen or more recipes out of it and they have ALL been delicious! I love Indian food, but I never thought I would be able to cook it at home. I have been told that my dishes are better than what you can get out! My only recommendation is buy the hardback copy instead of the paperback. I bought paperback and I have used it so much it is falling apart.

Brilliant, authentic and full of helpful information! 660 Curries is one of the best ever Indian cookbooks. I am new to Indian cooking, having gone gluten free two years ago after the diagnosis of celiac disease, Indian curries are naturally gluten free for the most part (don't use hing). Raghavan Iyer has managed to create a masterpiece in this sensational book. I have all three of his cookbooks and appreciate all of them for very different reasons. In particular I love the detailed descriptions in 660 Curries that proceed each recipe, which provides history, context and helpful tips. I like having the traditional names of each dish translated into English. I also appreciate alternative suggestions for hard to find ingredients. While I have made a number of the dishes a few favorites include the chicken tikka masala, tandoori mignon and salmon with holy basil in a tamarind honey sauce. The chapter on spices and pastes. should not be overlooked, it provides a wealth of practical information essential to successful indian cooking. While it may seem overwhelming to spend time blending your own spice mixes, the result is remarkable. I planned fall spice blending day with a friend. We combined ingredients and resources and made over 10 different blends and pastes and split our jewels at the end of the day. It was fun, economical and only took half a day. My only frustration is the loose description of amounts, a medium onion, large red pepper . . . That being said, Indian food is very forgiving and can tolerate the nuances in my idea of large, small and medium! I highly recommend 600 Curries. I have given over three copies as gifts. It is a real keeper.660 Curries

I love Indian food, and when I began to crave nothing else earlier this year, I decided it was time to learn how to cook it myself. After all, eating out several times a week is expensive, and the nearest decent Indian restaurant is an hour's drive from where I live. My copy of Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian came to the rescue and served me well, but soon I wanted - needed! - more recipes.

Then along comes this huge book of curries. Not only do the recipes sound mouthwatering, but the whole thing is written in a friendly, often downright impish manner, AND it includes a list of resources to help me find all the ingredients. Sold!

That was about four months ago. Since then, I have cooked exclusively from this book with excellent results. Rice with Yogurt and Mustard Seeds has become a staple, along with Chowli Nu Dal, Garlicky Gourd and several others. A friend who knows from Indian food gave high marks to the Adrak Lasson Waale Chana Masala I made for her. I have found an Indian grocery store and learned my way around it.

Some of the ingredient lists may be long and contain unfamiliar items, but don't let that scare you. The techniques are explained carefully and easy to learn. Sometimes I scale back a little on the amounts of oil and salt called for - that's just my personal preference. There is really no great trick to much of this stuff - heck, they cook it every day in India, right? Do follow Iyer's advice to have all the ingredients prepped before you start cooking, as some of the steps take only seconds to complete, and you won't have time for grinding and chopping while you cook. When you've got everything ready beforehand, the cooking is a happy experience.

Because I don't cook meat, I can't vouch for any of the meat dishes, but I don't doubt that they are just as good as the vegetable/paneer/legume recipes I've tried. Which leads me to the economic bonus that comes with this book: dried legumes (and just about everything else at the Indian store I shop at) are inexpensive. If you can find spices in bulk, that saves a lot of cash, too, as long as you're not using saffron. Since I got this book, I have been eating better than I ever have - and for less money. The vegetarians are nodding their heads in agreement; you omnivores who are looking to expand your gastronomic horizons without breaking the bank may want to take note.

Every week I choose another recipe or two to try, and each time I get excited about it. When you can have this kind of food whenever you want, it's like Christmas every day. Seriously, if you love Indian food you need this book.

One last word: You MUST make the Pineapple Chutney and have it warm, over vanilla ice cream. It is heaven.

This is an excellent book. The recipes are exciting and original. We have learned many delicious ways to use spices, techniques, and ingredients that we never did before. It is a very good "how to" explaining the concepts of Indian cooking, in a very interesting format. A+++

I am of Indian origin and an avid cook of all cuisines. But my first love is always Indian food. I have tons of Indian cookbooks and have never loved an Indian cookbook author more than Madhur Jaffrey....until now. This is my second Raghavan Iyer book (the first being his Betty Crocker Indian Cookbook). His recipes are incredibly EASY to follow, authentic and most importantly, DELICIOUS! Anyone can follow these recipes to fantastic results. The only downside is that there aren't many pictures but he more than makes up for it with the breadth of wonderful original and classic recipes. I have made about 10 recipes so far and they are all going in my regular repetoire. I crack the book open every Sunday on my way to the grocery store so I can be prepared for the week ahead - I try at least one new recipe every week. Good luck and happy cooking!

This is the third Iyer book that I have acquired. All of them are gems. This book is best suited to someone with previous experience cooking Indian food. This is an amazing compendium of recipes, a must for cooks who are dedicated to expanding their repertoire of Indian recipes. (Iyer's Betty Crocker Indian cook book is the best intro to Indian cooking that I have ever seen. His Turmeric Trail is also excellent.) It would have been best if this book had been offered in hard binding (perhaps in two volumes?) as I am confident that 666 Curries will see hard use in the kitchen of Indian foodies.

I am an avid cookbook collector and a student of Indian Cuisine. This is the worst cookbook I have ever purchased and the first one that I actually threw away.

I made four different dishes and they ranged from bad to inedible. The directions were flawed on all dishes - cooking times seemed random and the spice mixtures included western spices that I have never seen included in Indian dishes. All dishes seemed to have an imbalance of spice/sweet/salt/sour dimensions. In all, it appeared that, in a search for 660 curries, the author sacrificed quality for quantity.

There are so many wonderful Indian Cookbooks available - Lord Krishna's Cuisine for Vegetarian and even Batra's 1000 Indian Recipes are MUCH better than this - that I would avoid this cookbook at all costs.

I've only begun to scratch the surface of the recipes presented in this book. So far, the ones I've made taste great, though the length of time it takes for many of these traditional preparations is beyond what I often have available. Iyer's personality and sense of humor shine through in his descriptions of people, ingredients and recipes.

I'm pleased I got this book - it's comprehensive and has accessible recipes. There is enough "theory" to explain how and why to do things and enough simple practical experience to be useful. I've only tried 2 of the recipes but the coconut black eyed pea curry was even better than it sounded in the recipe.

note for international readers - it's American. Only US quantities are given in that arcane and quaint pound ounce thing. Requires translation into metric.

I've been cooking Indian food for well over 10 years and my cooking repertoire is filled with more Asian dishes than American. But, there is always something to learn, especially when you are not a native to a particular style of cooking.

660 Curries is a wonderful book filled with plenty of dishes to satisfy your Indian food cravings. I've tried a number of dishes from this book and they do not disappoint. I own a decent collection of Indian cookbooks and this is one of my top, without a doubt. If you are a lover of dhal it is worth the purchase price alone.

The stories that accompany the recipes are also nice to read.

Add this tome to your library, it is worth it.

I just got this book about a week ago. I've already tried several recipes and spice blends. I couldn't wait to write a review and tell everyone who loves Indian food that this is a "must-have" Indian cookbook. If you're only going to get one Indian cookbook, get this one! The recipes are pretty easy and just plain wonderful.
I lower the heat in most of the recipes by reducing the amount of chili peppers.
I just made the Spicy Potatoes and Spinach with Blackened Chilis and Coconut Milk. Superb! My husband loved it! I served it along side crispy fried chicken(it's the 4th of July weekend so I needed something with lots of deep fried goodness.) Indian food goes very well with fried chicken or roasted chicken. Try it, you'll be hooked.
This potato recipe called for a special spice blend called Panch Phoron. The dish(including the spice blend) was extremely easy to make.
I get all my spices and dried chilies from Penzey Spices. I buy the tiny fresh Thai peppers from a local Asian market. They are sold in a small bag by the produce section(tiny red and green ones in the same bag.) When I don't have any fresh chili peppers on hand, I just use some cayenne pepper.
What I love so much about this book is that no two curries taste the same. It's all about the use of spices and herbs. Once you get the hang of grinding and blending the whole spices, the curries come together in a flash. You will be so happy with the results! Penzey's makes it easy to make these flavorful spice blends. They even have hard-to-find spices like Nigella seeds and white poppy seeds.
I must say that have blended and grinded my own spices for years, using recipes from other Indian cookbooks. But, Raghavan is "spot-on" with all his spice blends. He instructs you to use these specific blends for each curry. The results are complex and delicious.
As a person who has spent about 5 years(in her own kitchen) learning how to cook Indian food, I consider this cookbook to be the best one so far. I have lots of Indian cookbooks ranging from classics like Madhur Jaffery's "Indian Cooking" to the gigantic "The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking." Already, I can tell that 660 Curries is the one book I will be reaching for again and again. I'm so excited to try many more recipes.
Thank you, Raghavan, for your hard efforts in searching for and testing each one of your wonderful recipes. You've created a truly amazing cookbook!
Oh..vegetarians will love this book too(tons of flavorful veggie and bean curries.) Raghaven also does wonderful things with the humble potato, which he is very fond of. He will have you re-thinking boring mashed potatoes.
I can go on and on about this cookbook! I feel certain that if you buy it, you'll love it!

This is a FABULOUS book for Indian cooking and curries!! I highly recommend it. It's chocked full of recipes and stories and much more!! I had the privilege of attending a cooking class with this author recently in Chapel Hill. The book is huge too! It'll certainly keep you entertained and busy for quite a while. The recipes I've made so far are delicious!

After returning from India I was determined to learn to cook Indian food because it made my husband happy and allowed me to lose weight! After purchasing two cookbooks and having only 1 in 10 positive experiences, I was ready to give up. From across the wide aisles at Costco I saw the title "660 Curries" and decided to try again. So far I'm about 20 for 20!!! I love this book. I even went back and bought one for a friend. My husband and I have agreed that from now on I'll do all the Indian cooking and he'll do the American. I can't wait until my in laws visit and I can actually cook for them!

I purchased the book "660 Curries" on a pre-order after seeing a show on television with Raghavan cooking. I was lucky enough to also attend a cooking class and meet him in person. This book is an excellent TOOL not only on HOW to cook great indian food but all the great details behind it. I was able to experience a lot of this in person and then when reviewing the book, realized that it was all there for me to learn. I would highly reccomend the Braised Okra with Tomatoes. Its a GREAT recipe that I'm sure I'll be making for years! I can't wait to make all the recipes!

This is an addictive cookbook. My kitchen now smells of curry leaves and mustard seeds, and all of my Tupperware is stained turmeric yellow. The book also contains recipes for all of the breads, desserts and side-dishes you could want, as well as information about the style of curry and/or the region of India from which the recipe originates. It is well-written, the recipes are quite easy to follow - and they are delicious!

I love this cook book and lots of great recipees.
one of the best teas I have ever had.

I've had lots of fun with Raghavan Iyer's near-encyclopedic tome of Indian curries since receiving it as a gift two months ago. The recipes are relatively easy, and most of the ingredients are stocked in our local Whole Foods and Stop-and-Shop. Approximately 2/3 of the recipes are suitable for vegetarians. My biggest quibble is the lack of preparation and cooking time estimates -- something I've come to expect in recent cookbook publications. The final chapter "Curry Cohorts" (flatbread, pancake and rice accompaniments) is also rather thin. But these drawbacks are relatively insignificant in the face of so many wonderful recipes.

While I'm not new to Indian cooking (I've worked through cookbooks like Padmanabhan's exquisite Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from Southern India), this book has certainly added to my repertoire. I'm especially pleased with the scope of the recipes. Not only are the cuisines of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka represented, but also included are recipes for several of the more "common" everyday dishes you might find at roadside food stands (e.g. a simple and delicious recipe for spiced mustard and fenugreek greens).

NOTE: The first chapter, "The Curry Quest," is perhaps the most important and should not be skipped -- especially by someone new to Indian cooking. In it Iyer describes what he calls the different "elements" of a curry (bitter, sour, salty, sweet, umami, pungent, astringent and aromatic). He then uses his background as a chemist to describe the processes of "building" the recipes using those elements. Perhaps it is Iyer's ability to simplify the "how" of the chemistry of Indian cooking that make the recipes work so well at home!

The book 660Curries - The Gateway to Indian Cooking arrived in the mail just as I was trying to decide on some meals to make for the coming week and feeling in a bit of a rut. This very big and beautiful book immediately drew me into another world and mesmerized me. Exotic combinations and flavors that made my mouth water...ingredients I rarely feature that suddenly take center stage. I spent a semester in college living in India and I grew to adore Indian food, but I never make it. I know too much to feel comfortable using pre-mixed curry from a jar, but too little to start from scratch with all those exotic spices. With this book, I am both inspired and confident that I can become a competent creator of Indian food. The book makes cooking curries easy to understand. It starts with recipes for spice blends and pastes that are the base for almost all the recipes. From my first wandering through this book of more than 660 recipes (amazing!), these are the six that are on the top of my list to make:

Ginger Chicken with Peanuts and Coconut
Yogurt-Marinated Lamb with Ginger and Garlic
Brown Lentils with Chunky Onions and Chilis
Cayenne-Spiked Cauliflower with an Onion-Tomato Sauce
Sweet Potato and Plantain in a sauce of fresh and roasted coconut
Chili-Spiked Eggplant with Lemongrass & Scallions

I'll create a shopping list and head to the store so I can begin on some of these ASAP!

Any of his books are full of great recipies. This book is full of fun ones that turn out great. My kids can not wait to eat them!

Raghavan Iyer has once again brought the Indian subcontinent to the western kitchen. His recipes are rooted in his heritage and that of his culture yet they push the edges bordering Indian cuisine and other world cuisines. Raghavan's dishes are both authentic and creative, and this book is a treasure!