HE remembers having vomitted when he first tried making a non-veg dish and therefore suspended. But, now, for this Brahmin boy, cooking is child’s play, be it veg or non-veg delicacies.
And there seems no stopping in his efforts to learn and share about the recipes and dishes. The book ‘Southern Curries’, a South Indian cookbook, is just the beginning, says Raj Gopaal Iyer, Corporate Director, Uday Samudra Beach Resort, Kovalam.
The book takes you through the preparations of some select veg and non-veg dishes of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. ‘‘Cooking has always been a passion for me,’’ says Iyer, a native of Palakkad, who was born and brought up in Delhi.
He’s been working on the book for the last six months and the only disappointment is that he could not include the 200-odd recipes he had collected. The book now has 44 recipes, with briefs about the cuisine culture of the four states and about each dishes.
So, from Kerala you’ve duck curry, fish curry cooked in earthen pot, rasam prepared with pepper and prawn, injippuli, jack fruit and snake gourd thoran, mambazha pulissery, koorkka fry, kerala paratha and mambazha pradhaman. He excitingly adds, ‘‘I make excellent mambazha pulissery and rasam, in the typical Palakkad Brahmin style.’’
Before proceeding to other states, let’s add that he is planning to bring out a book on authentic Brahmin dishes, over 200 of them, and is currently doing research for that, by meeting up with aged Brahmin women.
From Tamil Nadu, you have Virudunagar eravadai (special prawns vada), quail fry, Chettinad chicken curry, mutton paya, akkaravadisal (Iyengar sweet dish), parippu usili, keerai masial, molagootal, ennai kathrika and kothuparatha.
And you will find his favourite Bisi Bele Huli Anna (most popular rice dish of Karnataka) among the dishes of Karnataka. There are recipes of Mangalorean chicken curry, yakhni, nimma rasam (lemon rasam), coconut milk dosa, masala bath, sundal and kathrikai kootu. The Andhra special recipes are chepala pulusu (fish curry), dosakaya vankaaya pachadi, majjiga pulusu, angaladumpa menthi aaku, chandra kanthalu, daddojanam, Andhra spicy chicken masala and prawns curry.
‘‘I have not done any innovation. They all are authentic recipes,’’ he says. And the interesting part of the book, besides attractive photographs (by Jijo John) and clear instructions, is that it lists the must-try dishes of each of the Indian state and the English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada names of various Indian spices. The book was released recently by Rajasekharan Nair, managing director of Uday Samudra, and Radha Nair.
He has more plans for next year. Besides the book on Brahmin recipes, he will be bringing out a book on 101 vegetarian dishes from across India, besides a book on management. Another project is a book on fusion dishes.
‘Southern Curries’ will soon be made available at resorts and in many book shops. Published by Sai Printers and Publishers it is priced at Rs 150. For details, contact 9387783222 or log on to www.cuisineroyal.com.