Monsoon Diary and Miss Masala

I thought I'd give you 2 book reviews in 1 today. I read both of these a while back, but it was doing the cooking that held me back.

I love Indian food, and I'm always on the lookout for another cookbook on the subject. I also seem to have a knack for cooking it too, I always seem to be able to whip up a delicious curry with no hastle on my part. I'm not too good with subtle food though, many a time I've cooked a simple fish dish and found it dull a lacklustre, never a spicy dish though, I could eat them till they come out of my nose.

My boyfriend on the other hand is not that into spicy food, being of the temperamental belly sort. This prejudice has also been strengthened by the fact that the first time I cooked a curry for him I used too much Thai green curry paste in the mixture which made it very hot for me and unbearable for him. He bravely ate the whole lot after a warning from me that it was indeed very hot and then ran to the bathroom.

The situation was worsened by the fact that he had a gig that night and spent he's time on stage uncomfortably and in fear of any mishaps. It all ended fine although he had a very uncomfortable night and has made him wary of my curry's. I'm no longer allowed to cook more than 1 spicy meal a week which is a shame as I used to make at least 3 a week when I lived on my own, and why it took me so long to post these reviews.

I found both of these books in my local Works store at a good discount and if you live near one I recommend frequenting it regularly as I have found many a lusted after cookbook in there at less than half price, the last one that sent me into pure rapture was The Vicars Wife cookbook for £4.99, it's not great for fiction though.

So my first review is

Monsoon Diary by Shoba Narayan

I love food memoirs, If I've read too much heavy fiction and can't get into the swing of reading another novel this is what I'll pick up instead.

Generally nothing too bad happens which relaxes me back into the reading groove and I get to drool at descriptions of food and imagine living in another country where it doesn't rain as much as it does here in England.

Monsoon Diary made me think a lot more than I expected it to, Shoba's a good writer and brings the feel of India right into your head whilst your reading it, and yes the food descriptions will leave you drooling and rushing to your nearest Indian market to try some of the recipes.

All of the recipes in the book are vegetarian as this was how she was brought up, I loved them but I do know some people need meat with every meal so do be aware.

For me though this wasn't the best thing about the book, her story of maturing was truly fascinating to me.

Shoba is brought up in a very traditional yet modern Indian household, This isn't one of those horror stories about how tradition overrides basic human rights but more like living in a house with fairly strict rules because your parents are rather traditional.

Family tradition is important in the book and gives the author some very enriching experiences and values.

The narrative gets interesting when Shoba gets a scholarship in America, here she comes into contact with the Western world on an intimate level and also discovers feminism.

Back home this makes her uncomfortable with some of the more traditional roles of women in the eyes of the society she lives in and some of her family's own ideas about what she should do with her life.

This really comes to a head when her family are pushing her to get married and set up the beginnings of an arranged marriage.

This is not the arranged marriage as how we seem to think of it in the west through horror stories of girls being made to marry much older unsuitable men, but more of a kind of blind date arranged by your parents because they know you well enough to suggest that " Hey, you might actually really like this guy."

It is made clear that at no point does the author have to go through with anything that she doesn't want to, but that they're asking her to give the process a chance.

This is made more interesting by the fact that her prospective husbands parents are also a modern family and that they too would never force this on either her or their own son, but that they honour tradition without letting it rule their life.

I'm not going to ruin the ending for you but I'll say that this book really touched me with how it portrayed the struggle to retain what is good about the past whilst letting go at the same time of outmoded and restrictive ideas and morals.

This can be seen everywhere in the world, for example straight off the top of my head I think about bloodsports. Some people wish to remove the fox hunting ban with horses and often cite pest control and yes tradition as a reason to bring it back.

It made me think about my own beliefs and reminded me that we should always be willing to question yourself to make sure that as you go forward in life but that you don't forget to also look back to make sure you absorbed any lessons that you learnt along the way.

At it's heart this book is about family and the normal frustrations we all feel with our parents because we come from different generations and the understanding that comes from maturing into real life adults.

To find out more about Shoba and to read some of her other foodie writing check out her website here

Miss Masala by Mallika Basu

This is going to be a shorter quicker review as this book isn't a memoir or novel, although you do get a feel for the author as she lets snippets of her life pepper the book throughout.

I'd seen this book about but I'm often dubious of the bright, modern and obviously aimed at girls cookbooks as although they're always beautiful the recipes aren't always up to scratch.

As my local library didn't have it in I ignored it until it turned up in the local discount bookshop.

I have to say I'm incredibly pleased that I own this book now, It has loads of tips throughout and I did learn some new things from it.

The book is aimed at both the busy and the beginner and it really succeeds, the recipes aren't too hot and I got great compliments on the spiced mince I made from this book as being perfectly seasoned.

So if your an Indian cooking virgin try this book out, it looks great on the bookshelf , is chatty and is most of all useful. I've cooked several things out of this book and it hasn't let me down yet. Think of it as a primer before moving on to Madhur Jaffrey.

Miss Masalas blog is situated over here, so try a few of her recipes beforehand to see if you like her style.

I'll post both the Indian meals I cooked from these lovelies in the next few days for you to all read.