We sat down with two sisters on their podcast to share the story behind Tamil Taste — how a handwritten notebook became this book, and what it meant to bring it back to life together.
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From family and friends who've cooked from the book
"I recently had the honor of receiving my mom's Tamil Taste, a cookbook of South Indian vegetarian cuisine compiled by Dr. K. S. Ravindhran. After reading it, one will be confused who is best — the mom, who was an outstanding cook, or the son, whose compilation is equally outstanding.
Right from the classification of contents to the layout of each recipe's method, every page is a treat to the eyes. A photo of each dish, fully cooked and presented, appears on every page, and the variety compiled is very commendable. When the world revolves so much around YouTube for everything, the size of the book and the font chosen make it a comfort to read the recipes easily.
I've tried quite a few recipes so far, and each one has come out very well. I would love to gift this book to my dear ones."
"I am going through your mom's cookbook — what a treasure! She was an extremely innovative cook, even coming up with pasta recipes with an Indian flavor. I have never seen such a comprehensive collection of recipes, especially from the South. Macaroni usili — wow, can she get more innovative! I am awestruck.
Your brother has done a fantastic job compiling them. What a great tribute to a great mum. I wish I had met her. My heartfelt thanks for this priceless gift."
"This book showcases authentic conventional recipes with mouth-watering pictures. Trying out the recipes transported me back to my childhood days, eating home-cooked food in Chennai. Can't wait to try each and every recipe."
"I made athimber's amma's tomato chutney. It came out real good, very simple to make. Will be my go-to in summer — I have tons of tomatoes from my garden this year."
"I was fascinated by this book because there are no books depicting South Indian cookery anywhere in the US. For people here, especially in the D/FW area, we are somewhat limited in terms of all the items available. I was especially fascinated by the following:
1) Vaththal Kuzhiambu. I didn't have certain vathals so I substituted with pagarkai vathal. Apart from that I made no other changes. It came out terrific! Krishna and I enjoyed it very much. We ate it with Pongal and even with plain rice.
2) Kathrikkai (2). This came out good. It was easy and simple to make and as I was pressed for time, very quick and tasted well."
Made something from the book? Tell us how it turned out — a photo is welcome, not required.
199 recipes, in English and Tamil, exactly as Suguna made them.
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