I caught up with Raghavan Iyer while he was on his multi city US, Canadan, and UK book tour for an exclusive interview in which Iyer shares his journey to a book that "has been four years in the making and at 832 pages I feel I've delivered a horse!" Read on to find out more...
RMG: Why did you choose the subject you did to write about?
RI: I always wanted to do a definitive book on Indian curries – it was never done with such depth and scope – finally I got around to it.
RMG: Why "660 curries? Why not more? (not that we are complaining…)
RI: The initial proposal was 1001 – but that was too big for a book – the publisher wanted it under 1000 pages – so we settled for between 600 to 800 – the book has 700 recipes – 660 of them curries).
NOTE: the remaining 40 recipes are accompaniments to eat with curries – called Curry Cohorts. Very clever – we thought…
RMG: Forgive me if I sound clueless but are that many curries really possible? What by your definition is a curry? What was the criteria by which recipes went into your book?
RI: Yes there are that many curries and when you read the intro, you will see how that is possible (the elements of a curry) – there is a nice definition printed on the inside front jacket of the book – also on page 3. It goes "CURRY n: any dish that consist of either meat, fish , poultry, legumes, vegetables, or fruits simmered in or covered with a sauce, gravy or other liquid that is redolent with any number of freshly ground and very fragrant spices and/or herbs." Recipes in the book were in keeping with this definition of curries – that was my sole criterion.
Iyer's idea of a Curry from the introduction of the book "
In England and the rest of the world, "curry" is the catchall word for anything Indian that is mottled with hot spices, with or without a sauce, and "curry powder" is the blend that delivers it. In keeping with my culture, I define a curry as any dish that consists of either meat, fish, poultry, legumes, vegetables, or fruits, simmered in or covered with a sauce, gravy, or other liquid that is redolent with spices and/or herbs. In my India, curry is never added – it just is!
To make it easier to comprehend the constitution of curries, I stripped it down into the seven Asian taste elements of sour, salty, sweet, hot, umami, bitter, and astringent and added an aromatic component to comprise a flavor profile (chef mumbo jumbo). To put it into perspective, all the ingredients we use (spices, legumes, meats, vegetables, dairy, herbs) to compose a curry falls neatly into one of those categories – but that neatness loses its clarity when you apply cooking techniques to them, changing their up-front quality to one that jumps taste boundaries. In other words, curries and their flavors are dynamic. Here is a simple chart that empowers you to create your own curry."
RMG: How did you become interested in cooking? And when and how did food and its exploration become important?
RI: It was more out of a necessity to survive – I came here {to the USA} not knowing how to cook – youngest male child from a large family – so had to cook at age 21 in the US in my dorm for my meals – it all evolved over the years – now it is a passion. And then after I got done with working at an Indian restaurant in the US, I decided to embark on a teaching career, teaching Indian cooking way back in 1991 – as a teacher I also learned by experimenting, reading, practicing. That's when I started exploring more.
RMG: The scope of a book such as his is so huge, how did you set about working on this book? Did you travel, meet people? Spend hours in your own kitchen? What were some of your most pleasurable moments during research, interactions with cooks, food tastings, learning to cook?
RI: Yes to the questions – in the intro I talk about the methods I used and also the research I did while writing the book – I spent 6 weeks in India and then interviewed a lot of people there and here in the US – not only from all corners of India and everywhere in-between, but also Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The best part for me was the opportunity to meet such a myriad of talented cooks, their families, and friends, and taste fantastic flavors. Their hospitality always bowled me over and I could never have done this book without their input and openness to share.
RMG: What was most enjoyable about the process of writing your cookbooks?
RI: I love the process of gathering recipes, creating them, testing them, and writing them in a manner that would appeal to many cooks from all backgrounds – having been a cooking teacher for 18 years, I like to empower my students in the amazing world of curries, and the kitchen being my laboratory helps me get there.
RMG: What's your favorite recipe from your book?
RI: With so many it's hard to chose one but I love the simplest of the simple dals and a vegetable curry and plain rice to accompany that – a toor dal with turmeric, salt, and clarified butter is amazingly satiating and a rajasthani style baingan nu bharto is a perfect match for that with pungent red chiles, garlic, and rock salt.
RMG: What were some of the things you were uncompromising about as regards to your book, that you think should be given more attention in other cookbooks? (Language, recipe testing etc)
All you mention – I have to write the book for the audience I wish to address – I cannot address all types of cooks – I have to zone in on a few and that's my target market – living in the US, where most of my audience is and they cook from my books and teachings, I have to present matter that is approachable, accessible, easy, and yet maintains the integrity of the dish – if I need to limit the number of spices in a complex blend, and I want the cook to make it, I try to keep the blend's integrity by cutting down on some of the ingredients – having a 40-spice blend is not something the average American will wish to make – even though that might be how it's done in India.
RMG: Anything you would have done differently?
RI: I wish I had more pages about the history, it was in the original manuscript but space was an issue – we did not want the book to be over 850 pages – you want people to cook from it after all.
RMG: Lastly, is there anything else you can tell us about yourself, your career, or the profession that would be interesting or helpful to others aspiring to write a cookbook?
RI: believe in yourself and do quality work – if you like what you do, it gets conveyed to the reader and cook through your pages – but be true to yourself.
RMG: What were some of the things you were uncompromising about with your book, that you think should be given more attention in other cookbooks? (Language, recipe testing etc)RI: all of the above you mentioned – I have to write the book for the audience I wish to address – I cannot address all types of cooks – I have to zone in on a few and that’s my target market – living in the US, where most of m audience is and they cook from my books and teachings, I have to present matter that is approachable, accessible, easy, and yet maintains the integrity of the dish – if I need to limit the number of spices in a complex blend, and I want the cook to make it, I try to keep the blend’s integrity by cutting down on some of the ingredients – having a 40-spice blend is not something the average American will wish to make – even though that might be how it’s done in India.
RMG: Do you feel that the Internet has opened doors for authors who never dreamed they'd ever see a publishing contract and how has it influenced you in regards to your own publishing journey?
RI: In this day and age of blogs, the internet has given everyone a voice to represent their opinions – it is for the reader to judge each blog’s integrity and quality of work – I think it’s a great medium for many to share their writing skills and get themselves published in a global arena
RMG: Do you think a blog/website is important to promotion? Have you done anything special with any bloggers to promote your book?
RI: I think it is vital to have a website to present your skills and talents to the world – blogs are of course a great way to do that also – I have a 660curries.com blog that is solely in existence to discuss the fantastic world of Indian Pakistani, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, and Contemporary curries – Bloggers are passionate people with diverse opinions and I find them a great resource for having a dialogue and sharing of opinions – again, the integrity of a blogger or their opinions are very personal and it is up to the individual to decide who they believe in.
RMG: Lastly, is there anything else you can tell us about yourself, your career, or the profession that would be interesting or helpful to others aspiring to write a cookbook?
RI: Believe in yourself and do quality work – if you like what you do, it gets conveyed to the reader and cook through your pages – but be true to yourself.
660 Curries is available at stores all over India for more on the author go to http://www.raghavaniyer.com, the 660 curries blog http://www.660curries.com/ and here is a rather interesting note from Suzanne Rafer—"the lucky editor of Raghavan Iyer's cookbook" http://www.660curries.com/?p=32
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