660 Curries: Sweet and Sour Chickpeas

To say that we have a lot of cookbooks is an understatement. Granted, I think we're still at the point where the majority of them are ones that Josh brought into the relationship, but I've quickly added to the collection (not at all unlike the kitchen appliance situation around here, but that's another story...) and it's now on the verge of outgrowing the full-size bookshelf that is designated as the cooking shelf. I get excited about every new cookbook, but rarely do I get as excited as I am about the latest addition to the collection: 660 Curries. Rhaghavan Iyer explains the history of curries, dispels misconceptions, spells out the main components of curries, and tells a little story or background to go with each of the recipes. It's a huge tome, with over half it's length dedicated to vegetable and legume curries. It's also a truly engaging book, one I've already found myself sitting down to read with a cup of coffee. And, in these dicey economic times, it's nice to have so many recipes at my fingertips that rely on such cheap and delicious ingredients. Case in point: Sweet and Sour Chickpeas. not only did this recipe make use of a pantry ingredient that I've had and not used for too long (tamarind concentrate), but I had every ingredient in my cupboards. The layers of flavors were divine and the spicy cardamom flavor of this curry went really well with the box of TJ's corn bread that's been sitting in my pantry for too long. I'm really, really looking forward to exploring a couple hundred more curries. At least.