Sri Lankan Cooking : 64 Recipes from the Chefs and Kitchens of Sri Lanka

Few people know Sri Lankan foods, as restaurants featuring foods of that small nation are not common. Yet foods of that small island are fabulous and nicely demonstrated by Douglas Bullis and Wendy Hutton in Sri Lankan Cooking. It resembles the neighboring South Indian cuisine, yet it’s still unique. The authors introduce Sri Lanka’s history, its foods, and they include a few historic photos as well, followed by a list of ingredients, each accompanied by a small photo next to the description. The large professional photo illustrations throughout are awesome, mostly of foods but also scenery of the countryside, almost qualifying the book for the coffee table. Needless to say, it is essential to have a supplier of Asian ingredients before attempting cooking. Don’t expect easy recipes—the cooking of Sri Lanka is complex, using many ingredients and many spices, and traditionally a dinner includes some half dozen dishes surrounding the ubiquitous white rice. The recipe writing is very good as well as the recipe layout. An average home cook can reproduce most of the recipes. The recipes are listed in chapters from basics through rice and breads to desserts and drinks. The cross-referenced index is good.