The Dictionary of Indian food, written by KT Achaya in the 90's is one of the best book of its kind, the foremost and the greatest academic contribution to the field of culinary history research of the South Asian subcontinent. It's less of a dictionary and more of an encyclopedia, truth be told, as Achaya goes back thousands of years of history, including the sanskrit history, dravidian histories, and muslim histories of India to look upon topics from various angles. Let's put it this way: each entry of this book would no doubt be a very popular youtube video or podcast program that got millions of views from Indians and global audience. He adds flair, he backs his claims with historical evidence and contemporary research, and has the humility of a scientist.
What's not to like, this was a hidden jem I'm glad I got to discover in the last few weeks, highly, highly recommend everybody read it.
Ten out of ten freaking stars!
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