Savoring India

...This book is more than a mere collection of recipes. Sattered throughout its pages are thirty boxed features on local phenomena: festivals such as Diwali and Pongal; specialty ingredients like cashew-fruit liquor, tamarind, and saffron; customs such as serpent worship and the giving of food to the gods; and Indian cooking utensils, including the karhai, tandoor, and stone spice-grinder...reveals how geography, history, religion, and culture have combined to influence the food of India. --cover.