Bilkees I. LatifEssential Andhra Cookbook with Hyderabadi and....

"The Essential Andhra Cookbook with Hyderabadi and Telangana Specialities" by the late Bilkees I. Latif-ji (Om Shanti) and "A Princely Legacy Hyderabadi Cuisine" by Pratibha Karan-ji are the only two books that I can wholeheartedly recommend for cookery books on Telugu cuisine from the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.The late Bilkees I. Latif-ji (author) is the daughter of the late Nawab Ali Yavar Jung. The Jung Family (House of Jung) is associated with Hyderabadi nobility who has directly served the Nizam of Hyderabad for many generations.The information, recipes, and techniques contained within these books carry enormous credibility and authority. Would you rather purchase a book on royal cuisine from an outsider or a cookery book from someone inside? It's a no-brainer question.Published in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the recipes and information inside these books stand the test of time. Additionally, for those seeking even more variation and further research on Telugu cuisine, we live in a world where literal information is at our fingertips.YouTube videos from Hyderabadi natives and people from Andhra Pradesh are thriving, sharing their family and regional differences in preparation.Happy cooking!Ronald N. Tan @ "Tan Can Cook"Vacaville, CaliforniaUSA

The "Andhra" in the title is more of a reference to Andhra Pradesh as it was when the book was published in 1999, so you get great Telengana and Hyderabadi recipes as well. I have yet to find another comprehensive collection of recipes for this region. The steps could you use a little more elaboration, but all the information is there for you to test things out.The author seems great - a cook, a writer, and ethnographer. It would have been fun to get more food writing from her. Funny enough, I've been scouring English language Indian / Andhra / Telangana cookbooks ... recipes from Bilkees Latif's collection have shown up nearly word for word in more recent books. :-)

The Essential Andra Cookbook with Hyderabadi and Telengana specialties was printed in India and needed to have the 336 thin pages flattened and separated from the binding in order to permit reading of the print. Dals, vegetables, and meats are measured in kgs and salt sometimes in grams. Nonetheless, it was exciting to find authentic recipes from this region here not typically found in other Indian cookbooks, from Persarattu to Puliyodarai Masala to Payasam. This treasure includes plentiful non-vegetarian main entries and pickles. In addition to typical chapters, there was a chapter on beverages and one on snacks. Dried chili peppers appropriately adorn the front cover.

There is no other comprehensive book on this cuisine, especially written by an insider. Mrs. Latif is a part of the Jung family in whose kitchens this cuisine was developed.As someone else put it better than me: Hyderabadi cooking is to Indian cooking as Provencal cooking is to French Cooking. Basically the best distillation of everything that makes a particular country's cuisine great.

The book talks all rather mostly of Hyderabadi cuisine yet calls it Andhra. Why? Andhras do not have a cuisine as Hyderabad food has. The title puts me off. This book is more about Hyderabadi cuisine and you screwed up by calling it Andhra cookbook. Are you trying to appease the conquerors of Hyderabad 1956 without fighting a war. It was a forced merger against the wishes of the people of Hyderabad. Thank god after 58 years it has been undone. But they managed to destroy the beautiful city of lakes and gardens and made it a dust bowl and you are trying to give them respectability by this misnomer. Sorry the title is unacceptable.

Excellent recipes. A rock star cookbook.

Great book. Was looking for something llike this for quite some time right now. Recipes that very few people know of anymore.

It is by far my go to book to get the most authentic Hyderabadi recipes. My Hyderabadi wife has enjoyed every single dish I've made following Mrs Bilkees' book. Highly recommend this to open minded people willing to experiment beyond the curries they are used to eating at Indian restaraunts.