mmm, curry leaves

Today's cooking: shrimp with tamarind, coconut milk, and curry leaves; stewed cabbage, potatoes, and peas (I did not have enough peas, so I used some shelled edamame as well) spiced with sambhar masala; and dosai. I'd never made dosai before, in fact I've only eaten them once before, and they did not turn out thin and crispy like the restaurant kind. They were thick and spongy. It turns out that there are dosa varieties that are supposed to be thick and spongy, so I retroactively decided that I did it on purpose. I'm not sure if dosai are actually meant to be eaten as a bread-like accompaniment to a meal (it seems they're more usually served stuffed or with chutneys), but I thought it all worked well together.

For once this is fairly regionally coherent, being all south Indian foods. I'm finding south Indian cooking more interesting than the north Indian cuisine that's found in the majority of Indian restaurants here in the US. As a Christmas present to myself I have ordered a south Indian cookbook along with a copy, at last, of Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries, and am eagerly awaiting their arrival.