My Two Souths: Blending the Flavors of India into a Southern Kitchen

by Asha Gomez

My Two Souths takes you on a culinary journey with Chef Asha Gomez, from her small village in the Kerala region of southern India to her celebrated restaurants in Atlanta, and on into your kitchen. Her singular recipes are rooted in her love of Deep-South cooking, as well as the Southern Indian flavors of her childhood home. These “Two Souths” that are close to her heart are thousands of miles apart, yet share similarities in traditions, seasonings, and most importantly, an abiding appreciation of food as both celebration and comfort. Here she shares more than 125 recipes, Black Cardamom Smothered Pork Chop, Vivid Tomato and Cheese Pie, Kerala Fried Chicken and Waffles, Three Spice Carrot Cake.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Book Club, India

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2016

Reviews

[Karen Witzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerala meets Atlanta. Will purchase for my kitchen collection.

[Philip Mceldowney · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an innovative book - South India and South US (Cajun, Louisiana) - with totally new, inventive recipes in and upcoming? trendy style, like no one else. Tried the Sunday stew beef on last Saturday night - the one with stock and coconut milk, spices, etc - and it was marvelous - even more marvelous on Monday night. Added the mango raita (leaving out the pineapple) to accompany it - and it was sort of funky the first night, but Monday night all had got smoothly and nicely blended - delicious - and from it's sweetness, almost desert like.
Looking forward to try even more from this marvelous book. Bravo.
I borrowed this book from my library (who bought it on my request), but I may have to buy my own copy. My older sister is thinking of buying it as a Christmas present for her younger grandson who's also into cooking, after seeing some of my photos of the meal on Facebook.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars! And she has THREE Atlanta restaurants I will need to try now. I can't wait to try these recipes. I will need to purchase my own copy of this one, as just about every recipe sounds delicious and surprisingly easy to make.

[Yaaresse · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some interesting ideas and flavor combinations, but nothing that made me want to run to the kitchen. Mostly I was put off by the bloggy feeling of the writing.

I came for recipes, not to read about someone's religion, kid, dog, morning routine, etc. Not liking the current "memoir and therapy disguised as cookbook" trend. If it doesn't have to do directly with the dish, food, or cooking techniques, save it for the blog.

[Theresa Hebler · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a southerner that is well-versed in indian flavors, this book is fantastic. The mint masala roasted chicken with potato and fennel is one of our family favs. I do not recommend this book for the novice cook.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful book and cookbook! I bought one for a gift and one for myself and am now going to give both away to foodie relatives. Asha Gomez is an important part of Atlanta and the Atlanta food scene. In this book she share her recipes from her two souths, cooking expertise and her journey to a joyful work/life balance. This first made for a warmly satisfying Saturday morning on a cold Georgia day. I'm looking forward to future trips to Asha Gomez's restaurants and trying these recipes at home.

[Cristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found myself distracted by the repeated tangents discussing her faith. I believe this was in an effort to distinguish herself from the other religious groups in her homeland. Ultimately the recipes don't seem like ones I'd jump to cook in my kitchen. A pity but this one rang a bit hollow.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book that really does blend the American south with southern India. Lots of great photos and explanations. I really enjoyed the spice section as she described each in detail including the flavor profiles.

[Beka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a wonderful book!! I love all the gorgeous photos, the yummy sounding recipes, and the sweet stories.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of mouthwatering recipes, unfortunately requiring a much more adventurous palate than that possessed by my people :)

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful marriage of southern and Indian cuisines.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing hit my heart or inspired me to cook

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

bought this after seeing her fried chicken on Dave Chang's Netflix show. lots of very intriguing recipes here melding southern cooking with the flavors of India

[Sheila Polstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful intoxicating cookbook!
The story comes alive as the author weaves her history from the past to the future❤️

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so ready to love this book, because I was so into the idea of it, but none of the recipes did anything for me*. Everything I made from it was either an unequivocal failure (see: the sickly sweet coconut macaroons that spread into huge puddles that nearly obscured the entire baking sheet) or just meh (see: the weeknight fancy chicken and rice, which somehow had almost no flavor at all). I was so looking forward to adding some Indian(ish) recipes to my repertoire - so disappointed that none of these worked for me!


*One exception: the coconut sticky rice with mangoes was PHENOMENAL.

[Mary O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

My God, I actually sat and read a cookbook straight through as if it were a novel. I don't think I've done that since... well, I've only ever done that twice. Once with Alton Brown's "Everydaycook" and again with Rachel Khoo's "The Little Paris Kitchen".
"My Two Souths" captivated me in a very similar way, and I'm now inspired by the absolute fascination of blending two very soulful and richly immersive food styles into her dishes. Holy tomato, there's so much I want to make...

[Linnea K. Archibald · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite restaurants from our last trip to Nashville was Chauhan Ale and Masala House, so when I saw this book combining southern Indian and Southern comfort food on sale, I had to pick it up. Since fall (especially here in New England) is basically made for comfort food, I find myself turning to this book’s contents more as the season changes. These recipes tend to be slower, requiring more focused time to prepare, which makes them perfect for a cool rainy autumn day.

[Dani]

Two cuisines with which I have only minimal familiarity... This book was a bit beyond my ken, but very intriguing! For me, it looked like not only good food, but good food for thought! I love reading through a quality cookbook, and this book was no exception. I feel like I learned a lot about ingredients and recipe designs new to me.

[Donna Hutt Stapfer Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as promised.

Here is a true resource, a treasure. This takes familiar foods and spins them right around into something more, less and wonderful. Transformative. Can't wait to try out everything.

[Hadiqa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some recipes were indeed interesting but a lot of them were not surprising since I'm aware of a lot of Indian cuisines due to my husband's background. I liked a few of the fish's recipes and cold beverages but besides all that it was OK.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great cookbook at the intersection of two great food cultures. In addition, Asha Gomez is creative and loves food. All this translates into an inspiring cookbook with recipes to love. Recommended.

[Tinulicious · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook blends Kerala culture and southern culture which stood out, and thats what made me pick it up. I tried one of the recipe called banana beignets which was a success. Cookbook also have many other recipes, some which I have already tried.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A celebration of two bold and beautiful cuisines (South Indian;Goan and Indian cuisine and Southern cuisine of USA)comes together in this beautiful book !

[Shoshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to try so many of the recipes in this beautiful book!!!

[KathleenB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strangely ordinary for promising to be a fusion type book.

[Peejay(Pamela) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first truly innovative cookbook in years in terms of interesting and delectable flavor combinations. I've made a number of the recipes in this book, and every single one is delectable. The Chervil Line Lobster Salad is the best Lobster Salad I've ever tasted, bar none. The Smoky Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies are a revelation of what the perfect cookie may be. Skillet chicken hash pie with a cream cheese pie crust (!), tomato & cheese pie, poached pears with peppercorn & ginger ... every one a delight to senses. Asha Gomez has created my new favorite "go to" cookbook.

[Meredith]

5 stars! And she has THREE Atlanta restaurants I will need to try now. I can't wait to try these recipes. I will need to purchase my own copy of this one, as just about every recipe sounds delicious and surprisingly easy to make.

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very excited to cook from this book.
This Sunday will be an entire meal from it!