What can I say.I''m an ethnic food foodie! And, one of my favorite kitchen gadgets is a slow cooker; so put the two together and I''m off to the races. I decided to test an Indian recipe, a Thai recipe and a Vietnamese recipe from 150 Best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and More Slow Cooker Recipes. My Indian test was Lamb Biriyani. The marinade consisted of the usual yogurt plus cilantro, garlic and ginger. After six hours of tenderizing the lamb, I stir-fried the lamb with onions and spices consisting of coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne. Tomatoes were stirred in and set aside. The rice portion of the dish was basmati with onion, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick.

Now comes the slow-cooker part; thin layers of lamb mixture and spiced rice were spread in the container. This was all covered with boiling water and cooked on low for three hours. Oh my!! The smell in the kitchen was to die for! And, the end result was so, so, good. Did it match what we''ve had at the local eatery? Yes, and even more so. For the Thai recipe I decided to test Hot and Sour Thai Fish Curry. Thank goodness for the jasmine rice to break the heat of the dried chili peppers! The combination of spices, lemon grass, garlic, fish sauce, turmeric and tamarind paste and the addition of pineapple gave the salmon filets a very distinct flavor. The fish flaked after two hours on high and was served immediately. The end result was good but I didn''t find it excellent.

For us, there was just too much heat from the chili peppers and it interfered with tasting the salmon. My Vietnamese choice was Vietnamese Spiced Beef and Noodle Broth. The broth was made up of previously prepared broth (I used organic, purchased broth) and added whole cloves, peppercorns, gingerroot, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and green cardamom pods. This combination was cooked in a slow cooker for three hours on high, by which time the broth was permeated with the spices. The rice noodles were then cooked enough to soften. These were placed in the bottom of the bowls and topped with thin beef tenderloin slices, bean sprouts and green onions. Garnish was a combination of mint leaves, cilantro leaves and lime wedges. We decided to skip the red chili pepper.

The broth was very tasty; spicy yet palatable. We loved this dish and I will certainly make it again. It was easy to make and using a slow cooker gave me time to do other things rather than watch the pot simmering on the stovetop. I do give 150 Best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and More Slow Cooker Recipes two thumbs up for being easy to follow, uncomplicated and for using ingredients that could easily be found in the ethnic section of many grocery stores. Each recipe has a heat rating, and there is advice on how to lower or increase the spicy heat component. These are mostly curries, with an assortment of 40 pilafs, accompaniments and chutneys. And of course, you don''t actually need a slow cooker to do the dish: they can all be modified for oven use. There is a good range here, with preps from three different regions, foods from meats to seafood to veggies, and all with differing heat levels.

Try goat xacuti curry, Cambodian pork and lemongrass curry, or sindhi beef curry. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents. And, of course, the large type is extremely useful in the kitchen. When I think of crock pots I think of soup or beef or chicken. So I had never thought about adding some international flair to the old crock pot! But I am glad I did. These are some delicious recipes so far -- and totally breaks the crock pot same old same old. Interesting flavors and cuisine -- and some are really healthy too! The book is broken into organized sections and I love how it gives tips on servings or what to serve with. It tells you variations or substitutions (like substitute cod if not available -- or check your local asian grocery store) It also notes if it is a vegan recipe.

Super helpful. I would recommend adding this to your cooking crock pot repertoire for sure. One thing I really like this book is that it calls for authentic ingredients like tamarind paste or curry leaves, or whatever -- instead of dumbing down the recipes. Alternatives are given, but I like being offered recipes with the slightly more off-the-beaten-path spices. If you are looking for more ways to use your slow cooker and you like some Southeast Asian flavors, I think this book is worth checking out. This 208 page book was written by a London-based cookbook author and food stylist who specializes in recipe development, packaging and editorial needs. You''ll find curry dishes to suit every palate, including Filipino Green Papaya Curry, Spiced Prawn and Pineapple Curry and Bangkok Sour Pork Curry. Many years ago, while living in London, curry dishes from take-away Indian restaurants and Chinese food were staples of my daily diet, basically because the food was tasty and inexpensive.

At the time, food from Britain''s kitchens was inedible, to put it mildly, and cooking was not part of my daily routine. So, if I did not want to subject my palate to the vagaries of English cooking, I had to purchase Chinese and Indian dishes as well as the other quintessential East End staple, fish and chips. I now consider myself a decent cook, not to mention the fact that as a food and wine writer I get invited to taste dishes from some of the best kitchens, prepared by outstanding chefs. Yet I have retained my delight for slow cooked, tasty stews and curries and every so often I fire up my crock-pot, and start a recipe that will take overnight to cook but will create a palate-caressing plate. When I saw Sunilo Vijayakar''s 150 Best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and More Slow Cooker Recipe I immediately knew that this recipe book created for slow cooking i.e. using what is known as a crock-pot, would be an ideal reference for me. The recipes yields -- for 4 persons -- are sufficient to be able to invite another couple that also likes to try the more unusual Indian and Southeast Asian fare.

The author is London-based Sunil Vijayakar, who has written several cookbooks and is a food stylist. He says in the book''s introduction that slow cookers are the perfect appliance to prepare many of the signature dishes of India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, among others. Dishes in the oversized paperback, some of which are illustrated with mouth-watering color photos, are grouped by ingredients, beginning with the meats - from Beef Madras and Cambodian Pork and Lemongrass Curry to Lamb Biriyani and Goat and Potato Curry. Poultry and egg dishes follow: all curries from Bombay Chicken to Sri Lankan Egg. There''s also a collection of fish and shellfish dishes, like Masala Fennel Shrimp and Spiced Coconut Mussel Curry. Sections on vegetables, fruit and nuts and rice and pulses (legumes) follow. The book concludes with accompaniments -- Sweet Mango Chutney, for example, and Spiced Carrot Pickle. If you love Indian and Southeast Asian food, chances are you''ve wished there were an easier way (besides takeout) to get those flavors on a day when you have to work late, shuttle the kids around, and generally deal with your busy life.

Sunil Vijayakar''s 150 Best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and More Slow Cooker Recipes offers lots of options. Sure, it''s a bit more complicated than throwing some meat, potatoes and carrots in the slow cooker and walking away for six hours. And there are some recipes in the book that simply have too many steps for this style of cooking. The chicken and red lentil curry, for example, requires soaking the lentils for an hour and then cooking the chicken, onions and spices in a wok before throwing it all into the slow cooker for five hours. You kind of wonder, what''s the point? But Vikayakar, a London-based cookbook author and food stylist, includes others, like the.