"For south indian, i'd strongly recommmend the art of south indian cooking by vairavan and marquardt, for beginners.
It's not an attractive book (no pix), but the recipes are very simple, minimalistic and clear. recipes are tried and true traditional recipes. many an indian bachelor i know received this as a survival guide when they came to the US to study."
And how to cook rice
Indian cuisine varies greatly depending on the region, so it would be helpful to know some of your preferences - e.g. dairy-heavy Northern Indian, or the more rice- and coconut-focused Southern dishes...those are two VERY broad generalizations and there's much more to it than that (i was just using them to give you an idea of the differences), but ingredients & methods really may make a difference in determining which book is best for you.
check out these threads for more details & discussion...
Source: /topics/588356