CurryVideos
Developer: iDevelopment, LLC
Cost: $4.99
Runs on: iPhone
Website: www.curryvideos.net
For those who aren’t familiar with it, Indian food can be a scary proposition. Even those who love to eat Indian food, the thought of cooking it can seem overwhelming—from the unfamiliar spices to cooking methods and ingredient shopping. The CurryVideos app takes away those fears and makes Indian cooking seem as simple as spaghetti and meatballs. But is it worth the price tag? Fire up your tandoor and let’s dig in.
When you open the app you’re greeted with six how-to videos: chicken curry, matar paneer, saag paneer, daal, chapatti and basmati rice. Each item offers a one-sentence description and an estimated cook time. Clicking on any of these recipes takes you to an ingredient page with a link to the video. What’s nice is that each ingredient links to a Wikipedia description of the spice (all contained within the app) in case you’re interested in more information. There’s also a Recipe button that provides a clean format with written step-by-step instructions; however, the recipes can’t be forwarded or e-mailed.
The videos, while not having the polish of the Food Network, are very good, concise (all videos come in under 5 minutes) and easy to follow. Being able to pause, play and scrub these videos in your kitchen from your phone is really convenient. The videos are all about the food—no one is trying to be the next Food Network Star in these.
At the bottom of every page is a global navigation menu linking to an ingredients page and also a Grocery Generator. The ingredients page is nothing more than a series of links to the Wikipedia descriptions. The Grocery Generator is a bit more interesting. Click the check box next to any or all of the six recipes and then click a button to generate your grocery list. While you get a well-organized grocery list, it doesn’t provide any measurements or amounts. When going out to shop for chicken curry, for example, you have no idea how much chicken you need by looking at your grocery list.
So, is this app worth five bucks? Nope. There’s just not enough here to justify the price. The videos are great and very helpful, but you’re paying nearly $1 per five minute video (with not much else adding value)—I’m guessing most would rather have a food personality and rent half a season of Kitchen Nightmares for that price. For now, Indian food will likely stay a boogeyman in many kitchens.
Toque Rating: 2/5
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