This weekend’s Splendid Table episode included an interview with Raghavan Iyer about his personal “curry quest,” the super vague definition of a ‘curry’ and the process of developing his new crazy-ambitious-but-probably-mouthwatering book, 660 Curries.

On the book’s website, Iyer’s editor, Suzanne Rafer, explains the initial plan for the book.

When Raghavan sent in his proposal for a curry cookbook, he suggested including 1,000 curries. Now, Indian food is my favorite and, boy, did that sound exciting. One thousand new recipes for a food I loved—I was set for years of great meals and a different one each night, if that’s what I wanted! Then I came to my senses. “Raghavan,” I said, “since we’d all like to see the book sometime in this decade, how about if we agree on, oh, 800 curries or somewhere in that range? And then we can call it 800 Curries.” He agreed (Was that disappointment or relief in his voice? I couldn’t tell.)