Authentic Indian Recipe Book?

nompere

Alun wrote: »

I've loads of Indian cookery books but the one I keep on returning to and whose pages stained yellow fom overuse is the classic Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery http://www.amazon.co.uk/Madhur-Jaffreys-Indian-Cookery-Jaffrey/dp/0563488212/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294758877&sr=1-4

That's the one I have; mine is falling apart as well!

lemeister

Curry Addict wrote: »

ive been researching indian cooking for over 20 years. tried all the books, completed 6 courses and i wasnt truely happy with my results until I finally got an Indian chef to bring me through the whole process step by step.
id advise the fast way to success to is get shown by an expert.

Would you be willing to share some of the steps that made a real difference?

Curry Addict

ill PM u

The Hill Billy

Why not share them here? That's the whole purpose of this forum.

HB

Curry Addict

was thinking of doing this for the cooking club

The Hill Billy

Only a few weeks to wait then.

Darkginger

I really hope you do this for the Cooking Club, Curry Addict! I've been perfecting my curry cooking for 30 years now (got ya beat!) - aiming for the restaurant style - have mostly got there (using the base sauce, pre-cooking my meat, using restaurant spice blends and so on), but there's still room for improvement. At one point I thought Kris Dhillon's 'The Curry Secret' was the best book on the subject, but I use a different method now. Can't wait to read about yours!

I don't eat curry every day (although once you've made a good one, the temptation's there to eat it again the next day, and so on - husband tends to complain after a while), but I do eat it often enough to make it worthwhile to make a big batch of base sauce, then freeze it in portions.

Back in the 80s, I picked up a book called something like 'The Complete Curry Bible' (not by Madhur Jaffrey) which included a recipe for Liver and Udder Curry, and Very Young Milk Shark Curry (they weren't lying about it being 'complete'!). If anyone has seen such a book (large paperback format), I'd love to be able to buy it again. Not easily forgotten, although I never made either of those recipes (shortage of udders at the butchers!).

Curry Addict

sounds like you are pretty much there already darkginger
freezing portions of curry base makes it so much easier!

1966

I recommend Madhur Jaffrey's new "Curry Easy" - it really is a lovely book and simple receipes too.

the beer revolu

I gotta say that I don't get the aspiration to make restaurant style curries.
(Maybe I've just never been to a good Indian restaurant)
The best curries I've eaten have been made by me or others at home.

I'd love to find a good restaurant that happened to serve Indian food as opposed to an 'Indian restaurant' that feel the need to offer scores of stock Indian meals that every other 'Indian restaurant' serves.

I'd like to find an equivalent Chinese restaurant, you know, one with 5 starters and 5 mains on the menu and daily specials.

foodaholic

I find Anjum Anand quite good, Madhur Jaffrey's recipes never really worked out for me. Keith floyds indian recipes really hit the spot for me.

PTO

http://www.bestsellers.ie/Books/Book/462611/180045/2/9780714859026/PANT__PUSHPESH-/INDIA__THE_COOKBOOK-/Book

I saw this in town the other day and had a flick through it. Was well impressed with everything except for the price (€40- typical Dublin!!:rolleyes:)

Saw it online for €23 though so I thought I'd get it. Its fantastic!! Has nearly every Indian recipe you can shake a stick at including how to make the spice mixes, Chutneys and breads. It has 100's of recipes and even a 'guest chef' section that includes non-traditional Indian recipe's such as Tikka Masala's and the likes.

It even has a great 10 or so page intro where it gives the history of Indian food aswell as an indepth look at the different regions of India and the food that comes from there!

I'd highly reccomend it to anyone! Only flaw is that it lacks pictures but sure that adds to the fun for some people!!

Now all I need is a Tandoor oven!!!

Bill2673

Just bought the Madhur Jaffrey book from recommendations on this post......looking forward to it.

Minder

Curry Addict wrote: »

making curries like indian resturants is a long process using a few different techniques. there arent any cook books that cover it.

Pat Chapmans books cover all the steps that make restaurant style curries. I've been using his curry paste for years. When I first bought the Curry Club Cookbook, it was very frustrating - the recipes all refer to other recipes in the book - one portion of masala base (page 33), two tbsps of curry paste (page 31). But I stuck with it and the effort was worth it.

Curry Addict wrote: »

atm im looking for indian spice mix recipes if anyone can help?
particularly regional ones rather than the mainstream.

Christine Manfield is an Australian author and restauranteur - her book Spice has recipes for:

Paramount garam masala
Bengali garam masala
Kashmiri garam masala
Chat masala
Kashmiri Korma
Kerala Curry powder
Madras Curry powder
Sri Lankan Curry powder
Malaysian curry blend
Singapore curry mix
West Indian curry blend
Sambar powder
Bengali Panch phoron
Tandoori masala

In addition to this lot there are recipes for North African and Arabic blends, two Chinese spice recipes, two Japanese spice blends and some other bits & pieces.

Then there are wet paste recipes for:

Green masala paste
Chettinad paste
Goan Vindaloo paste
Madras masala paste
Kerala curry paste
Paramount curry paste
Nonya spice paste
Satay spice paste
Paramount laksa paste
Singapore lakso paste
Thai red, green and yellow pastes
Larp paste
Chermoula
Massaman curry paste
Mexican salt & pepper recade
Cajun spice paste

Then there are dozens of recipes for condiments, spiced oils and sauces.

Thats just the first 50 pages - the next 220 pages are the main recipes. Worth a look if you are searching for variety in your blends. (Paramount is her Restaurant)

Curry Addict

thats exactly what im looking for minder thanks for that. that book from christine mansfield looks like a brilliant resource.

on the other hand i bought those pat chapman books years ago. i guess i learned stuff from them at the time and i did try his methods which as u say are badly presented . looking back at these books now and they are not very accurate tbh, despite the claims he makes.

Minder

I guess the Chapman books were of the moment, but if they were as good as he says, there would be many reprints. As with all books, have a browse through a copy in the bookshop before buying. If you can't find a copy - try the reviews on Amazon or LibraryThing.

Millypenny

Mridula Baljekar is another person to put on the list for good Indian Cookboooks. I have a few of her cookbooks and find them really good.

My favourite one of her books is "Complete Indian Cookbook". The book is now out of print - but can be bought second-hand. Have had my book for about 15 years and still use it regularly esp. for the Chicken Korma, onion bhajies, and various potato recipes.

Another one of her books is "Great Indian Feasts" - book is organised according to Indian festivals and shows recipes which are traditionally served at these festivals. Some very unusual recipes here. Also includes a Christmas section - with recipes for spicy Pineapple chutney, Goan Christmas cake (made from coconut pancakes etc).

ilovetorun

Thanks everyone for all your recommendations, there's so many to choose from!

Makood

Curry Addict wrote: »

imho the problem is the recipes themselves, they are not great and a good example if this is madhur jaffreys vindaloo in that book. it uses way too much vinegar as i remember. if u compare it with the vindaloo in the cinnamon club book u will see what i mean.

Far too much vinegar-Perhaps it's the "Traditional way" but imo it just wasn't that nice.