# Can anyone reccomend a good curry recipe book?



## splodge

Can anyone reccomend a good curry recipe book?


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## phatch

Please give us more information. 

There are many kinds of curries. Curries in Thailand and India are quite different from each other. 

And then there is curry powder which is the basis of many good creations in Europe and Jamaica but is not to be seen in Thailand and India. Nor taste much like them either. 

Thai curries tend to rely on curry pastes (lemongrass, chiles, garlic, ginger and so on) where India tends to combine, toast and grind whole spices, often then cooking those spices in oil as the start of the dish.


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## splodge

ok well lets start with Indian curries. I would be interested in a dopiaza recipe, biriyani and a tikka masala recipe in particular. I'm trying to find as authentic a recipe as possible! Maybe there's a website which would be easier?


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## phatch

Authenticity is mostly in the eye of the beholder. Authentic to where and to whom? Who decides?

Further, tikka masala is not authentic to India at all, but was a construct of the Indian restaurant business outside of India. Still good and tasty. There's some links, a shrimp variation and other discussion you may find useful here: http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/recip...mp-masala.html

Books

Julie Sahni's books are well regarded and I like them. I own a few. I prefer Madhur Jaffrey's books over Julie Sahni but Jaffrey adapts more freely to western realities. I also like Jaffreys' use of the pressure cooker which simplifies lots of this type of cooking.


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## cheflayne

"From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail" by Madhur Jaffrey


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## chalkdust

julie sanhi has good books.


i have soem others and I will check for you the names and authors


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## donna kebab

The best curry cook book I found is 

How to Make Good Curries by Helen Lawson. Pub Hamlyn Publishing Group

The copy I have was printed in 1970 and I found it in a 2nd hand book stall. I have seen it on Amazon.com so it is still around. It has measurements in Imperial, Metric and American. :lips:


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## ishbel

I'm a fan of Madhur Jaffrey's, too.


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## bookslinger

Jaffrey is pretty good yes. Just heading downstairs to check of the name of the book I use, which is excellent, I really should remember the name!


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## bookslinger

Finally dug it out - Meera Taneja's book! Really should have remembered that!

Anyway, it's a great little cookbook and very useful for the non-pro at least. Anybody else recommend any others?


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## ishbel

Atul Kochhar's books - he's written 3 I think, the latest one being 'Fish: Indian style'; and the others called something like 'Indian Essence' and 'Simple Indian'.

Atul runs a great restaurant in London called Benares, he holds a Michelin star and the food is absolutely amazing. He has lightened a lot of the sauces and the flavour combinations are incredible.
Benares Restaurant and Bar, Mayfair, London

He doesn't 'do' take-away style indian foods, though!


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## dg0113

you can also check out rRaghaven Iyer's books, he has written a few and tried a few recipes and turned out good


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## psywise

My favourite, by far, is the Cinnamon Club cookbook. Interesting read about the history of it all too. Once again not a Tikka Masala in sight.

Amazon.com: The Cinnamon Club Cookbook: Iqbal Wahhab, Vivek Singh: Books


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## chalkdust

here are the ones i own

this one was given to my mom by some indians when she was living in new york

*Maya Kaimal:* In 1969 the wife of an American diplomat created a masterly cookbook on a cuisine with a reputation for difficulty and centuries of tradition and technique. Like her contemporary Julia Child, also married to a diplomat, Mary S. Atwood arrived at her foreign posting filled with curiousity, respect and a passion for the delicious. In "A Taste of India: Adventures in Indian Cooking Prepared for the American Kitchen" Atwood displayed an intuitive sense of how to make the intimidating accessible. She stripped recipes down to their essence without sacrificing their integrity. Atwood, like Child, was a culinary translator, building a bridge between cultures.
My American mother loved Atwood's book for its reliability, and my Indian father loved it for its authenticity. I admire the crisp clarity of her recipes. But the highest compliment of all came from an elderly auntie visiting from India, herself an excellent cook. After looking long and carefully at its pages, she declared, "I must get this cookbook." 
_Maya Kaimal is the author of "Curried Favors" and "Savoring the Spice Coast of India."_

Amazon.com: A Taste of India: Mary S Atwood: Books

this next one is great especially because of its wonderful pics, and it has some great recipes. except it doesnt explain the kashmir masala paste.. thats easily fixable by googling though!

Amazon.com: Curry Lover's Cookbook: Mridula Baljekar: Books

I HIGHLY recommend julie sanhi's

classics of indian cooking!!!!

Amazon.com: Classic Indian Cooking: Julie Sahni: Books


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## bakerboy13

One good homemade curry book is The Curry Secret : Indian Restaurant Cookery at Home by Kris Dhillon. 
This book contains many curry recipes which consist of a basic curry sauce and then you can alter the next steps according to the curry you wish to make. 

Hope this information is useful. 

Thanks 
Bakerboy13


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## indianfoodandy

I agree - a good place to start is almost any Madhur Jaffrey book


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## evatw001

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful for me too. My gf loves curries so I have been looking for some recipies of this nature


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## evatw001

Thanks for that. Been looking for recipies like this.


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## latika sharma

[h1]Curry Lover's Cookbook (Paperback)[/h1] by Mridula Baljekar (Author),Its really good book.


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## breadcrazed

[h4]Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible is a good one, curries from all over the world. Simple to fairly difficult.[/h4]


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## fr33_mason

I don't have a suggestion for a book but two things that I learned from a friend who's east-indian, is to pay attention to your green spice. Think of it as an east-indian mirepoix (carrot, celery, yellow onion, green onion, garlic, cilantro, and hot peppers to taste and chopped to your desired consistency.)  This was his basic green spice.  You can modify it to your taste or to the dish that your making with other flavours.

Also, let your curry develop.

 Sorry if I'm off base but Those two tips made a huge difference in my curries, regardless of recipe.


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## waynus

I would agree about Madhur Jaffrey although a little dated. Meena Pathaks Complete Indian Cooking is very good and any of Anjum Anand are also very good.


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## halmstad

"cuisines of india" by Smita Chandra is a very good book.Not only does it have excellent recipes, it also has stories about the history of the food most of which are taken from letters and journals written during the early days of British colonization.

You can't beat good food along with the history behind it.


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## ana teresa vale

The best book I've ever layed my eyes on is "The world's greatest ever Curries" by Mridula Baljekar. It's so worth it! I've been cooking curries for years using this book, and the recipes are fantastic. You have loads of indian curries recipes, but also Southeast asian recipes. Very, very good.


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## x86bsd

As my wife is indian ill never out do her in the kitchen as far as indian food  but I just bought a really good book on indian cooking that has great truly authentic curries, briyani, and even recipes on how to make paneer!  It's titled the dance of spices by laxmi hiremath. Great cookbook for indian! Naan recipes,chutneys, butter chicken, you name it. Definitely worth havin on your bookshelf.


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## lawrence

I would recommend Pat Chapmans book, (the founder of the Curry Club).

He has some very good and simple recipes that are very close to the Restaurant versions.

My first book was simply called "Indian Restaurant Cookbook", but I have quite a few of his books now.

This was published back in the 80's and is out of print, but I see them pop up from time to time and I think he might sell them on his website.

I have quite a lot of curry books, but the Chicken Tikka Masala in this book is the closest I have found to the "real" one.

I noticed a couple mentioned here I don't have, so I am off to search for them.


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## wyandotte

Anyone here have Harvey Day's_* "The Complete Book of Curries"*_? (1970 ed.) What do you think of it? I own it but haven't done much from it, not that there's anything wrong as far as I can see, just haven't gotten into currying that much but would like to start.


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## tapan

I have had the Harvey Day "The Complete Book of Curries" since about 1979/80 when I was living in the Sultanate of Oman.

I make curries regularly -- nearly always based on the Indian sub continent style and I rarely need to refer to Harvey Day's book but I certainly do use it on occasions when venturing into far eastern style curries. I always make my dishes using original herbs and spices and I must say that I have a cupboard which is used only for storage of a very wide selection of ingredients

My book is very worn and stained but it is a valued reference and an old friend. So like many old things ( and I am one -- being in my 76th year ).it is a bit dated in its presentation. It is of course written for the UK market but all its recipes deals in simple measures like teaspoons, tablespoons etc so there is little difficulty in anyone using them, I suspectt that there are quite a lot of folk who still use their copy and treasure it.

I found this reference while trying to find if I could find a copy in good condition that I could buy from somewhere to present to my son 9 who uses mine when he visits me!)

If you have the book then please do use it otherwise there is little point in having it.

Most of my "Cookery Books". are well used and some of them have been with me for 40 or 50 years but but I seem to continue to get the odd new ones.which I read for pleasure -- and for information. I have never stopped learning about cooking! 

My own cookery skills have continually changed and adapted accoring to my circumstances. -- I have cooked for hosts of people at once and also for intimate events. Now, as I live alone,  I tend to plan ahead much more and where possible I prepare meals of several portions which are deep freezable -- curries, casseroles, baking procucts, I try to use my small garden, in season, add to fruits and vegetables stored in my freezer for out of season use.

So if you have got this far  -- please give your Curry Book a go. The recipes are still relevant and still work as well as they ever did!

Sorry for rabbiting on too long!!!!


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## mmichalis

Pat chapman's curru bible and Balti bible. Covers the old Raj. India Pakistan Bangladesh etc. All editions usually dissapear within days. I managed to buy online a used one in very good condition


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## mmichalis

Pat chapman's curru bible and Balti bible. Covers the old Raj. India Pakistan Bangladesh etc. All editions usually dissapear within days. I managed to buy online a used one in very good condition


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## wyandotte

Hi, Tapan. I enjoyed reading your entire post. I'm happy to hear you grow edible food, too. I live to garden. Yes, indeed, I am going to take a crack at currying from the Harvey Day book.

If you wanted to buy one at a reasonable price, there's 4 available on ebay as of today, Feb. 8, 2013:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...complete+book+of+curries&_sacat=267&_from=R40

Best to you!


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## tapan

Wyandotte,

Thanks for your response.

I often make very simple curries to try and keep my waistline under control.

Just only yesterday I had plain boiled rice ( I always add a small pice of untreated cinnamon bark into the pot) with a dhall --- just lentils, onions and tomatoes with a dash of chilli and tumeric.

As usual I used about 2 lbs of lentils and made of big panfull which is now portioned up and in my freezer.

Dhall  ( umteen ways of spelling it) can vary hugely -- I always like mine to be quite "thick"   -- like mushy peas - it is easy to adjust the consistency from a broth like soup  to glutinous and "chunky".

I must say that I have got idle in my old age and tend to use the same basic recipe ( from my head) and vary it a bit -- mainly by using different lentils and dried pulses -- as the moment takes me.

I am, by now, an inveterate cook to taste and I am always afjusting flavours and ingredients as I cook.

There is so often a point at which I sample and think  --- It's lacking -  je ne sais quoi -- and ponder what needs to be added to tweek the flavour. I should make it quite clear that this is not always successful.

Thanks for mentioning ebay. I had been lookng on amazon but I haven't been on ebay for over  18 months now. So your reminder was  timely


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## pattk1220

I have used Madhur Jaffrey's and Julie Sahni's books for years and love them. I also recommend Hari Nayak's _My Indian Kitchen_ and Raghavan Iyer's _600 Curries._


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## blue newt

660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer - amazing book. Perfect for a curry neophyte and advanced curry chef alike. Follow the recipes to a T, and it will taste amazing. You will have a much greater understanding of Indian curries as a science and an art and you will then be able to put it into practice on your own. Not to mention the endless amount of recipes at hand.

Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art Of Indian Vegetarian Cooking. By Yamuna Devi - great vegetarian recipes, and if your into Indian curries this is a great place to start as a majority of Indian curry dishes are vegetable based or vegetarian. Sweet desserts too.

Enjoy and Good luck!


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## butzy

"Curry" by Vivek Singh.

Besides dealing with Indian, Pakiatani and Bangladeshi curries, it also has Thai, Burmese, Laotian etc curries in there (the section on Thai curries is written by Dave Thompson)

I also like the Madhur Jaffrey's books


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## gingermitten

I have almost all the Curry authors listed here. I am very big on 'authentic' even though it is true, this is subjective. Jaffrey is classic, Anjun very nice, Chapman sure, Baljekar too. No complaints with any of the suggestions.

One person mentioned *Raghavan Iyer*, and I really must underscore this suggestion. 660 Curries should be on the shelf of anyone who loves curry. I must make the disclaimer that I generally glaze over recipe books that begin with a number.. "100 best cakes!" as they tend to be mass produced by publishing houses and not always the best quality. So, having said that I was dubious. But I read the reviews and borrowed it from the library.. many times! Then realized .. "I need my OWN!"

*660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer* contains curries from all over. It has great explanations with the intro about technique or history, (which I find so essential in successfully embarking on new recipes). He's a likeable engaging author who seems to really love curry, knows what he's talking about, and can impart that effectively. Real whole ingredients and spices, along with recipes that allow you to make everything from scratch. The homemade Paneer recipe started to change my mind about this cookbook. All in all, great bang for your buck... I highly recommend it!

Another cookbook for those who also like to eat vegetarian Indian, here is a title I found at a garage sale and never looked back. I just love it! So reliable and contains many spice combinations for those of you who like to get right into the thick of Indian spices and the multitude of ingredients. *Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan*. Give it a try!


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## goldilocks

I love cooking currys, of all types but esp. Thai and Indian.

Some of my favourite Indian curry books:

Tasting India 
Prashad 
India The Cookbook 
Rick Stein's India (only hit the shops last week and I've already made 3 dishes from it!) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rick-Steins-India-Stein/dp/1849905789/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374597736&sr=1-15&keywords=indian+food

Curry Easy


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## suki1964

I used to love madhur Jeffrey's books but so many of the recipes are convoluted 

One book I'm loving ATM is the Hairy Bikers curry book. Recipes are very simple and are very easy for the most basic of home cook. Flavours are for the British palate but easy enough to tweak to taste.


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## goldilocks

suki1964 said:


> I used to love madhur Jeffrey's books but so many of the recipes are convoluted
> 
> *One book I'm loving ATM is the Hairy Bikers curry book. Recipes are very simple and are very easy for the most basic of home cook. Flavours are for the British palate but easy enough to tweak to taste.*


I was surprised by this book. I thought about getting it and couldn't decide, I had so many 'authentic' books I didn't think this would live up to scratch. I was wrong, I bought it in the end and there are some very nice recipes in there. I use it on a friday night instead of ordering a take away!


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## suki1964

I've cooked a good few curries from it and living in the back of beyond where ingredients are hard found I've been very impressed - even when I've left out ingredients cos I can't get them

So far extremely impressed 

Now looking forward to Rick Steins India. I've followed the series on tv and everything he's cooked is not beyond the home cook. What made me really want his book is he done one dish of cabbage and carrots, same as Madar J , yet used at least 10 less steps. 


I do believe in an easy life


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## azfoodie

I like books by Pat Chapman.  However, the recipes can often be quite involved.


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## chicagoterry

I'm so excited to hear good things about both the Pat Chapman and Rick Stein books. That Rick Stein book has something like 550 customer reviews on Amazon UK. It comes out here in the US in May and the company I work for will be it's US distributor--as it is for a few Pat Chapman books, which means big discounts for me! I hardly need another Indian cookbook but I do love cooking Indian food.


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## indianwells

The Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon is my go to book for curry. It recreates the authentic British curry taste. The most important part is making the base "gravy". If that is not right then none of your curry dishes will be right.


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## homecook2014

Yes, I agree mmichalis Pat Chapman's curry bible and Balti bible are excellent authentic curry  recipe books.  He also has a curry club for enthusiasts.


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## happyhound

I have a book entitled 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. Published in 2008 by Workman Publishing. Very interesting. Over 800 pages and covers everything from sauces to sandwiches.


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## hayden

Goldilocks said:


> India The Cookbook


I understand this is a very old thread, but I just thought I'd second this recommendation; I bought the book on a whim without reading any reviews, and I certainly don't regret it!





  








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hayden


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Mar 9, 2015








It's not glamorous by any means and offers few photos, but what it does provide is an arsenal of recipes to create a true Indian meal with a variety of dishes and condiments. Myself and my party were creating a little spread once a week from this book - was great!

My one and only issue with it: the paneer recipe is off! You need to double the amount of vinegar/acid/lemon juice used. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## mmichalis

Pat Chapman's 'The Curry Bible" and "The Balti Bible"


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## Shirin Mohant

Paneer cheese is a very common ingredient used in Indian Kitchens. It is used to make a variety of lip-smacking dishes like:


Paneer Kofta: They are small rounds of stuffed paneer, with ingredients like khoya and raisins added to increase the aromatic flavours. I got the recipe of this lip-smacking dish from one of the small Dhabas in Dehradun called Sampoorna Bhojan ( Sampoorna = full and Bhojan is cuisine)










2. Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer is an exotic North-Indian dish that boasts of lip-smacking ingredients like Paneer and a gravy made up of peas, tomatoes and a hoard of Indian spices. The dish goes well with both rice and Indian bread (naan)










3. Kadai Paneer:

Kadai Paneer is a popular Indian delicacy that is made up of paneer added to a gravy of kadai masala. You can find a lot of variations of this dish all over India, with the ingredients of kadai masala varying from region to region. It is one of the most popular dishes for Indian weddings and parties.


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## NotDelia

I agree with earlier recommendations about Pat Chapman. He's the Godfather of BIR (British Indian Restaurant) curries. For a slightly more modern take, there's Dan Toombs, "The Curry Guy", who is pretty much following the same path as Chapman did decades ago. (I have several books from both.)

I'm not a fan of watching The Hairy Bikers on the telly. (Far too much scripting and if Si King says "dude" one more time I'd like to punch him in the face.) However, their books are really excellent. They have one entitled "Great Curries", which contains recipes from various countries. It's worth a look. (I'm in love with their Asian Adventure book.)

For more authentic Indian curries, Camellia Panjabi's "50 Great Curries of India" is good. 

Having spent many years in Asia, I can say that the "authentic" food (ie that eaten by the locals) bears little or no resemblance to the food served in UK restaurants purporting to be Indian/Thai/whatever. Sure, some Asian ingredients are hard to source in some areas but the average British person has very definite expectations about what they want from a curry and that tends not to coincide with the taste of the real thing.


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## slayertplsko

I second Pushpesh Pant, great book. Also, I recently purchased Indian Cookery Course by Monisha Bharadwaj, great at explaining the techniques used.


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