50 Great Curries of India [Paperback]

Camellia Panjabi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2004

The secret to creating authentic Indian curries at home lies within these fabulous pages. A feast for the senses, this mini format of "50 Great Curries of India" is the world's best-selling curry book. It explains how to add taste, aroma and colour to create that perfect curry. Dishes are collected from all over India - from the classic Goa Lamb Vindaloo to the more exotic Gujarat Mango and Yogurt Curry and all are accompanied by tantalising photography to inspire and excite. Other features of the book include: the philosophy of Indian food; what exactly is a curry; using spices, herbs and chillies; and, planning an Indian meal and suggested menus. This revised edition comes with more recipes than ever and full colour photography throughout.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A 'This book will delight, educate and inspire anyone who longs to make authentic Indian curries at homeA ' Nigel Slater, Observer --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

This is the ultimate celebration of the authentic Indian curry, encompassing both the classic and the unusual dishes from every region of India. The introduction not only weaves history, geography, and the philosophy of Indian cuisine together, but also includes an illustrated guide to ingredients and curry-making techniques, including how to combine taste, aroma, and heat. Fifty recipes for authentic Indian curries follow, from the classic Goa Lamb Vindaloo to the more exotic Gujarat Mango and Yogurt Curry, each accompanied by a detailed head note on the recipe's origin, regional background, and a full-color picture to show color and texture. An additional 50 recipes, from rice, lentils, and potatoes to breads, chutneys, and desserts, round out this thorough book. And with the inclusion of a 30-minute DVD showing you step-by-step cooking techniques of three dishes, this is an invaluable addition to your kitchen library. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kyle Cathie (October 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856265463
• ISBN-13: 978-1856265461
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,730,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent selection of curries from many regions, October 14, 2007

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 50 Great Curries of India (Paperback)

I own at least ten Indian cookbooks, so you wouldn't expect that I needed to add another to the collection. But I'm extremely glad that I bought 50 Curries of India. It has many recipes that I haven't previously encountered... and which, so far, are really wonderful.

As the title promises, the book has 50 curry recipes... as well as several accompaniments (such as bread, rice, and raita) and a 60 page introductory section on ingredients. There's quite a selection here, in main ingredient (lamb, fish, chicken, vegetables), region, spiciness, etc. Twenty of the recipes call for lamb, 11 for chicken, 9 fish and shellfish, 12 vegetarian (from potato curry to, of all things, watermelon and mango curries).

Nothing calls for beef or pork, but I think most of the lamb dishes could be prepared with them. We dislike lamb, so at our house the lamb and apricot curry is more likely to use inauthentic pork, and bori curry (with nuts, sesame seeds, tamarind and potatoes) will probably be made with beef.

Every dish has an attractive photo, so you have some idea what you'll end up with. While many recipes have a long list of ingredients, none is particularly hard -- assuming that you can get your hands on the spices. If you have a spice shop or Internet store from which you can buy black mustard seeds, curry leaves, and tamarind you'll be set. But there's plenty to cook if you're stuck with the selection in your local grocery store. Most are strongly spiced, but not all are exceptionally "hot." These aren't fast recipes, but *darn* they're good -- and most curries reheat very well; they're stews, after all.

The curries in this book are from the British Indian community rather than an American idea of Indian food. I've found that most U.S. Indian restaurants are surprisingly limited in the list of dishes offered, rather distressingly so. I suspect that our cultural relationship to Indian food is like the Italian-American restaurant experience of the 1950s (meatballs and spaghetti, pizza, and not much else). But India is a huge country with distinct regional differences, and this book really shows both breadth and depth. Several recipes incorporate coconut, for example, or mustard seeds or curry leaves. You'll find the "expected" chicken tikka masala, or something very like it, but among the things I appreciate about this book is that it has plenty of recipes that aren't in the rest of my Indian cookbook collection.

So far, I've made a curry of chicken and cashew nuts in black spices (with ginger, coriander seeds, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon), and a marvelous lemon rice. I'll probably make green chicken korma (wih coriander leaves, mint, and green chili) this week... or maybe it'll be prawns in sweet and hot curry (with tamarind, garlic, cumin, curry leaves and jaggery). I can't decide.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but annoying when first starting, June 12, 2008

By 

D B Crisp "cd singles collector" (Aus) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Great Curries of India (Paperback)

I almost gave up on making curries mainly in part to this book. I only kept it for the rice and accompaniments section at the back of the book. My major gripes were

1. this book says to whisk natural yogurt, natural yoghurt never works just whisked (I use greek yoghurt instead), and many indian chefs add flour or for a more authentic taste powdered dhal to the yoghurt to when whisking to assure that it does not split when cooking (greek yoghurt can split too!), at first I used cornflour to whisk into the yoghurt after many failed splitting curries and it worked every time but now I use gram flour to eleviate glugginess.

2. when the book says to add water at the end of the cooking of onions and spices, the amounts made for a very watery weak flavoured gravy as liquid was also being added from the meat, so halving or even thirding this makes it work much better and provides a fuller flavoured gravy

If you address these 2 areas you can end up with a very nice book, the madras style curry and the meat cooked with cardamon being standouts.

Oct 2011 update: i have recently got the 2004 reissue of this book with 10 extra curries and is can say it worth getting. It is smaller than my 1994 edition (which this review was based on) and not as pretty but the extras are well worht it.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for anyone interested in creating original Indian-style creations, April 8, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Great Curries of India (Paperback)

50 Great Curries of India presents 50 different, authentic Indian curries, each with a full-color photograph revealing its texture and appearance in detail, along with an accompanying recipe designed to harness the curry's flavor. From Chicken and Cashew Nuts in Black Spices to Chickpea Curry and Cauliflower with Shredded Ginger, the recipes perfectly capture Indian cuisine's marvelous ability to harness spices for an unforgettable taste experience. An extensive introductory section teaches aspiring chefs all about different types of spices, seasonings, thickening agents, souring agents, and the elements of a traditional Indian meal, in this "must- have" cookbook especially recommended for anyone interested in creating original Indian-style creations as well as preparing tasty tidbits according to recipe.