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The Curry Secret: How to Cook Real Indian Restaurant Meals at Home

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Author: Kris Dhillon
Publisher: Right Way
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł5.99~~
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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

4 reviews
Sales Rank: 2807

Media: Paperback
Edition: Re-issue
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.6

ISBN: 0716021919
EAN: 9780716021919
ASIN: 0716021919

Publication Date: March 27, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 2 - 3 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, Lancs, uk *** . Priority Airmail used Worldwide on International orders. Thanks from all at Aphrohead.

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - The Curry Secret: Indian Restaurant Cookery at Home (Paperfronts)
•	Paperback - The Curry Secret: Indian Restaurant Cookery at Home
•	Paperback - The Curry Secret: Indian Restaurant Cookery at Home (Paperfronts)

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Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

Cheap and cheerful, but does not give the secret, this review does ! June 11, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

If you want to get that basic Indian restaurant flavour then this book helps, but only to an extent. There is slightly more to it. You will get the basic texture correct and to some extent the character of restaurant food from the base gravy recipe in this book. But good restaurants do a little more and great restaurants do rather a lot more. In fact it takes many years of training to become a top Indian food chef.

I don't agree that this book truly gives the "curry secret". And I certainly don't think you have to boil all the ingredients as this book suggests. I have had the pleasure of being invited "back stage" at a couple of Indian restaurants and have joined in the cooking. They laughed when I told them about this book !

The real secret is adding a lot of salt to the onions and garlic paste as they fry. Its not really got anything to do with the spices. You must use a lot of oil and garlic - otherwise it won't work. For a curry base for 4 people you would use 4 shredded onions, at least 8 fat cloves of squashed garlic, fresh ginger puree and at least half a tea cup of vegetable oil and then add a good level teaspoon of salt ! Yes - that is a lot of salt I know. What happens here is that the salt draws out the garlic and onion flavours and that "chemistry" is what gives you the restaurant falvour. This takes about 20 minutes on quite a high heat - stir every thirty seconds, then add blended canned tomatoes, some fresh tomatoes, turmeric, methi powder, chilli, cumin, coriander and cardamom.

Stir in half a cup of natural yoghurt and cook vigorously for another 20 minutes stirring almost all the time adding water so the sauce does not burn. 5 minutes before serving add a teaspoon of garam masala and fresh coriander if you have some. For a creamy finish, blend the whole lot and add an inch of coconut block or coconut cream. Add half a can of tomato soup for Tikka Masala sauce - yes that is what the restaurants do ! And add single cream at the end. Trust me this little addition will work.

In summary it's the way that garlic and to a lesser extent the onions, salt and oil cook that gives that Indian restaurant aroma - not so much the spices. Obviously you would not have a curry without the spices, but they are the easy part - in my humble opinion.

One tip, pour off the excess oil or ghee you use for frying the garlic and onions and save it. Do this each time you make a curry and refrigerate the oil. It will keep fine for a few weeks. Or make your curry sauce two to three days (max) in advance and refrigerate. The aging process improves the flavour and gives more of a restaurant aroma.

A word of warning though as others have pointed out - the basic curry gravy as per this book absolutely stinks your house out and takes several days to get rid of ! Do it outside if you must, but as I say it's a red herring - you don't need to boil the onions, garlic and ginger.

5 out of 5 stars

This is amazing! May 14, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

After years of searching for a good curry book, to make curry like you buy in restaurants, I finally found this one.
The curries are very easy to make, and taste SUPERB. Even gives instructions to make the rice just like you would get in a restaurant.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you only buy one curry book, make it this one. Since I found this, I posted all of my other curry books on freecycle, it's that good.

5 out of 5 stars

Best curry book out there May 10, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

the book guides you through the making of a formula curry where by you make stock of a sauce and use it with various spice blends to concoct a variety of dishes in relativly short time. i also am buying a repeat copy as my old one wore out!

John

5 out of 5 stars

Best indian cook book ever November 17, 2004
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I've had this book for years, the recipes are easy to follow,and they taste superb.I would say that the book is excellent value for money. I'm having to buy a new copy because the old one has fallen apart from overuse!