Ravi Fernandez sadly passed away last year but I will remember meeting her many times in Rafis Spicebox in Sudbury. At one time it was a Mecca for all things curry that were hard to get elsewhere. She never got the coverage of Madhur Jaffrey but This 1987 sainsburys booklet became well used and was one of the earlier books in my collection.

Any decent recipes in the booklet? How do they compare to contemporary Indian and BIR recipes?

There are some nice recipes in the book, traditional as opposed to BIR. There is a madras recipe that I will post up later in the trad section of the forum.

Ta! Always nice to see something different.

Ravi Fernandez Kerala meat curry
Ingredients

500g boneless lamb from leg or shoulder in bite sizes pieces
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
350ml water
12 - 14 peppercorns
2 inch stick cinnamon
25g creamed coconut
4 tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 dry red chillies, de seeded if wished
2 tsp coriander seeds
5 cloves
4 tbsp tamarind juice
Salt to taste
1 tsp aniseed, dry roasted and ground

Rub meat with turmeric, chilli and salt to taste and set aside for 1 hour.

Simmer meat in water for for 20 minutes with 6-8 of the peppercorns and half the cinnamon stick. Drain and reserve the stock, discarding the peppercorns and and cinnamon if you wish.

Dissolve the creamed coconut in half the reserved stock.

Heat oil and fry the sliced onion in a heavy pan until browned.

Meanwhile Dry roast the red chillies, coriander seeds, cloves, remaining peppercorns and the other half of the cinnamon stick and grind to a fine powder.

Reduce the heat under the onion, add the ground ingredients and fry for 1 minute. Add the meat and remaining stock and simmer until the meat is tender.

Add coconut mixture and tamarind juice and bring to a boil.

Serve hot, sprinkling on the ground aniseed as a garnish.

Rafi Fernandez Madras meat curry

4 tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, sliced finely
3 cloves
4 green cardamoms, bruised
4 green chillies, de seeded and chopped finely
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, crushed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 large dry red chillies coarse you broken and deseeded if wished.
500g boneless lamb, neck fillet or leg cut into bite sizes pieces
A little hot water
4 tablespoons tamarind juice
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method

Heat oil in heavy pan and fry onion, cloves and cardamom until the onions are golden brown.

Reduce heat and add the green chillies, ginger, garlic, coriander, turmeric and dry chillies. Stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add meat and saut