Topic: Biggest Curry Influences

[tempest63]

So who influenced you into the wonderful world of curry?

When I got the bug many years ago I subscribed to the Curry Club, got the magazines and bought all of Pat Chapmans books. I never successfully made a decent BIR so looked further afield and found Kris Dillon; again not much success, even after two books.

Then came the traditional curries which I found that I preferred to BIR. Madhur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, Camellia Panjabi, Gulam Noon and then came the modern Chefs like Atul Kochar, Vivek Singh and Cyrus Todiwala etc.

Of them all Madhur Jaffrey is the one I return to. Her recipes, though adapted to suit my tastes, are very reliable and always turn out right. And despite all of her books that I have bought over the years it is always the one that accompanied her first BBC series about thirty years ago that I turn to first when the urge to rattle some pots and pans descends.
T63

[tempest63]

I almost forgot the late Rafi Fernandez. I used to meet her regularly in her spice shop, Rafi's Spicebox, in Sudbury, Suffolk. She produced a wonderful little book for Sainsburys about the cooking of Southern India back in the day.

http://www.spicebox.co.uk/

[tempest63]

Oh! And another one

[Ghoulie]

The Taj Restaurant, Church St., Altrincham 1963. Fantastic curries - owned / run by an ex Gurkha.  sadly closed in the late 70s.

[scalexkid]

back in about 1988 taken to what was called the "Corner Cafe" somewhere in Leeds, maybe Chapeltown?, now being from a predomininently anglo-saxon city (Naaaaridge), seeing alot of chaps in white robes and caps was still a novelty,
As was seeing copious amounts of mainly meat-free dishes being shoved through a serving hatch from a kitchen area.

Nothing like a BIR, Not at all. You had to visit the off-licence next door for anything other than tap-water.

Never been anywhere like it since.

I do hope I have said nothing here that is to be considered improper, but this event , with a mix of cultures, tastes, sights and aromas was an eye-opener.

[tempest63]

She produced a wonderful little book for Sainsburys about the cooking of Southern India back in the day.

Does anyone else recall the recipe books that Sainsbury commissioned back in the 80's? Ismail Merchant was another author the store used to write an Indian recipe book. These were great little books; I don't believe their current offerings are a patch on them.

[Les]

I almost forgot the late Rafi Fernandez. I used to meet her regularly in her spice shop, Rafi's Spicebox, in Sudbury, Suffolk. She produced a wonderful little book for Sainsburys about the cooking of Southern India back in the day.

http://www.spicebox.co.uk/

And you can still get hold of it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Southern-India-Sainsbury-cookbook/dp/B000GRDEKA

[tempest63]

It is worth adding to a good curry library

[Curry addict bob]

Yes I have gone through most of the same books as you tempest63 in the early days. I found Pat Chapman very difficult to follow and long winded.
Also the Kris Dillon which I thought was a little easier to follow but the curries were pretty boring. I like the Camellia Panjabi but these are more traditional recipes.
From the British Indian Restaurant point of view my big breakthrough was
when I was able to gain entry to a couple of local restaurant kitchens and become friends with the chefs.
Using the simple technique from a good base gravy is where I made great inroads into the quality of my Curries.
And also since I discovered this particular forum where I have found a lot of videos that are easy to follow, also YouTube where we can view some good chefs
producing some good recipes.
CAB.

[Petrolhead360]

She produced a wonderful little book for Sainsburys about the cooking of Southern India back in the day.

Does anyone else recall the recipe books that Sainsbury commissioned back in the 80's? Ismail Merchant was another author the store used to write an Indian recipe book. These were great little books; I don't believe their current offerings are a patch on them.

just bought this book from Amazon