Topic: Which Writer Do You Recommend?

[t-c]

I suppose I'm asking this because typical of someone new to cooking home made curries, I've gone out and bought a number of books, thinking that these people are Indian Cooking Guru's.
But found that the writers have been "not greatly" thought of here, and personal choice is just that. I know that no matter who the writer there are gonna be things that work you, some that doesn't. Whether its writing style, or some other personal dislike. And that we each take the good things from these writers book.

So I'll list which books I have, and not in apreferencence.

Pat Chapman Ultimate Curry Bible-it is clear, and better layed out than some, and informative to me.

Madhur Jaffrey Ultimate Curry Bible- TBH I was really disappointed by this book, and yet I'd put so much hope into what it was going to teach me.

3 of Kris Dhillon's books The New Curry Secret,How to Cook Real Indian Restaurant Food at Home Bk1, Bk2 , I may go back to re-read them,it just didn't seem at the time, to be what I expected.

Wendy Hobson- The Classic 1000 Indian Curries.

Shehzad Husain and Rafi Fernandez-Best Ever Cooks Collection Indian funny enough I've had some good curries from this very basic Indian Recipes.

Various Authors- Curry Fragrant dishes from India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Various Authors-The Curry Cookbook.

Various Authors- The Food of India.

Sunil Vijayakar 200 Curries.

Most of those listed have some great information, recipes, but also many just seem to lack something. 

[976bar]

I think this forum will be the best ever curry book you'll need personally

[bamble1976]

The only books that do bir curries are pat Chapman and kris dhillon.  The rest are traditional curries.  I personally would recommend buying one book which will help you understand the processes involved in  curry making and then use the sight once you understand the basics.

[976bar]

Hi Bamble,

The basics are really quite simple. Choose a couple of base sauces to try out, make them then decide which one you prefer.

Next, make your favourite dish using that base sauce and try a couple of different recipes from different people, then decide which one you like best to your tasting.

Then, experiment with both the base sauce and the recipe to produce your individual favourite dish.

It doesn't really matter who writes what. Whether it's from a book or from here. Dishes will differ throughout the country/region and everyone will be posting on here, whether they have written a book (katching katching!!) or just posted on here.

At the end of the day, I could go to probably 10 different Indian restaurants close to me and I would probably only return to about 2 or 3 depending upon whether their dishes are suitable to my palate.

And, it will be the same when you start cooking for yourself. You know what you like, and you know where you have tried it, the big step is taking the plunge, trying a few recipes and then adjusting them to you're own liking.

There is no, "Best of the Best", they're all good recipes, but at the end of the day, you need to find a recipe which suits you best, then adapt it to you're liking........

I hope this helps

[tempest63]

I would suggest the BBC Madhur Jaffrey book from her first BBC series; it is one I leave and go back to constantly. At the moment Atul Kochur is one of my favourites so I am experimenting with a lot of his recipes. Anjum Anands books are also interesting. Camellia Panjabi has reissued her 50 favourite curries a few times and it is a very good book I have worked through, but she hasn't sorted out all the anomalies in the recipes.

I do buy Indian cook books from all over the world and I experiment mostly with traditional recipes. I started out with the BIR books, Kris Dhillon and Pat Chapman, many many years ago but having worked in various parts of the world I realised that there were so many different flavours to try that I didn't wish to concentrate solely on BIR.

Enjoy your cooking, you will make the errors that we have all made, burnt onions was my most common one, but do try as much as you can. Whilst BIR's make a cracking meal there are some very good traditional recipes out there.

[t-c]

Hi Tempest.
Thanks for that, tbh,to date, I have found Pat Chapman's Curry Bible the most interesting and helpful of the list I originally posted.

I'll have to go back Madhururs' Curry Bible after your post, as I really felt let down by it as you found it so insightful.

I love the different flavours and challenges of Indian food.

tc

[Panpot]

t-c, I have a descent collection of curry books and will usually buy whatever shows up on here that is written around BIR. I have to agree with 976bar in that you can spend hours on here and find everything you need to enjoy all maner of meals both BIR and traditional not to mention Thai and Chinese.

[welshman2004]

This is my current fave - excellent  choice of traditional , regional Indian cookery


http://www.phaidon.co.uk/agenda/food/articles/2011/march/03/india-cookbook-voted-best-indian-cuisine-cookbook-in-the-world/

[Peripatetic Phil]

This is my current fave - excellent  choice of traditional , regional Indian cookery
http://www.phaidon.co.uk/agenda/food/articles/2011/march/03/india-cookbook-voted-best-indian-cuisine-cookbook-in-the-world/

[t-c]

With all due respect to you Pan, 976bar.
You both make really good and valid points, and yes, in  fairness, in my very short time on this forum, I have picked up more useful, helpful and interesting tips, and advice than any book, bought. But just because this site is so good, it should not stop the users recommending Indian Food Cook Books that they rate and found helpfull.

It took a few weeks searching recipes on the net, and looking on Indian recipes,store before I came upon this site, and yes 976bar, it's a great site and I've picked up so much.  But the question wasn't about who is the best of the best of Indian Cookery writers, its about which writer you guys, with all your experience in cooking both BIR, and traditional Indian food recommend as authors you rate.  Its not about whose the best, as that is so individualist, and personal to you(by that i mean, you click with that writer as you'd do for any other book)
So yes 976, in all honesty, I have learnt more from this forum, than most curry cook books, but I'd happily also recommend authors I have enjoyed, after all learning cooking a good curry doesn't stop with this forum..

Thanks Welshman, Phil I'll be having at look at that book