Just got my Kushi Balti Book!

[Yellow Fingers]

My god but it's a thin tome and the B&W pics are naff. The kushi spice mix is much more complicated than what we have been using. I'll get down to reading it properly now.

[John]

There are a few B&W pics but on the whole it looks like a very good book, it seems to have all the recipes so i think its just a case of experimenting now to see how good they realy are.

[Yellow Fingers]

For those who are deciding whether to buy the book here's some points.

The base sauce is very similar to the Bruce Edwards' sauce but with more whole spices. The spice mix is again like Bruce Edwards but with garlic/ginger powder and methi.

The making of the base is exactly like Kris Dhillon, in that a separate spiced tomato tarka is cooked and added to the onion sauce. Infact the whole process is very KD like, just spiced up a bit more.

There is no mention of reusing oil at any stage, but I'm not surprised by that.

Their madras recipe is very basic and I think this will come out pretty good. However they say to make a vindaloo just add an extra tsp of chilli powder and for a phall add 2 tsp of chilli. Yeah right. I always judge a restaurant by the difference in their madras and vindaloo. If the only difference is a tsp of chilli they don't get my custom again.

Here's a quote about the phall, "Normally the phall is reserved only for those occasions when someone tries to show off by eating the hottest curry on the menu. I really don't recommend it."

So who am I showing off to when I order a takeaway phall and eat it on my own at home Mr Haydor? Way to alienate your phall loving readers you pillock. You say you "really don't recommend it", well as your phall recipe is a basic curry with two extra teaspoons of chilli, neither do I.

The korma is made with a separate korma base which looks interesting. The problem is you've then got a base sauce which you can only use for making one curry. I'd have liked to have seen a couple of other curries using this base, a pasanda for example.

They add pineapple to the dhansak, which is sacrilege to me, but I suppose that's down to personal preference.

The masala sauce for the tikka masala looks suitably complicated and the tomato base needs constant stirring for an hour! From the ingredients I expect this to turn out pretty good.

There's no jalfrezi, damn it, but I see they're putting that one on their website.

The quality of the pictures, especially the B&W ones, is pretty bad. I add that just for info though as I know at the price of the book you can't expect much better.

Do note that the recipes in this book will make standard curries like you will find in any high street curry house. The only nod to them being 'balti' would be if you served them in a balti dish.

All in all not much new to the regulars here, but I wish I'd had this book when I started out, it's definitely the best beginners' book around ( you hear that Pat Chapman!). Without having made any of the recipes yet I think it's definitely worth the money.

[DARTHPHALL]

Great review YF.
I agree totally on the Phall comments, i like you, order my Phall, Vindalloo or Tindalloo & take it home & eat it with my wife "eating hot Curries is not an ego trip".
There is great enjoyment in eating them, the heat itself is a taste as it were, & i love it loads so there !!
Also YF i agree on your comment on the difference between a Madras & the other hotter Curries, My fave local Take-away makes the Madras very different from their hotter Fayre which in my humble opinion shows the amount of effort put in by your local BIR.
My hopes weren't high, as so many books profess to give you the secret to cooking BIR food at home. "Another one bites the Curry dust"!
DARTH.............

[Mark J]

Got mine too, also agree on the madras. To my mind madras is distinguihed with lemon juice and more tomatoe puree/pasata, vindaloo should be a different kettle of fish

[CurryCanuck]

Havn't received my copy yet in the colonies...but based on the reviews thusfar I am prepared to give the book it's just reward... six feet under ! Shall try some of the recipes...but considering some of the current threads don't hold too much hope . Had hoped for  Curry Valhala...apparently got Tele-tubbies ! 

CC

[pete]

I think it's excellent, and wish it had been my first curry book
The methods for pre cooking veg make it worth the money
I have often wondered if there was more to the pre cooking bit, than I knew.
He uses black cardamoms as part of it!
What about the use of mace in the curry base too?
Mace (I think) is the outer skin of nutmeg
It's certainly not been mentioned on this site before
Maybe that's a missing flavour
Perhaps the madras, vindaloo and phall "difference by chilli powder" is wrong
but that's all Kris Dhillon does too.
I reckon that a lot of curry houses do this, even if your local doesn't.
I really enjoy a phall
For me,to be a phall, it must be very hot with the "taste"
About a minute into eating it, you are sweating with your eyes and nose running.
Better than snuff?
And of course there is the "result" next day (which could be inconvenient and painfull)

[stephen west]

Intersting that lots of the recipes contain mustard oil. Perhaps it is used even though marked 'not for human consumption'.

[Yellow Fingers]

The methods for pre cooking veg make it worth the money
I have often wondered if there was more to the pre cooking bit, than I knew.

Yes, I agree, it is very useful. What is interesting is that the sauce that the meat is pre-cooked in is used in the curries too and not thrown away. I know many of us here have been doing this anyway, but it's good to see the method in print.

Mace...Maybe that's a missing flavour

It is unusual, but I doubt it's the missing taste. Before I learned the way restaurants cooked, I tried every recipe I could find to try to achieve the taste and smell of bought curries. A lot of those recipes required mace and I never did feel that they were even close to restaurant style. However maybe it in combination with the other whole spices in the base might make the difference. Who's going to be first to actually make a recipe so that we can find out?

[Yellow Fingers]

Hi stephen

I have no doubt that the restaurants still use mustard oil, but probably only in tandoori marinade. Either way, there's no way I'm using it at home.