Sunday, 19 June 2016

The Curry Cookbook So Good I Bought It Twice

Do you have an absolute favourtie cookbook, one that you just keep going back to over and over again and every recipe seems to be a winner? A cookbook like that is essential to every cooks life and for me it is simply called "Curry". It doesn't have one single author which can be a recipe for disaster in the case of many cookbooks but in this case they have sourced experts in their fields to bring together Curry's from all over the world. David Thompson writes the section on Thai cooking,  Sri Owen in the Indonesian expert, Vivek Singh contributes to the Indian section. It is a high profile line up. And it makes sense, no one person is going to be an expert in Curry's from places as diverse as Pakistan, Vietnam, Singapore, The Caribbean Nations, India. It's just not possible. 

Old Meets New

Our 2006 edition is well worn, it's pages splattered with remnants of Curry and we have rated recipes out of ten so we know which ones to go back to (if it scored less than an eight we probably won't be cooking it again, harsh but there are too many great recipes out there to cook average food). My all time favourtite Curry comes from this book it is called Kachhi Mirch Ka Gosht which translates to Lamb Shoulder with Green Chillis, Mint and Yoghurt. It comes from a region of India in the north called Lucknow and the depth of flavour and the perfect balance of spices never grows old with me. This recipe alone makes the purchase to the book worthwhile.

So when I heard that they were releasing a new edition, ten years on from the original I was curious. Did I need a second copy? Turns out that the answer is yes, yes I do. The new version now has a purple cover, isn't that reason enough to buy it? But aside from that it has had a complete overhaul. The presentation has been modernised to fit with the look of a modern cookbook. It is a larger book with matt paper pages instead of the old gloss version. The photography has been updated and is totally drool worthy and there are twenty new recipes. That is twenty all new curry's you should not live without. It also has all new instructional pages with how to pictures, a format that is becoming more popular in cookbooks and I am sure has started because of the layout of blog posts.

Pakistani Lamb and Potato Curry

The release of this new version makes me feel like my favourite child graduated college. It's all grown up and dressed for success.

If you happen to own this book or go out to buy it some must cook recipes are:

Mutter Pulao (Green Peas Pilau)
A simple recipe that packs a surprising amount of flavour. Go to the effort to either make or buy the ghee, it really adds a lot to the taste of the dish.

Cambodian Saraman (Cardamom and Ginger Beef Curry with Peanuts)
This recipes is another ten out of ten for us. It is super rich and meaty.

Nalli Gosht (Slow Braised Lamb Shank in Saffron Sauce)
This is another recipe from the Lucknow and Awadh area of India, seems to me that I could have a possible love affair with this part of India. Who doesn't love slow cooked lamb shanks where the meat is so tender it falls away from the bones.

Udang Asam Pedas (Hot and Sour Prawn Curry)
An Indonesia Curry made sour with tamarind water, something we now keep on hand in little frozen blocks waiting a dish like this.

Cambodian Beef Saraman

Originally posted on Sunday, 19 June 2016 by

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