50 Great Curries of India 10th Anniversary Ed.

Loved the context, history and background. This is a well-researched book. Kudos to the author.

I've tried cooking three recipes out of this book, and they were all unsuccessful. There is a Simple Homestyle Curry (p. 65) that the author suggests learning first before making the rest of the recipes in the book, and based on my results, I need to go back to remedial Indian cooking school, because the curry took hours to cook and tasted inedible.The red Parsee chicken curry (p. 24) instructs you to soak 10 chiles in a little water, and then the rest of the recipe neglects what to do with them afterward (they ought to be drained and blended with the spices in step 2). Speaking of Step 2, when I put all the spices in the food processor as directed, no matter how many times I scraped down the sides of the bowl and how long I ran the processor, I ended up with whole or half-sized chunks of coriander seeds in the final curry. I suggest grinding all the spices in a coffee grinder without any added water, and then blending them in a food processor with the chopped onions to get maximum flavor out of the spices without having chunks of spices floating around the curry.The meat curry with cumin-flavored potatoes (p. 80) has an incomplete list of ingredients; step 5 asks you to put cinnamon and cloves in the pot, but the ingredient list doesn't mention any. I guessed based on other recipes and used 1" of cinnamon and 3 cloves. The recipe also suggests cooking the lamb for a total of 45 minutes while also calling for stewing lamb, which is tough and needs at least an hour and a half of braising time, probably two hours. At 45 minutes, my teeth bounced off the lamb rather than sinking into tender, falling-off-the-bone meat. Additionally, using 3 1/2 cups of water as directed gave me a thin soup with lamb and potatoes floating in it rather than the medium-thick sauce pictured in the book. I've been reducing the curry at a brisk simmer for 10 minutes now; I hope I'll get to eat this curry tonight.If you view recipes more as suggestions to spark your culinary imagination, by all means, get this book. If you want to be able to rely on a recipe to steer you right, get one of Madhur Jaffrey's books, which I've cooked from with great success.

This book already has 19 reviews at the time I am writing this, so why one more? I have to just say that it is because this book is one of the most beautiful books I have ever had. When you watch a fantasy movie where an important book is present, the book is usually a work of art with an intricate latch, tassles, and gold. This book deserves these things. I am not Indian, but I love cooking and eating Indian food. Every recipe I have tried from this book has turned out better than I hoped, but I just can't say enough how good looking this book is. The colors, the fonts, the great non-recipe content such as meal planning, the breakdown on the red chilis is fantastic. The only negative thing that I can say is that there are not more south Indian recipes in this book but that is not enough of a complaint to lower my rating.

I have bought a few Indian Curry books and am happy to say that this one has helped my cooking skills more than any.Very helpful opening chapters about the history of the food and each ingredient make it easier to grasp the big picture, rather than just follow recipes.My understanding of what I am doing has helped me cook better Indian, no matter what recipe I am looking at.I haven't tried all the recipes in this book as yet, but look forward to seeing how they go. I definitely recommend this book for the first half, so if I find a great recipe then it will be a bonus.

This highly recommended book not only includes detailed recipe instructions, but also covers other recipes besides "curries".I've had the hardcover (I left it on a plane) and now I have the softback.My three-star rating comes because some recipies have conflicting descriptions....ingredients vs. cooking method. One instance is the Parsee Red Chicken Curry, where the ingredients list 2 cups of coconut milk, but the instructions say to use 3 1/2 cups (2 cups or less is better, otherwise it's a soup).If you find yourself in this position (too watery) you can add some ground /powdered lentils to thicken the dish....during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Takes time to prep for the recipies and some ingrediances might be difficult to find locally, but tastes oh so good. My family has only tried 4-5 recipes so far but we have not been disappointed yet. If you like India style curry you will probably love this book, we do.

My boyfriend's mom has incredibly high standards when it comes to cooking. She bought this book in an airport in India as she tried to use up the rest of her rupees before leaving the country. She ended up really loving the cook, and during my last visit copied a few of them for me. I love Indian cooking, so I decided I might as well invest in the whole book. I've made the moong dahl recipe for a group of friends and they were incredibly impressed. Actually, it maybe have been the best recipe for lentils I've ever used. I'm incredibly happy with the book, and can't wait to use it more!

I have multiple versions of this and have given as gifts. The recipes are flavorful and easy to understand. Every kitchen should have a copy!

I'm a Punjabi, so grew up eating delicious curries made by my mother. Although I learnt from her well, I love to try new different curries from all parts of India. I've made 2 curries from this book, The parsee red chicken, which is divine, although I used dried Mexican guajillo chillies as I didn't have any Kashmiri chillies on hand. It was so delish that my son asked me to make it again! I've also made the malabar prawn curry as we love coconut in Thai curries as well, and this was equally satisfying. Can't wait to try one of the lamb dishes next.

I have made a few of these recipes. The saag was especially good. However, the explanations are very short and sometimes hide how complex and time consuming each step will be. Sometimes quantities / how much to use of an item is not clear either, so you have to guess or use past experience. I think this would be quite challenging for someone not used to Indian cooking already.

A long time ago in my youth I was taught how to make curry by the mother of an Indian friend, I still remember how proud I was to recreate the first lesson at home and serve up Mattar paneer (after first making my own paneer) many curry books later and always disappointed by the results I came across this one that said "The 50 best Indian curries" I read the book and decided to make everything from front to back......still not finished after several years because the first one "simple homestyle curry" was so good it is difficult to resist, my next the most complex was the Parsi inspired dhansak, for which you have to make your own spice blends. OMFG was it good! the minced lamb curry the fish curry, all wonderful, I have had the book for years now and I still haven't made more than a dozen meals from it, every one I have tried looks like the photo and tastes like heaven, I have bought several copies now for friends who never fail to thank me, I have read the reviews and am saddened that the people that gave it low scores obviously haven't read the book which describes the ingredients, if it says yoghurt make your own thick indian/greek style yoghurt, if it says kashmiri chillies it means kashmiri chillies, no others will do. This is simply the best curry book I have ever owned and I delight my friends and partner with the meals from it all the time, My wife no longer asks for just curry, she says "can we have a curry from the book tonight?" But a warning....you will never enjoy a take away curry or a ready meal or a cook in sauce again......but it is so worth it.

I've been taking the art of cooking south Asian food quite seriously for some years now, collecting a considerable number of books on the subject. This book by Camellia Panjabi is undoubtedly the best all round (balancing results with ease of recipes) Indian curry recipe book on the market right now.The recipes are preceded by 60 pages of information on the history and social aspects of Indian food and the ingredients and techniques used.Highlights of the recipes for me include:- 'lamb korma pulao' from Lucknow, a fragrant combination of lamb and rice slow cooked in a casserole- 'kaalee mirch cha mutton' (lamb with herbs and black pepper) from the Konkan coast, with a sauce containing loads of coriander and mint colouring it green- 'nalli korma' (lamb shank korma) from Lucknow, fragrant slow cooked lamb shanks falling off the bone- 'aachar gosht' from Bhopal, lamb cooked in pickling spices- lamb curry Madras style from Tamil Nadu, hot but a flavoursome combination of spices- 'safed murgh korma' from Agra, a white chicken korma- 'chicken rizzala' from Bhopal, a green chicken korma with coriander and mint- 'pista chicken' from Delhi, a chicken pistachio korma, with a green pistachio sauce which is a bit of an effort to prepare but is worth it- 'kaju chicken in kaala masala' from Mumbai, chicken and cashew nuts in 'black spices'- Parsee red chicken curry from MumbaiThe are plenty of other recipes not only with lamb or chicken but also using fish, shellfish, eggs, vegetables and fruit, including some more unusual ones like watermelon curry, mixed dried fruit curry and pineapple curry.Whilst concentrating mostly on main courses, there are also recipes in the end section for accompaniments - breads, rice dishes, vegetable side dishes and chutneys - and desserts.One downside is that being a paperback of relatively small dimensions, you can't lay it open flat on the kitchen worktop (there was an earlier edition of this book with some different recipes which I also own, which had larger dimensions and did lie out flat). It needs a decent cookbook stand, or do what I do and photocopy a recipe so it doesn't matter if you manage to dribble spice pastes all over it.If you get just one curry book, make it this one.

I bought this book for a friend, as I have owned one for several years. Apart from the usual curry staples seen in most books, there are some really unusual recipes that deserve more recognition. My all time favourite is the Watermelon (yes, Watermelon!) curry - it is so simple to make I could do it in my sleep and it is delicious, perfect for adding to your 5 a day or cutting out calories without sacrificing the flavour. Try it and see!