Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape: 100 of My Favourite Indian Recipes [Hardcover]

This book is one of my FAVOURITE cookery books of all time. Every recipe works so well, but also tastes so good.It has given me the confidence to try recipes I wouldn't ever have contemplated and Indian food has now become a staple part of our diet.
Monkfish moilee - the first fish curry I have ever done.
Chicken palak - what a good use of spinach
Chicken badami - mild and delicious
Chicken biryani - the best! Beautiful flavours really work together ( lovely rice)
Jeera rice superb with egg curry. ( Never thought and egg curry would taste so good)
Now buy spices in larger quantities to keep up!
Thank you, Gordon!

Now I was going to give this a one star rating but let's face it the food in this book when cooked is edible, I do however question as to who proof read it or maybe I should go a step further and question if the recipes are actually from Gordon's travels?

I have cooked 8 different recipes and none of them actually wowed me, I have been cooking Indian and thai food for many years and the only reason I bought the book was because I saw the episode where gordon went to the Naga region, having grown some Naga chillies this last year figured it'd be nice to try an authentic recipe which the TV episode looked to promise - biggest surprise is that the recipe isn;t even in the book!

When I say I question the proof reading or authenticity of the book I ask you to look at the recipe for Cauliflower Tandoori, the ingredients listed for this make the coating a beige kind of colour and even when cooked don't really colour at all, the images in the book are a very dark brown / tandoori colour, very much a disconnect between the recipes and the photography.

It's not the worst book out on Indian food, if you wish to have some great Indian repertoire then I'd have a look for some Das Sreedharan or Pat Chapman, these are two very different style of cooks but both deliver amazing food from their published efforts!

the subtitle adequately sums up GR's chunky new book, published to coincide with the TV programme of the same name:-

Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape.

But, in reality, it is far more.
With raised lettering to the D/J's main title, a relaxed and still rugged GR adorns the front cover, sharing his enthusiasm for India - its food and its life.

'...My own love affair with Indian food started when my mother made me my first curry as a child.
Granted, Mum's inauthentic curries were nothing like what we're used to today - hers were mostly flavoured with curry powder with the occasional handful of sultanas thrown in - but to us the flavours seemed exotic and mesmerising and I was hooked. Since I left home and started working, Friday night curries have become a ritual. Like most people, I have had favourite dishes, which I would order time and time again, but overall I felt pretty comfortable with the food and thought that I knew quite a bit about Indian cuisine.
How wrong I was!..........

...When the opportunity came for a culinary adventure in India, the choice was simple. This was the chance of a lifetime to escape from the grind of daily life and discover the truth about Indian cuisine....'

From the d/j inner flap:-

'.......to experience for himself the stunning diversity of this extraordinary country's culinary traditions......Gordon immersed himself in all that India has to offer, tasting his way from region to region.....
Throughout this epic trip, GR cooked with some of India's most accomplished chefs, acquiring and refining new cooking techniques with a staggering variety of ingredients.........'

The use of the adjective 'staggering' is certainly not understated!
The glossary contains the various ingredients with descriptions, essentially a useful guide to what needs to be in the store-cupboard if new to Indian cooking. So if you are not sure about 'Asafoetida', or 'Jaggery', fear not....GR explains, as he does throughout the book - giving his usual basic definition of anything mildly 'different', e.g.:-

From 'Galouti Kebabs'

'Galouti means 'melt in the mouth', and these delicious lamb patties come from Uttar Pradesh, a region renowned for its kebabs.......'

along with the odd pre-warning about (perhaps) a harder-to-source ingredient, depending on what one has access to, e.g.:-

From 'Aloo dhai puri:-

'You will need to make a trip to your nearest Indian grocer to secure a box of ready-made mini 'pani puri' shells and a bag of 'sev mamra' (crispy snacks consisting of a mixture of puffed rice, fried yellow gram noodles and spiced peanuts). Thereafter, it will only take minutes to assemble these delicious bite-sized treats.'

And to justify the recipe selection we are reminded that this publication is based on personal experience and does not aim to be an Indian Cooking 'bible':-

'I may not have covered every classic dish of every region during my relatively short culinary tour (indeed this book contains some recipes that were simply inspired by my travels and some of these classic dishes)..........'

Overall, this is a very well-produced chunky tome.
The durable board covers carry the same picture as the d/j and open to 273 high quality pages, split over 7 chapters:-

* Starters & snacks (pg 31 - 61) 14 recipes
* Fish (pg 64 - 97) 14 recipes
* Poultry & meat (pg 100 - 129) 14 recipes
* Vegetarian (pg 132 - 159) 13 recipes
* Breads & rice (pg162- 195) 15 recipes
* Chutneys & accompaniments (pg 198- 227) 14 recipes
* Sweets & drinks (pg 230 -267) 16 recipes

along with a 15-page introduction - basically a potted summary of the tour - the aforementioned glossary, a concise index, winding up with GR's acknowledgements and a finishing dedication to the late Alex Robinson.

Each chapter opens with a double-page spread, with an on-location shot on the left hand page and the list of the following recipes on the other.

Each easy-to-follow recipe follows the same layout and colour distribution - with the title, an opening paragraph and the method, in the main part. The number of servings and the list(s) of ingredients appear in the 'grey area', making it easy to find, refer to and compile a shopping list. A pink 'flash' reminds you what of the chapter. A few recipes spill onto another page.

Generally, there is a good balance of photography throughout, full credit to Emma Lee and Jonathan Gregson - arguably a little light on the number of finished dishes - and, GR does feature - as is the norm!

A small taste of the other recipes contained within:-

* Malia chicken kebabs
* Spicy vegetable and paneer wraps
* Bengali prawn curry
* Baked whole sea bass with green masala paste
* Chilli beef fry
* Lamb korma
* Black-eyed bean curry
* Saag aloo
* Coconut rice
* Pilau rice with meatballs
* Chapattis
* Tadka dal
* Green mango chutney
* Ginger fruit punch
* Masala chai
* Paysam
* Rosewater kulfi

My favourite to date, tried and tasted:-

'Cauliflower Tandoori, with Fried Onion Rings', which I made for some vegetarian friends, although I did make use of a rather large cauliflower rather than investing in the four baby ones the recipe uses. As the method requires cutting into large florets, and blanching, I don't think we lost too much and due to the beautiful warm weather we were able to grill the marinated cauli on the BBQ (first airing this year) - rather than using the oven - and did manage to achieve that 'mild smoky element' GR enthuses about, if a 'tandoor' isn't available:-

'Many Indian villages have community ovens where families take their marinated meats, fish and vegetables to cook in blazing hot tandoors........'

What a book!
What an experience!
Thanks, GR!