The Takeaway Secret: How to Cook Your Favourite Fast-food at Home [Paperback]

We purchased this book as a present for a friend who is addicted to takeaway food - it was purchased as a bit of a joke at his expense as he's lived on takeaways for years but the recipes included in the book have so far been amazing!

Our friend tried the chicken pakora the first night we gave him the book and ended up having to make a 2nd batch to satisfy everyone who was present at the time - since then we've tasted the chow mein, szechuan chicken, south indian garlic chilli chicken and egg / bacon breakfast muffins and they have all been absolutely amazing!

The recipes we've tried have all been easy to make but the results far outweigh any of the cooking skill needed - the pakora in particular was unbelievably good but the others we've tried also really do what they say on the tin and more importantly, the dishes we cooked up really did look and taste as good as most takeaways!

This book has got 4 of us hooked on cooking since it arrived, next on the list is the southern fried chicken!

I would highly, highly recommend this book and urge anyone who buys it to really give the recipes a go because they are utterly amazing!

Food taste really really good,even if u cook a single recipe it's still worth the money,my kids say its the best food in the world.
Update made the banana muffins-usually don't like bananas in cakes but this are heaven ,I usually freeze them so I can have for breakfast or as a quick snack.i'm on the weight watchers diet and they work out to 3pp each.
Easy chocolate cheesecake-made it few times now we always skip the refrigeration time
Vanilla ice cream- the easiest ice cream ever and so tasty,I sometimes add coconut paste or cocoa,lime,lemon whatever I want. I use to pay £3 for a tub of ice cream now I make my own for less than £1.
Chocolate chip cookies- it sais you can make 10-12 cookies I made 29 you can even freeze the dough and just take it out when you have guests they are ready in 10-12 min from frozen
Milkshake -we made all flavours and it taste and looks just like McDonald's
Cheese and onion sandwich - i don't eat mayonnaise but made it for my hubby,he loved it
Coronation chicken sub - made for hubby,it's a regular in the house now
Chicken fajita wrap- I'll never ever buy those expensive packs again,I sometimes make it with crispy chicken and just add sweet chilli sauce,lettuce and taste exactly like McDonalds crispy chilli chicken wrap (a bit better in my opinion and healthier)
Chicken nuggets- faster to make your own then to go out to McDonald
Thin crust pizza base- wow it's really nice
Italian pizza sauce- its a must in every house easy to prepare the best sauce ever it has a sweet taste you really have to try it
Instant pizza sauce- when you don't have 15 min to make the italia pizza sauce,not as good as the Italian one but still good
Texas style barbecue pizza- really nice I add jalapeños love it a bit hot
Sweet and sour chicken balls- you just have to make your own they are really nice but instead of 1/2 tbsp baking powder and bicarbonate of soda use 1/2 tsp as the baking powder has a strong taste,I couldn't believe the sweet and sour sauce came out just like the Chinese takeaway
Szechuan chicken- I added way to much cayenne and unfortunately I couldn't tell you how it was as I was in screaming for water
Chicken tikka masala- I could have fulled my family that it was a takeaway really really really nice
Chicken tikka- I made it on skewers,couldn't believe I made it myself
Basic curry sauce- its the base for all Indian curry's I made enough for 13 curries froze them in little tubs and just take them out as I need them,no waste at all
Sheek kebab- my old favourite,no more greasy kebabs for me
I want to make evey dish from this book,all food it takes 10-15 min to cook from scratch and with easy ingredients,I couldn't find garlic and ginger paste and made my own. Its the best and most used book I have ever owned and believe me I have a lot of books but none as good and fast as this one. As I mentioned before I'm on weight watchers diet and this book it's the best I can have kebabs,Chinese,Indian and pizzas for less than 13pp,the recipes are for 1-2 people but you could easily feed 3-4 with salad on the side or other side dishes,and the best thing is you can make them even healthier just use fry light. I lose around 2-4lb a week so its clear that I can be on a diet and still enjoy my favorite takeaways. It's the perfect book even for large families you won't spend a fortune on takeaways anymore. Hope you'll enjoy this book as much as I do.

I bought this book after a recommendation, and I am so glad I did. The lamb doner kebabs are a hit and are now a regular on our menu. Yes, you may have to buy for a few spices to get you started but as you only use a tsp or 2 in a recipe they should last a while. The criticism that it has no pictures I feel is hardly a reason for it to lose any stars. I know what my takeaways usually look like so no need for photo's of them in the book. I also think the lack of pictures keeps down the cost of this book. I have made chow mein, currys, pizzas, egg Muffins, Big Megaburgers(you know the one - sauce is spot on!), kebabs and all have gone down a treat. I have lots of cookery books but this one gets used every Saturday for our family "takeaway". If I ever lost it, I would definitely repurchase and I wouldn't say that about many of my other cookery books. Fab!