Customer Reviews

The Curry Secret: How to Cook Real Indian Restaurant Meals at Home

5 star:		(168)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Having read some of the other reviews I ordered this book. On the day of delivery I trotted off and bought (what my husband thought) was every spice imaginable. I then commenced with the basic curry sauce. Having got to the boiled onions, garlic and ginger stage it was a weird green colour. Hearing the comment of "Yeauhhhhh what's that"? and "I'm not eating that" from everyone who walked through the kitchen I had my doubts but I carried on. By Friday night the sauce was complete and in the fridge awaiting our home cooked Indian on Saturday Night. I prepared the chicken as stated in the book and made a Chicken Korma for the kids and a Chicken Dhansak for me and hubby. WOW the kids wolfed theirs down and we really really enjoyed our Dhansak. Both currys were worthy of any restaurant or takeaway. Husband has already put in his order for next week. I can't belive how easy each curry was to put together once you have the basic sauce. This book is a must for anyone who has tried and failed in the past to make a good curry at home and if this is the first curry book you buy, you have bought the best and won't need another one.

I had always wondered how my local Indian takeaway could conjure up such delectable dishes in so short a time. Now I know. This book is a little gem. The recipes are marvellous, the instructions clear and concise and, without doubt, the results are Indian restaurant standard. Absolutely no doubt about that. A brilliant, priceless book at a very reasonable price. I actually find the fact that there are no photographs in the book to be another plus, sometimes such photos can be a hinderance and a distraction to the job at hand and the recipes are much more accessible and easy to follow as a result. Do yourself a 'flavour' and buy this book!

This book is "The one"! Invest the time to make the base sauce (tip: carefully follow the instuctions about keeping the saucepan lid on! - alternatively leave the kitchen door open as the smell is aweful!) and then use it to make any of the curries you would find in a typical British curry house - with authentic taste, texture and appearance. I have bought many copies of this book for my friends and family and they in turn have bought copies for theirs. You will impress everyone with your curry cooking skills and become a legend in your own lifetime - seriously! This book is easy to follow and the results are awesome... it is the best bargain on the bookshelf - time for me to buy another copy as my current one is stained yellow and brown and has mangled pages from so much use.

I received this book as a gift from my wife, probably in desperation after seeing my hopeless attempts at creating a "restaurant style" curry. The vast majority of reviews posted about this book give glowing praise (well earned too, in my opinion). Can't understand some of the negative viewpoints and I can only assume that they didn't follow the recipes closely enough.

I set about my first attempt at making the curry sauce and was pretty pessimistic halfway through - the onion, garlic and ginger base doesn't look very appetizing and does tend to stink out the kitchen. The 3rd stage of the sauce base, however, is where it all starts to come together and you can tell that you are on your way.........finally. I have made 3 or 4 different curries so far and they have all been very close to the Manchester Indian curry house sauces that I grew up with. The final step of turning your base into a Vindaloo, Madras, Korma etc is open to interpretation and imagination but I know (after 35 years of trying) that I have found the Holy Grail of curry cook books. Forget the Louvre it's right here at Amazon.

Col

I've been trying various curry recipes for the last two years and have never been able to re-create that wonderful taste we are familiar with in Indian restaurants - until now!

This book is simple and to the point. There are no photographs (but who needs them for a curry?), just the basic recipes which mainly consist of one basic base sauce. I was surprised to learn that unlike with some Indian cook books, the ingredients list is quite short, yet there is great depth to the flavour of the dishes.

Follow the instructions precisely and you will be able to enjoy fabulous home made curries.

I bought this in a bookshop - then I bought 2 copies on Amazon - now I am about to buy more copies to send to friends in Spain and the USA - people have tried our curries and they all want a copy! I find that the curries are exactly the same as a takeaway curry except that I tend to use less oil and salt - this helps to reduce indigestion which sometimes results from eating a takeaway. We are big foodies and love food and cooking - I spent years trying to make curries - I have volumes of cooking books and I always ended up feeling cross and frustrated at my hard work - I could cook everything but a curry! I am now able to cook the most wonderful curries and its all thanks to this funny little book! It really is foolproof and we love it - as do all our friends! My humble advice - BUY IT NOW!

This book has suddenly turned my husband from an average cook into a fantastic cook. These recipes produce the most fantastic foods and the best thing about it is I haven't lifted a finger myself! The onion base sauce that he makes for the curries does stink out the house for a few hours, but then he stashes it away in the freezer, and when he wants to make a curry he just gets out some base sauce, defrosts it and adds the necessary - delicious curry in just 30 minutes - really. I am amazed. I would recommend this book to anyone.

I was sceptical because I've seen so many 'Restaurant-style' curry cookbooks, and none yielded a curry anything like you'd get in a takeaway (though they were nice in their own way).

Well, I made the curry sauce and knocked up a batch of chicken as directed in this book.

I was still doubtful up until 5 minutes before the end of cooking my first curry. That's when the one and only definitely curry-like ingredient goes in. The house even smelled like a takeaway - at long last!

It was EXACTLY like the curries I get from takeaways. All these years I've been mucking about with 50 spices, roasting, grinding... and it all came down to one spice (and the technique, of course).

And the Pilau Rice recipe produced a 100% Restaurant copy, too.

Buy it! And award Mr Dhillon a medal.

Since living in the UK for several years in the 80's, I have been an avid curry fan. My husband was brought up in the London area and when we met, I had no idea what a curry even was. Since then I have scanned websites, bought cookbooks and dogged Indian friends for recipes. Until this book, I can honestly say I never even came close to the wonderful meals I experienced in the UK. A chat with the owner of a local Indian Restaurant conviced me that Kris Khillon has really nailed the recipes as they are done in restaurants. Thanks for the insights...I made a meal tonight and my husband cried "It's chicken dopiaza. It really is chicken dopiaza!" Is that proof enough?

This book is not about authentic Indian cuisine it is about recreating the restaurant taste that we all love so much. All of the favourites are here and they are really simple to make if you follow the instructions precisely and most importantly, prepare all of your sauces/marinades etc. as described in the book. Do not try and cut corners by substituting/omitting ingrediants, as don't forget this book is about TASTE.

... this has to be the bargain recipe book of the century for the curryoholic! I bought 5 copies for friends who were that impressed with the outcome. It knocks spots off other books costing 5 times as much!