It should surprise no one when I say that I love a curry. Indian food, in general, if I’m honest. Just the smell of those spices gets my mouth watering. When we lived in Cumbria, we rented a house 50m away from an Indian restaurant, and every Friday, we had a takeaway. It was bliss. Wales has been a little more sketchy, and I miss that place a lot. Abergavenny, unfortunately, isn’t blessed with the quality of Indian Restaurant that, say, Carmarthen is. A constant frustration.
I’ve been cooking curry since University. I’ve lost count of how many “award-winning” books I’ve bought, borrowed or rifled through, and while I’m sure they’re all amazingly authentic dishes, they’re not the same. British Indian Restaurant curry is its own thing. And a good one is King of the food.
We were discussing this down the pub, a few weeks back, and someone pointed me at Richard Sayce's books. So I grabbed the first one.
https://www.mistyricardo.com/indian-restaurant-curry-at-home-books/
It. Is. Brilliant.
It walks through the basics, discusses which utensils, pots and pans are best, discusses spice fundamentals, and the various components takeaways prepare in advance, and how to make them yourself. All super simple stuff, concisely explained, with a load of useful tips, and if you check out the website, each recipe has a demonstration video. So, the last few weeks I’ve been stocking up on spices, making mix powder, and a massive vat of base gravy that I’ve been using to work my way through the various curries. Starting with a Madras. Natch.
The results have been, undoubtedly, the best curries that I’ve ever made, and far and away the closest I’ve got to the BIR style curries that I’ve been aiming for.
If you like curry, and you don’t mind a few hours of prep (that base sauce can take a while), then I can heartily recommend getting these books. They’re life changing.