50 Great Curries of India Paperback – 29 Oct. 2004

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.

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 gave 4 stars because using these recipes, i find unless i use a home made base curry, they're not as tasty as we like!

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.

This book is everything you could wish for to be able to produce consistently excellent curries and other Indian food. Although our 'Indian' takeaways are mainly Bangla Deshi, this is a collection from all over India itself and the regional styles are very distinctive. The recipes are comprehensive and have the authority of highly skilled chefs, but they are neither intimidating nor chancy. This is more than a cookbook - the recipes are all the better for the thoroughly absorbing contextual information early on.Together with Kris Dhillon's 'The Curry Secret', which does cover (excellently) the takeaway style, you could astound yourself and your friends with reliable, sublime food without the need for any other books.You may wonder how I am so familiar with this book, having only just bought it. It's because I have found yet another would-be curry cook friend whose culinary life will be transformed by it...I've had my copy for years, and given away many copies to others.Highly, highly recommended.