Rick Stein's India: In Search of the Perfect Curry: Recipes from My Indian Odyssey

Have both the DVD and the book! Love both. I did not think that Rick Stein being a 'Fish' person would do justice to the meat and vegetarian curries of India, but it is a tribute to this wonderful cuisine that he says "he could go vegetarian with dishes such as these". I am going through the book at present and trying all these absolutely wonderful dishes out. The one vegetable curry I am coming back to again and again is 'Thoran', "Dry curry of cabbage, carrot and coconut" (Pg 72). It is very easy to make and is done in a flash, but the blending of tastes that you get with the fresh coconut is so moreish, that you find yourself eating it greedily, just so you can savour the taste over and over again. It goes with all the meat and fish curries I have made so far. As to Kashmiri Chilli powder, I happened to be in Queenstown for two weeks and came across it at the Mediterrean Food Market there. Bought some and because the hole to hang the bag up with was punched very close to the contents in the bag, some of the chilli powder had spilled out onto our kitchen counter top. I picked some of the powder up and was expecting a very hot taste in my mouth, but was surprised at the slight tingling. But most of all I really liked the smokey, savoury taste of this chilli powder that compliments all these curries so wonderfully well. I love the bright rich red of the colour of this chilli powder. I made the 'Lamb Curry with Sweet Potato in Onion Marsala" (Pg 239), but did not use 250g of butter, maybe only about 20g just for the flavour. I love our Kumera, so chopped this up and roasted it in the oven. I used about 1/2 tsp of white pepper instead of the 1 tsp and added the roasted kumera at the end of the cooking time just to heat through and of course I had Thoran with it and Deliah Smiths Pilau. The Shepherds pie (Pg 250) sings. Who wants ordinary shepherds pie when you have the Madras Clubs version. The "Cochin first class Railway Curry" (Pg 254) is fabulous (also with Thoran) and when you cook it, it goes very thick. I just watered it down to the consistency I was happy with as I don't like very watery sauces anyway. I put in only 1 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder and it was perfect. "British Beef Raj Curry" (Pg 268) was great because it harks back to colonial England, Queen Victoria and the British Raj. I also liked it because it has the very colonial desiccated coconut and sultanas in it. Most early curries in New Zealand were like this. I added the Kachumber salad (Pg 305), sliced banana tossed in desiccated coconut and bought Mango Chutney. "Yesterdays Fish Curry" (Pg 176) is wonderful. Rick is a master at getting all the tastes just right. I used Monkfish instead of Salmon and this worked extremely well. I have a small jar of tamarind paste, so water this down to get the 100ml tamarind liquid required in the recipe. Just for my taste I find that the 500ml of water extra would make the sauce to thin, as there are tomatoes in this dish, so used only around 100ml. Next on the list I think will be the two egg curries (Pg 116 and 104). I would like to try the other vegetable curries, but I can't go past "Thoran". I have bought 2 coconuts and have drained them and smashed them open and prised the white coconut meat out of it. My sliced fingers can attest to this, but I have now got 2 glad wrap bags of grated fresh coconut in the freezer waiting for my favourite vegetable curry. There is also "Amma's Pork Curry" (Pg 224), "Mr Singhs slow cooked curry" (Pg 251), "Lamb Korma" (Pg 246), "Chicken and rosewater biriyani" (Pg 214), "Butter Chicken" (Pg 210), "Rocky's Chicken Korma" (Pg 190) and so on. Then there is "Nimish" (Pg 281), when I think I can handle all that cream. This must be the best cookbook on Indian food around at present. Every curry tastes different. They are authentic and absolutely top notch. Ricks book along with Madhur Jeffreys books are all you need to make really great curries. I love the photography and colour in the book and is very reminiscent of the colour I believe you would see in India and the photos of all the curries makes you want a curry more often than you would have wanted in the past. I just love this book.

Brilliant book. I watched the TV series and it made me want this book so much. It did not disappoint. The recipes are great and the writing is really good too, I actually read the non-recipe parts before the recipes and it was really interesting and engaging. This would make an excellent gift for anyone who likes cooking curry, it's not just all the usual things.

The only other book I have by RS is his Far Eastern Odyssey, which quickly became my favourite cookbook, evidenced by the splatters and stains on many pages. I think this book will give it a run for it's money, (tho it won't necessitate a morning each month chopping ingredients to make pastes to freeze down). I already use the garam masala recipe from the last book, but was pleased to see an accessible recipe for chaat masala, and the Tibetan chilli sauce is wonderful! In fact the "extras " at the back of the book are almost my favourite bit! I have done a couple of the prawn recipes which were spot on, and will work my way through the many recipes that I have marked with post it notes.The book is better than the tv serieswhich I must admit I did not find as entertaining as the Far Eastern one. Yes you need to do alot of prep, it's not like adding Patak's paste, but the end result is worth it, and to be honest, if you love Indian food, then you won't find it a chore. I have now watched the series repeated on tv over the last week or so, and I have to backtrack massively! I can only suppose my mood was not the greatest when I watched it the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed it this time , tho I still prefer the FEO. I have done numerous recipes and all have turned out beautifully.In fact I have never been to an Indian restaurant since I started cooking my own over the past few years (TY Madhur,Anjum and Rick) The only thing I would say, that in a nod to health, I cut down the amount of oil used.I am lucky in that I live 2 miles from an Indian supermarket, and when I go this weekend I will see if I can track down the few things I have been unable to source so far.

This a well-produced hardcover book, which is what I want in my cookbooks, as I intend to use them. The font is big enough to read, and the recipes are clearly written. I'm tired of cookbooks that set the method in 8 point type, while the preliminary comment is in 14-point bold. There is a huge variety of recipes for all kinds of food, from street snacks to desserts, and in the main Stein manages to avoid repeating the same old stuff you will find in dozens of curry cookbooks. Another thing that delights me is that not one recipe says "refrigerate in the marinade overnight or as long as possible". (Yes, I'm looking right at YOU, Anjum Anand.) The longest marinade time in his recipes is one hour, and to my mind this makes more sense for the majority of cooks, many of whom have neither leisure nor facilities for recipes that take hours and hours. If you have the ingredients on hand, you can prepare any of these dishes in time for lunch. None of the thousand-step, complex recipes of The Hairy Bikers' Great Curries--a book that looked gorgeous when I bought it, but that I have never had time or space to use because of the complexity and expense involved in their "look at me" curries. Now for the quibble: The brightly-coloured photos are gorgeous to look at, and chime with the "travelogue" nature of the original TV series, but they take up a lot of space in the book. I would have preferred labelled photos of each finished dish, in order of presentation. Several dishes are photographed, but they are not labelled, and at times you have to page back and forth to identify what you're looking at. That said, the recipes are eminently useable by anyone with any experience cooking their own food from scratch. (If you're a member of the microwave readymeal generation, start with any of Anjum Anand's books and work your way up.) These recipes are simple, delicious, and they work if you know which side of a saucepan to put the food in. I do object to Stein's ethnocentric TV-chef-god attitudes, like on page 266 where he has the temerity to state: "I reflected that I probably knew more about Goan vindaloo than they (his Bangladeshi guides) did", and the silly idea that there is something intrinsically "wonderful" about poverty that makes those who live one meal away from starvation not really mind it. His editors should have stepped in at that point. As a cookbook, it works. And that's really what it's all about, at least for me.

I have watched the series of Rick Stein cooking in India; I like his genuine enthusiasm and have so far enjoyed all his series because he brings such obvious enjoyment and appreciation to what he experiences and cooks. India is dear to my heart and I wondered if it would work but it has....the photography is good and he has some special encounters. So....I bought the book and am delighted. Someone criticized it and said it looked cheap....NO it looks Indian with all the multi-coloured vivacity of India. This book is a delight and he simplifies some things and educates as well. I already know how to cook Indian food from having been brought up there and with my annual returns to the Land of my birth but there is always something one learns and some of the spice combinations are very good. This is a book to enjoy and dive into and from which to extract information and apply as you think fit....I cannot eat chillies in the volumes he can! Personally I consider the series may do a lot to encourage tourism to India and that is something dear to my heart. India The Peacock's Call by Dobbie, Aline ( AUTHOR ) Oct-01-2008 Hardback India: The Tiger's Roar India: The Elephant's Blessing: 1 Quicklook at India (Quicklook Books)

What can I say. This book is a very interesting read and full of very colourful photographs of Rick's travels around India. The recipes are plentiful, very easy to follow and prepare. Upon completion of at least two of these I was left with a meal that I thought didn't look like a curry. But, as Rick says on his India programme its not curry as we know it. The result however was a very enjoyable meal which leaves you reaching for the book to create another taste sensation from within its pages. I really like spicy food and couldn't wait to make the vindaloo. Boom, what a hot curry that turned out to be, it definitely blew my socks off. I think the purchase of a decent grinder is a must to fully appreciate making your own garam masssala etc that really gives the recipes a boost. Eg the Andrew James coffee, nut and spice grinder available on Amazon. I disagree with the review that stated the book was full of photos and not enough recipes. There are plenty of recipes to go at and they will keep you busy for a long time.

Great book. Easy to follow and tasty recipes. Lovely pics. Need I say more?

great recipes