The New Curry Bible
The Ultimate Modern Curry House Recipe Book
Customer Reviews on Amazon (in date order)
Takeaway curries made @ home
7 Mar 2004
5 Star review by lynnecox2
This is really a lovely book clearly set out, stunning pictures, although in saying this you do have some page hopping for various gravies etc. Which can be a bit annoying when you are trying to assemble your shopping list! Also some of the ingredients may be hard to find. But the information on herbs and spices is very good and its great to fun making takeaway style curries at home all the old favorites are here and its far more satisfying to make it yourself. However I still have not managed to find a recipe for Prawn Puree that tastes like the takaway version. The hunt goes on ... Definitely a book worth having.
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The bible it ain't
9 Jun 2004
1 Star review by leighmurphyuk
As a curry freak I bought this book immediately with the intention of making restaurant style curries at home but alas it hasn't worked out that way! To start with Pat tells us we need to find and mix 15 spices to make the masala, find them and after that it gets difficult!believe me, It takes an absolute age and I have had very mixed results mostly poor. Friends of mine feel the same (It's not just me!). Sorry Pat but the bible it ain't! Not by a long chalk.
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Curry Aficiandos Need Look No Further For Great Food
31 Oct 2004
5 star review from Vernon Levy, Leeds UK.
This book is will be hated or adored because of its content structure. This is not the book to buy if you want to make and serve a curry within an hour of buying the book. The book, and any curries that are cooked from its recipies, benefit from an unhurried approach to making the first curry after purchase. A planning session is needed after a skim through the book to get an insight into how the curries are sometimes dependant on sauces and spice blends that are described elsewhere in the book.
I have 'a feel' for cook books and knew, tempered by previous ownership of one of Pat Chapman's other Curry Club books, that this book would deliver high quality meals from its recipes. I have yet to be disappointed by the results. Yes, one does need an extensive collection of spices if one wants to cook every dish in the book but it's still possible to make many of the recipes using just a handful of different spices and/or herbs.
Some folk will resent having to flick backwards and forwards to gather the components of a meal together but this resentment can be overcome by deciding to set aside some time to plan the sequence of the cooking of the dishes.
I've been using Pat Chapmand recipes for nigh on 20 years and can recommend their ability to deliver high quality, full flavoured curries without reservation. Your future guests will thank you for the purchase of this book unless, of course, you pass off the dishes as being your own creations.
A secondary purpose of the book is education. Many of the dishes, herbs and spices have detailed descriptions of their histories and use in curries. The histories of the use of the herbs and spices make fascinating reading. Buy the book, learn about, and cook great meals. You'll not be disappointed.
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Excellent, but maybe not for beginners
5 Jul 2005
5 star review from J. P. Hartley,Amsterdam, Netherlands.
I'm somewhat surprised that one of the previous reviewers gave this book a 1 star rating. I have just finished cooking my first recipe and thought it was absolutely sensational. My girlfriend of 3 years said it was one of the best dinners I have ever made. The book is beautifully packaged and has some wonderful stories and explanations, as well as recipes. There is one caveat; this book isn't for absolute beginners. And it definitely isn't for people that want a quick fix. Before you can cook your first recipe, you are going to need to do some planning. There are three basic mixtures, which you need to prepare:
1. Garam Masala
2. Curry Masala
3. Tandoori Masala
To prepare these you will need approximately 20 different spices. Some of these like bay leaves, black pepper and cloves you probably will already have. The rest you are going to have to hunt down, these include mango powder, asafoetida powder and annatto seeds. Depending on where you live some of these might be quite hard to get hold of. I went out for the afternoon and after scouring a specialist shop and an Indian shop I managed to get hold of 19 out 20 of these. I couldn't get beetroot powder, but I juiced some beetroot and boiled this down and used it as a substitute.
Once you have acquired all of this, it will take you an hour or two to weigh them out and mix them together. Now you have your basic pastes. And this is when the magic starts. Armed with this, nearly all of the recipes can be prepared in less than 30 minutes, some of them closer to 20 minutes. And if my first recipe is anything to go by, they are delicious. And having all of these spices handy, means that you have everything ready for any of the other recipes.
So inclusion this book isn't for absolute beginners and it takes some initial investment in time and resources. But the recipes are clear and are easy to follow step by step; it is not rocket science. And once you make this initial investment it seems so worthwhile.
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Excellent!
3 Sep 2005
5 star review from A Customer
I'm just amazed someone gave this book a paltry one star! I've had the book for a few weeks now and I'm delighted with the results. But I'll be honest with you, I've only made one curry from the book. I keep going back to it because it's so GOOD! (It's a Madras by the way). As another reviewer here describes, there is quite a lot of preparation involved. If you're looking for an meal prepared in in 30 minutes, don't go for this book, or Indian food in general. Go and stir-fry something! You must spend quite a bit of money on spices. You mix various combinations of these spices into a masala. From the masala you can make a number of masala gravies which act as "base" sauces for your curries. Then you just add various ingredients depending on your curry recipe. I normally make a huge batch of curry masala gravy and freeze it in 1lb. tubs. Very handy. I did a lot of research on curry books before plumping for this one. I'm very happy with it and looking forward to creating more dishes.
Pat says: To see the Madras Curry pages click here.
If you are looking for a curry prepared in under 30 minutes you need my Quick After Work Curry book (click here) to view it.
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Curry heaven
30 Aug 2006
5 star review from A.Randell, Staffs UK
Having made curries for several years now I can honestly say this is the best book by a long way, I have one other of Pat's cook books that I thought was good but this is way better. Yes there is a lot of preparation to start with, but that's the same whichever book you look at and some spices may be hard to find but any good local asian grocer will stock them. I've used the book 3 times to do sheek kebab, chicken tikka, prawn pathia and a dhansak and all turned out lovely. I buy most of my spices whole and then roast and grind them myself - last longer and smell lovely, and yes it can be a pain having to roast and grind them but you get out of these recipies what you put in. In short if you want a quick meal have a stir fry, if you want a nice curry then be prepared to put a couple of hours aside and then enjoy the results of your labour.
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Not for 'quick-fix' curry paste fans - good!
3 Dec 2006
5 star review from J.Wilkinson, Yorkshire.
In our house we both love cooking all kinds of Asian food. Pat's books have been a favourite of ours for many years and yet we have learned new tips and blends of ingredients from this new book. So many cookery books are published to sit elegantly on some coffee-table, destined never to become dog-eared from frequent thumbing, especially in the UK where we seem to have an obsession with reading about cookery but never doing it ourselves!
Assembling the ingredients is NOT a chore if, as with the spices, you ensure they're always in stock. What are spice drawers for if not for spices? Car keys/elastic bands/spare nails? This book will certainly encourage everyone to have a kitchen that has great smells wafting round the room every time you open different drawers (better and healthier than any artifical air freshener!).
Make time to (re-)discover the joy of making your dinners from scratch - this book positively demands it. The results are rewarding, believe me.
Go for it!
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Very good...just a quick warning though
7 Feb 2007
5 Star review by M. CORT (Leicester. U.K)
Although this book is very good, if you have the 'older' version, then don't buy this....they are both EXACTLY the same. My girlfriend bought me this thinking it was a different book, it's not. I'm gutted.
Anyway, the recipes are very good. No 'curry in a hurry' here which suits me fine.
Pat says: Sorry about the confusion in the title. When Hodder, the original publisher, decided to drop the original book, I took it to Blake (Metro) publishers. It was them who decided to add the word 'New' to the title without explanation to you or me. But I'm delighted that even so, you like it enough to give it a 5 Star rating. ____________________________________________________
(click here) to return to Hardback New Curry Bible page.
(click here) to return to Paperback New Curry Bible page.
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