Kirkham Kris - The curry guy veggie: over 100 vegetarian Indian restaurant classics and new dishes to make at home

CONTENTS

Cooking has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I love the thrill of mixing spices and other ingredients to create delicious, homemade feasts for family and friends. For the past 25 years, my main food obsession has been Indian food. There is always something new to learn and another exciting mouthful to enjoy.

It wasnt just the amazing flavours and textures that fuelled my desire to learn more. It was the way you could cook from a list of exotic ingredients to create a popular dish and then tweak the recipe ever so slightly to come up with another that was equally colourful and tasty.

If, like me, youve taken your search for the perfect Indian meal beyond what is on offer at the traditional British curry house, you arent alone! I recently took a couple trips out to India with the sole purpose of comparing what I had learned and made at home with what was being served out there. Luckily, the most popular and authentic Indian dishes have now made their way to the UK and beyond, and it is my goal with this cookbook to demonstrate just how quickly and easily you can master them at home.

You might know that my first cookbook, The Curry Guy, was mostly about the recipes many of us have grown to love at our favourite local curry houses. My second, The Curry Guy Easy, continued on that topic but a few more recipes from the new and hugely popular Indian-run restaurants made their way onto the pages all simplified for the home cook. Now, Ive gone all out to give you the recipes for the must try vegetarian dishes being served all round the country. These dishes are in such high demand that even the most traditional British curry houses are finding it essential to up their game with their vegetarian dishes. Imagine being able to whip up these mouth-watering Indian meals whenever you want. This collection of recipes should give you what youre looking for.

When I first mentioned on social media that I wanted to write a vegetarian Indian cookbook, the response was fantastic! There were a few hardened carnivores out there, however, who gave it to me plain and simple: there was no way they would be purchasing that book! I took that as a challenge. Some of the best vegetarian food in the world comes from India and I didnt want them to miss out. Hopefully, they and you will trust me on this one and give these recipes a go.

Many of my dishes are also vegan, and where theyre not Ive given make it vegan variations if possible so you can still enjoy most recipes if youre egg- and dairy-free.

Personally, I have loved every minute of writing and developing the recipes here. Believe me, it took some time to get them just right but there was never a dull moment. I found it fascinating that many of these recipes had been around in some shape or form for hundreds of years but so many of them were new to me. I hope you find the process of preparing different ingredients in lots of different ways as enlightening as I did.

One thing I would like to stress is that some of the best recipes take time to prepare. The actual work involved, however, is not difficult. I have attempted to keep the recipes as authentic as possible, though at times I couldnt help but throw in a few curve balls. Im not going to mention them here but hope you enjoy them if you encounter one or two.

Im @TheCurryGuy on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and Im happy to answer recipe questions. You might also like to watch my new YouTube channel, where I demonstrate the recipes in my books. Heres the link: www.youtube.com/c/dantoombs

Happy Cooking!

Dan

Many people find the idea of cooking Indian food a bit daunting. They falsely believe that there are too many ingredients and techniques for the meal to ever go right! However, the required cooking techniques are mostly quite simple. A few things, like making dosas, might take a little practice to get right, but even if your thin and crispy dosas look more like fat pancakes, youll still end up with a delicious meal. Also, although many of the ingredients in the following recipes might be new to you, youll find that most of them are used in different ways and are therefore good to have at hand. For this reason, I have included a you will want to purchase in large or small quantities, depending on how often you want to enjoy amazing home-cooked Indian food.

To get the most out of this cookbook, there are a few things you can do to make the following recipes even better and easier.

1) Fresh is usually best: One of the most important things you can do for optimum flavour, texture and visual appeal is use the freshest ingredients. You might be happy to hear, however, that you can often save time and cheat while getting even better results. Using frozen spinach or tinned (canned) tomatoes, for example, can add amazing colour to a dish with no loss of flavour or goodness. I prefer dried beans that I soak and cook myself, but tinned (canned) are a good substitute. I wrote all the recipes as I make them at home, using the ingredients fresh, frozen or tinned as I feel work best, but feel free to adjust these recipes to better suit how you cook or what you have on hand.

2) Get your ingredients ready before you start: At my cookery classes, many people are surprised at how simple it is to whip up an amazing curry even when the recipe calls for a lot of exotic ingredients. The key to ease and success is getting everything prepared before you start cooking. You dont want to be burning your delicious tempered spices while youre looking for an onion to chop in the next step. Simply prepare the ingredients and place them in the order you will be using them. You then only need to read the recipe and add the ingredients when required.

3) Get the recipe right for you: I recommend tasting the food as you cook it. This will help you memorize the flavours of the different spices and other ingredients you add and make it possible for you to adjust the recipes to taste. These are all authentic recipes but cooking them to your liking will not make them any less authentic. Dont be a slave to the recipes. If you feel more chilli powder will make the dish better, add it. If you prefer fresh chopped tomatoes to tinned (canned), go for it. My recipes evolve over time and I change them often. You can do the same so that they are perfect for you.

RECIPE LABELS

I have labelled each recipe with one or more symbols to better help you find the ones you want to try.

	30 mins or less: Look for this when you want to whip something up quickly.
	Low and slow: A longer cooking time is essential for these recipes but the work involved is usually quite simple.
	Fermenting or soaking time required: Fermenting different batters and pastes is key to getting that flavour.