Dan Toombs - The Curry Guy Easy: 100 fuss-free British Indian Restaurant classics to make at home

For Caroline, Katy, Joe & Jennifer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

This cookbook celebrates over 100 of my favourite, easy curry house recipes that I cook all the time at home. These are recipes that represent the best of the British curry house, past, present and future. You might be surprised to learn that many of the recipes in this book have been served at curry houses for decades, but are only now catching on with the general public. Our tastes and expectations are changing and the best chefs are stepping up to the mark to ensure we are not disappointed.

When I set about writing a cookbook of easy curry house recipes, it took some time for me to get my head around exactly what easy meant. Curry house-style cooking was, after all, developed over the decades for ease, efficiency and economy. In British curry houses, there is a bit of prep work to do to get the recipes right, but few would consider the tasks difficult. Still, I knew there must be a way to get around doing some of the more tedious jobs without compromising on flavour. I think Ive done it with this book!

Its little wonder, with all the long lists of ingredients and perhaps unfamiliar cooking techniques, that many people find the idea of whipping up an Indian feast somewhat daunting. The thing is, many of the ingredients are used in varying amounts in almost every recipe and the techniques really arent that difficult. With the exception of some of the more speciality I have listed, you will probably already have what you need on hand. The majority of the ingredients required for these recipes can easily be sourced at your local supermarket.

If you have a copy of my first book The Curry Guy: Recreate over 100 of the best British Indian restaurant recipes at home, you will probably know that one of the most important recipes in curry house cooking is the famous base curry sauce. I have featured another authentic version in this book, but have also included a cheats recipe so that you can cook the sauce in minutes! My new will get you cooking amazing curry house-style curries in no time! Many chefs, however, no longer use or have never used a base curry sauce, opting to cook in a more traditional home-style. I have included information so that you can choose the cooking style you prefer or find easiest.

There was no way I wanted to compromise on taste by cutting corners just to make these recipes easy. I wanted the recipes to taste just as good as the dishes you will find at your favourite local curry house. If anything, they had to be better so that you would have a good reason to stay in and cook. So I have focused on what it is that we all want when we go out for a curry. There was a time when going out to our local Indian restaurant meant ordering a good chicken tikka masala, korma, jalfrezi or phaal, together with a few eagerly selected side dishes and a pint or three to wash it all down. For many, these classic curry house dishes are still top of the list, which is why I included so many of the old favourites in my first book. For others, going out is all about experiencing something new and exciting, just like the above mentioned curries were different and exciting back in their day.

Hopefully you will already have a copy of my first book and can refer to it for information on making my homemade spice blends and other base ingredients and pastes. I have written this book so that you can continue the journey and use it alongside the first. If you dont have a copy, no worries! All of the recipes featured here can be made with good-quality shop-bought spice blends and main ingredients. It just didnt feel right wasting book space with recipes I had already published. Besides, most busy curry houses use commercially available spice masalas and pastes, so you will get recognizable and delicious results using these recipes even if you decide to do the same.

I hope you enjoy cooking from this cookbook as much as I have enjoyed developing and serving the recipes to my family and friends. Cooking is my passion so please dont be a stranger. I am on Twitter and Facebook almost daily (@TheCurryGuy) and Id love to hear from you. Im happy to help you with any recipe questions you may have.

Happy Cooking!
Dan

One of the things I loved most when my first book was published was getting to know so many people, both online and at events. The feedback I received about that book was invaluable!

So many people I met loved the way they could take a few hours to do the forward preparation required to make curry house-style food and then easily whip up a curry in minutes whenever they wanted one. Of course I enjoyed getting that feedback but there was another group who wanted to make an Indian meal but didnt want to do all the preparation. Put simply, they didnt consider the recipes easy if they had to prepare other recipes to get started with the one they wanted to make.

I knew I needed to make the recipes in this book easy, regardless of what you consider to be easy. For this reason, I have labelled each recipe with what is required to make it, along with dietary information, so that you can see at a glance which is right for you. If you want something quick and easy, look for the 30 minutes or less badges. If you want a fuss-free recipe but have a little more time, look for the low and slow badges. The following labels will help you find the recipes that best suit your requirements.

DONT BE HOSTAGE TO THE RECIPES!

My goal with this book is to make it possible for you to cook recipes just like they do at the best British curry houses. Explanations on how to do this are in every recipe but please dont feel like you have to do exactly as I say. The most important thing in cooking delicious food is using the best-quality ingredients you can find. Everything else can be tailored to your own requirements. Pre-cooked meat, for example is called for in the section. Adding pre-cooked meat is done at restaurants for speed and flavour. Using the tender cooked meat and cooking stock in these curries will speed up the cooking time but if you dont have any prepared, you can still make the recipes. Just add the meat raw but remember, this may increase cooking times substantially as red meat needs to slowly simmer for 4060 minutes to become tender. Just add water or stock as needed and dont rush it. In the end, you have a magnificent curry. For the novice cook, the most important thing to remember is that very little can go wrong. Feel free to tweak these recipes to your own taste. If you think I have used more chilli powder than you will be comfortable with, reduce or omit it completely. If you want your curry spicier, add more chilli powder or fresh chillies. The same holds true for all of the ingredients.

RECIPE LABELS

	30 mins or less: Look for this icon when you just want something quick and easy.
	Low and slow: Longer cooking times are required but the preparation is simple.