Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Bible

moody · 7 Jan 2012 at 14:41

My lovely parents got me Jaffrey's curry bible for Christmas and having looked through it I can't decide where to start. So many great sounding curry's. Anyonw got any recommendations?

robfosters · 7 Jan 2012 at 15:42

Start by making yourself something that you regularly order from a restaurant. Then move on to other stuff.

Your basic curries like madras and the like will be the easiest to start with.

bsoltan · 7 Jan 2012 at 15:45

The Rogan Josh gets a good recommendation here:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18286795&highlight=Jaffrey

MagicBoy · 7 Jan 2012 at 15:47

The Rogan Josh.

My Mum's been making it for 20 odd years and it's a firm family and friends favourite. The page in the original 80s book has gone translucent due to the fat spitting and the number of times it's been used!

PapaLazaru · 7 Jan 2012 at 17:00

I got her 'Curry Easy' book last year, it has some bloody fantastic recipes in it.

Psycho Sonny · 7 Jan 2012 at 22:26

overhyped tbh, she is from dehli and a muslim indian who moved to america. their cooking is completely different from the "punjabi" style of cooking in most indian restaurants.

you would be better off asking a punjabi housewife or punjabi granny for recipes.

PapaLazaru · 8 Jan 2012 at 11:43

Psycho Sonny said:
overhyped tbh, she is from dehli and a muslim indian who moved to america. their cooking is completely different from the "punjabi" style of cooking in most indian restaurants.

you would be better off asking a punjabi housewife or punjabi granny for recipes.

Tiresome post.

MagicBoy · 8 Jan 2012 at 12:02

PapaLazaru said:
Tiresome post.

Very much so.

OP asked for recipe recommendations not racial profiling. It's a well known fact that British Indian cuisine is somewhat different to authentic Indian home cooked food.

jellybeard999 · 8 Jan 2012 at 13:37

Psycho Sonny said:
overhyped tbh, she is from dehli and a muslim indian who moved to america. their cooking is completely different from the "punjabi" style of cooking in most indian restaurants.

What's that got to do with anything. You don't have to be from the region and lived there to cook a dish.

MehulLakhani · 8 Jan 2012 at 14:58

Psycho Sonny said:
overhyped tbh, she is from dehli and a muslim indian who moved to america. their cooking is completely different from the "punjabi" style of cooking in most indian restaurants.

you would be better off asking a punjabi housewife or punjabi granny for recipes.

Sorry, as an indian, I have to agree.

R

Mehul

MagicBoy · 8 Jan 2012 at 15:13

MehulLakhani said:
Sorry, as an indian, I have to agree.

R

Mehul

and?

The OP asked for recipe recommendations from her book which he already has, not "How authentic do you think Maddur Jaffrey's recipes are?".

Sheesh!

Psycho Sonny · 8 Jan 2012 at 16:59

jellybeard999 said:
What's that got to do with anything. You don't have to be from the region and lived there to cook a dish.

properly? then yes you do unfortunately as most of it is a "trade" secret and takes several hours to do properly.

i can tell instantly when i eat indian food whether the chef is punjabi or not.

jizzyJames · 8 Jan 2012 at 17:12

Psycho Sonny said:
properly? then yes you do unfortunately as most of it is a "trade" secret and takes several hours to do properly.

i can tell instantly when i eat indian food whether the chef is punjabi or not.

still fact remains that this is a bit of a side issue to the original request which was "what can you recommend from the madhur jaffrey curry bible?".

imo there is no 'proper' way to do a dish as this is heavily subjective. If it tastes good, then that is 'authentic' in its own way. Even dishes from regions will evolve over centuries as different regional foods become more/less common and different generations develop their own takes on dishes

FrenchTart · 8 Jan 2012 at 17:17

jizzyJames said:
still fact remains that this is a bit of a side issue to the original request which was "what can you recommend from the madhur jaffrey curry bible?".

imo there is no 'proper' way to do a dish as this is heavily subjective. If it tastes good, then that is 'authentic' in its own way. Even dishes from regions will evolve over centuries as different regional foods become more/less common and different generations develop their own takes on dishes

Exactly.

It's not as if authenticity is the be-all and end-all in regards to the 'niceness' of a meal.

For some dishes (brawn, anyone?) I can only imagine that the less authentic the dish the better.

Psycho Sonny · 8 Jan 2012 at 17:23

i doubt any of you would say this if you tasted an authentic one, there is a reason why it takes a minimum of several hours to make one, the taste is completely different.

i went to a mates house, whose family is also sikh and punjabi, they had made lamb and it was awful, so you do get people who are from there and cant cook. but the majority of them can if they are traditional.

rather than buy a commercialized average recipe book from someone who isn't even a proper chef, get a decent recipe from a proper punjabi housewife. proper punjabi housewifes in the UK are rare these days most likely going to have to go for the granny angle imo.

FrenchTart · 8 Jan 2012 at 17:29

Psycho Sonny said:
i doubt any of you would say this if you tasted an authentic one, there is a reason why it takes a minimum of several hours to make one, the taste is completely different.

i went to a mates house, whose family is also sikh and punjabi, they had made lamb and it was awful, so you do get people who are from there and cant cook. but the majority of them can if they are traditional.

rather than buy a commercialized average recipe book from someone who isn't even a proper chef, get a decent recipe from a proper punjabi housewife. proper punjabi housewifes in the UK are rare these days most likely going to have to go for the granny angle imo.

You can believe that if you like but it's not like the various types of "indian" food have the monopoly on having authentic recipes and non-authentic recipes.

Authenticity is a great thing and everyone should experience it but to someone with a well-rounded palate it should be part of the experience and not be the only way to eat food. There's a lot to be said about appreciating each kind of recipe/style for what it is - and authenticity does not always exactly correlate to quality.

jizzyJames · 8 Jan 2012 at 17:30

Psycho Sonny said:
i doubt any of you would say this if you tasted an authentic one, there is a reason why it takes a minimum of several hours to make one, the taste is completely different.

i went to a mates house, whose family is also sikh and punjabi, they had made lamb and it was awful, so you do get people who are from there and cant cook. but the majority of them can if they are traditional.

rather than buy a commercialized average recipe book from someone who isn't even a proper chef, get a decent recipe from a proper punjabi housewife. proper punjabi housewifes in the UK are rare these days most likely going to have to go for the granny angle imo.

I don't know any punjabi housewife or grannies..

also - what would you recommend in the Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Bible?

MagicBoy · 8 Jan 2012 at 17:41

jizzyJames said:
I don't know any punjabi housewife or grannies..

also - what would you recommend in the Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Bible?

He wouldn't, he just trolls.

Psycho Sonny · 8 Jan 2012 at 18:24

i dont have the book so i couldnt recommend anything, i thought the whole point in buying the book was to make the recipes you like the look of, everyone has different personal tastes, somebody could recommend one which they absolutely love but you absolutely hate it, so i recommend you just make whatever you like the look of and dont follow anyone else's recommendation although, i doubt any of the recipes are "special" or authentic tbh.