Book of the month….
Actually, rather than just the month, maybe this is my favourite book of the year so far!
Curry: Fragrant Dishes from India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia
Anyone who knows me reasonably well knows I like chillis and hot food. Bec sometimes asks that we have something without chillis or spice in now and then, and my lip curls up (though we do have that plain type stuff now and then…) So this book was bound to appeal!
We’ve got some other curry books, but something about this book just really appeals. Somehow it’s a bit less fussy than some others. The ingredients are easily available here either in the supermarket, if not already in the spice drawer or fridge. It also really seems to get across the slight difference in regional ingredients, and therefore tastes, in the world of curry, and all the recipes we’ve tried have been fantastic so far. You might have seen the bread entry a couple of weeks ago. Even the bread is fantastic fun!
One thing I’ve really noticed, going though the book, and with the recipes we’ve already tried, it’s amazing how many are soooo close to each other, but but adding or removing just one ingredient, or changing just slightly the balance of spices etc, you get a completely different taste and/or texture.
I’d love to be able to just know the ingredients and methods well enough to get the exact taste I want without a recipe. I guess it’s just going to take a lot more practice. Damn! Oh well, the sacrifices we have to make for our art… Or dinner! However, it’s going to be harder to bring ourselves to try too many of some style of curries now we’ve found out how bad for you coconut cream/milk is!… I really, really wish we’d not found that out!
I’m really looking forward to trying all the recipes we’ve not got to yet!
Recommend it to anyone so far.