Product Description

There is truly no other curry book like this one. The recipes are not the traditional cuisine practised by Indians at home but the distinctive and well-loved variety served in Indian restaurants worldwide. Since its first publication nearly twenty years ago The Curry Secret has been a bestseller. It has grown, by word of mouth and reader recommendation, into a cult classic – it has even spawned internet forums where readers rave about the sauce. Following requests from those readers, Kris Dhillon has now updated the book to include a wider choice of dishes and brand new recipes for even more mouthwatering curries as well as all the established favourites. From Chicken Tikka Masala to Onion Bhajee, Aloo Gobi to Lamb Biryani, everyone’s favourite is here. Praise from readers: ‘Truly an excellent book and one that any Indian restaurant fan who enjoys cooking should have’ ‘The Holy Grail of curry cook books’ ‘This book is so good it’s unbelievable’

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #332 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From the Publisher
This is the curry book with a difference!

It gives the secret of Indian Restaurant Cooking – not the traditional cuisine practised by Indians at home – but the particularly interesting and distinctive variety that is served in Indian restaurants all over the world.

Kris Dhillon writes with the authority of an accomplished Indian restaurateur, with many years experience and thousands of satisfied customers. Most chefs guard closely the secret of their basic curry sauce, but in this book Kris Dhillon reveals all, and offers you the opportunity to reproduce that elusive taste, in your own kitchen.

Learn how to create chicken, lamb, fish and vegetable curries of mouth-watering quality as well as a wide variety of other Indian dishes.

About the Author
Kris Dhillon writes with the authority of an accomplished Indian restaurateur. With many years of experience and thousands of satisfied customers she is still flattered by the popularity of her recipes and by the volume of interest and debate they continue to provoke.

Customer Reviews

Cheap and cheerful, but does not give the secret, this review does !
If you want to get that basic Indian restaurant flavour then this book helps, but only to an extent. There is slightly more to it. You will get the basic texture correct and to some extent the character of restaurant food from the base gravy recipe in this book. But good restaurants do a little more and great restaurants do rather a lot more. In fact it takes many years of training to become a top Indian food chef.

I don't agree that this book truly gives the "curry secret". And I certainly don't think you have to boil all the ingredients as this book suggests. I have had the pleasure of being invited "back stage" at a couple of Indian restaurants and have joined in the cooking. They laughed when I told them about this book !

The real secret is adding a lot of salt to the onions and garlic paste as they fry. Its not really got anything to do with the spices. You must use a lot of oil and garlic - otherwise it won't work. For a curry base for 4 people you would use 4 shredded onions, at least 8 fat cloves of squashed garlic, fresh ginger puree and at least half a tea cup of vegetable oil and then add a good level teaspoon of salt ! Yes - that is a lot of salt I know. What happens here is that the salt draws out the garlic and onion flavours and that "chemistry" is what gives you the restaurant falvour. This takes about 20 minutes on quite a high heat - stir every thirty seconds, then add blended canned tomatoes, some fresh tomatoes, turmeric, methi powder, chilli, cumin, coriander and cardamom.

Stir in half a cup of natural yoghurt and cook vigorously for another 20 minutes stirring almost all the time adding water so the sauce does not burn. 5 minutes before serving add a teaspoon of garam masala and fresh coriander if you have some. For a creamy finish, blend the whole lot and add an inch of coconut block or coconut cream. Add half a can of tomato soup for Tikka Masala sauce - yes that is what the restaurants do ! And add single cream at the end. Trust me this little addition will work.

In summary it's the way that garlic and to a lesser extent the onions, salt and oil cook that gives that Indian restaurant aroma - not so much the spices. Obviously you would not have a curry without the spices, but they are the easy part - in my humble opinion.

One tip, pour off the excess oil or ghee you use for frying the garlic and onions and save it. Do this each time you make a curry and refrigerate the oil. It will keep fine for a few weeks. Or make your curry sauce two to three days (max) in advance and refrigerate. The aging process improves the flavour and gives more of a restaurant aroma.


A word of warning though as others have pointed out - the basic curry gravy as per this book absolutely stinks your house out and takes several days to get rid of ! Do it outside if you must, but as I say it's a red herring - you don't need to boil the onions, garlic and ginger.

This Book Delivers
Having read some of the other reviews I ordered this book. On the day of delivery I trotted off and bought (what my husband thought) was every spice imaginable. I then commenced with the basic curry sauce. Having got to the boiled onions, garlic and ginger stage it was a weird green colour. Hearing the comment of "Yeauhhhhh what's that"? and "I'm not eating that" from everyone who walked through the kitchen I had my doubts but I carried on. By Friday night the sauce was complete and in the fridge awaiting our home cooked Indian on Saturday Night. I prepared the chicken as stated in the book and made a Chicken Korma for the kids and a Chicken Dhansak for me and hubby. WOW the kids wolfed theirs down and we really really enjoyed our Dhansak. Both currys were worthy of any restaurant or takeaway. Husband has already put in his order for next week. I can't belive how easy each curry was to put together once you have the basic sauce. This book is a must for anyone who has tried and failed in the past to make a good curry at home and if this is the first curry book you buy, you have bought the best and won't need another one.

The proverbial Jewel in the Crown
This book is "The one"! Invest the time to make the base sauce (tip: carefully follow the instuctions about keeping the saucepan lid on! - alternatively leave the kitchen door open as the smell is aweful!) and then use it to make any of the curries you would find in a typical British curry house - with authentic taste, texture and appearance. I have bought many copies of this book for my friends and family and they in turn have bought copies for theirs. You will impress everyone with your curry cooking skills and become a legend in your own lifetime - seriously! This book is easy to follow and the results are awesome... it is the best bargain on the bookshelf - time for me to buy another copy as my current one is stained yellow and brown and has mangled pages from so much use.