Product Description

This title is all about taking Indian cooking one step further by crossing the cultural cuisine divide. With people having less time and money to spend on food, Manju's recipes concentrate on being good value and easy to prepare, using various ingredients from British and Indian cultures. The recipes explore cooking Indian food in an uncoventional way and are aimed at a wide cross-section of readers, especially young and inexperienced cooks. Manju will also give readers her versions of some favourite, more established curries. Also, she teaches readers how to rustle up quick Indian meals using Western ingredients such as European bread, smoked bacon and baked beans, as well as how to quickly prepare concoctions of mixed spices. Menu suggestions are also given.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #835960 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
Many Indians, on arriving in this country, found a lack of their familiar cooking ingredients. The result initially, was improvisation with an eclectic mix of traditional British and authentic Indian: curried baked beans, Indian-style bubble and squeak and spam masala. With today's multicultural society and proliferation of Eastern food markets, Indian ingredients are easy to get hold of - even from the supermarket. But that fusion of Brit-Indian cookery survives, and Manju Malhi provides a fascinating insight into this peculiarly British/Indian form of cooking. Chatty, fresh writing infuses the book along with her youthful enthusiasm for the subject. Like many people today, she is keen to eat good, fresh food made in the minimum of time - hence her ten minute Chicken Korma! Chutneys, breads, puddings, vegetarian and meat dishes, the range is individual, easy-to-make and clearly explained, accompanied by tempting colour photographs to whet the appetite. Nearly all the recipes can be made within half an hour and embrace a wide range of ingredients for a truly Brit-Spice experience. - Lucy Watson

About the Author
In 1999 voice-over artist Manju Malhi beat hundreds of other contestants to secure a guest cookery slot on BBC2's Food and Drink. Since then she has presented her own television show for Taste called 'Simply Indian' and she is the face behind Tamarind Fine Foods.

Customer Reviews

Fast, easy and super yummy
I came across this book by chance. I cook for myself and was looking for quick and simple indian recipes.

Not knowing anything about Manju but I was taken in by the layout of the book (- easy to read) and the stunning photos that was really mouthwatering to look at.

All the recipes I tried were really quick and easy to prepare. As Manju put it "as long as you've all the spices, you can't go wrong." Yep, I stocked up on all the spices and all my Indian cooking endeavour were highly successful.

After two months of having this wonderful cookbook, my must-try recipes are "Tandoori Chicken with Coriander", "Chicken Kurma with Beer" and "Potatoes with Dried Red Chillies".

A great book for beginners. Great recipes. Fuss-free Indian cooking.

Destined to become dog-eared and covered in food stains
Indian food is something I have always enjoyed, and yes in my youth I did the Vindaloo thing with my mates after a night out, but being able to cook it has always eluded me - partly by being daunted by the recipes and partly through being unable to find the ingredients. Many years ago I was given an Indian recipe book (late seventies) but for all the use it was it might have been written in a foreign language. Half of the ingredients I had never heard of and most of the others were almost impossible to obtain.

Times have changed since then but I have still regarded Indian cooking as a bit of a mystery - and, if I'm honest, all those ingredients seemed like too much trouble. But that was before . . . before I got my hands on a copy of 'Brit Spice' written by Manju Malhi.

You collect cookery books over the years and most of them, after an initial glance, are confined to reside, unopened, on the kitchen bookshelf. It is only one or two that become dog-eared and covered in food stains - the really useful ones! Brit Spice is destined to be one of the latter.

You have to get yourself a copy of this cookery book even if you have never aspired to cook Indian food. The recipes are fascinating, and make for a good read in themselves - it is one of the first cookery books I have sat and read a bit like reading a novel. But it is not just the recipes, Brit Spice dispels the illusion that it is impossible to cook Indian food. It explains what is involved. Do you know what Garam Masala is? I thought it was a strange name for some obscure Indian spice - it's not, it's a mixture of spices and "each Indian household produces its own unique blend of spices". The book tells you how to make your own.

Brit Spice is the book that will teach you about Indian food from utensils through spices to a complete range of recipes, some traditional Indian and some not quite so traditional, such as Masala Mushy Peas!

The book is well written in a relaxed style which makes it both easy to read, as well as easy to follow when preparing a recipe. All the information you require is contained within the book and none of the recipes are over complicated. A nice touch are the personal comments Manju has added to each recipe.

Don't wait to put this on your Christmas list, go out and get it now. There are so many wonderful and surprising recipes to make.

Tasty, quick curry - who could ask for more?
This book is great, the recipes are so easy to follow and end up so tasty that after trying out the Baked Bean Balti, I was desperate to try another.

The Indian Style Bubble and Squeak is now a firm favourite on my menu, and I can't imagine making bubble and squeak without the Indian spices.

I thoroughly recommend this book for those who want to make quick tasty Indian food without having to scour the supermarket shelves for weird and wonderful ingredients.