2008-11-18 Far from the Madhur crowd or Singh for your supper

A superb little book. I have a couple of other curry books but this is by far and away my favourite. The recipies are, as the sub-title says, a combination of the traditional- rogan josh, vindaloo, bhuna etc- and the contemporary.It is here that critics of the book will no doubt take umbrage. They will complain that these contemporary takes are just a little too eager to impress Michelin judges, a little to far from the Madhur crowd. Cynics will find ample ammunition for their arguments in the seemingly incongruous use of expensive ingredients-Morel mushrooms and green pea curry anyone? As well as and in frequent concessions to Gaelic gastronomy:French trimmed racks of lamp, copious amounts of cream and sauces thickened with whisked in butter all make regular appearances. This, however, is to do the food a great disservice. The proof of the pudding is, after all, in the eating and these recipies are amongst the tastiest curries I've ever had. So far I've tried my hand at: a classic fiery Rajasthani curry (though I bottled out of using all 25 chillies!)an excellent lamb and beetroot curry ,a 'jungle' curry, the exquisite poussins in tomato and fenugreek sauce, and a the delectable lamb shanks with saffron and rose water, as well as a black lentil and a tadka dal. All have been delicious. The only recipie I found to be problematic, and hence the less then perfect five stars, was the Bengali-style fish curry. Which, despite claiming its unusualness for combining milk and yoghurt in the same recipe, then went on to ommit the milk from both the ingredients list and instructions when it was clearly needed. Hopefully these sort of issues will be resolved for the second pressing. It is a shame to have had to demote Vivek's inspiring book due to poor proof reading. So perhaps the final judgment, and best review should be this: I've only had the book a fortnight and I've already made eight dishes.