Topic: Curry Influences and Archives

[Stephen Lindsay]

Like others I guess Madhur Jaffrey and Pat Chapman have been inspirations but I wondered - how far back do your curry books go?

OK you'll find curry recipes in very old general cookery books (probably a relic of the days of the Raj) but what I'm talking about here is book dedicated to curry or to Indian Cookery.

The first two books I bought, probably in the early 1980s and I think were purchased at John Menzies (former large retailer in Scotland bought over by WH Smith) and they are:

"The Complete Book of Curries" by Harvey Day (1978) and "Cook Indian" by P. Majumder (1980). The Harvey Day book, is I believe a compendium of five curry books written between 1955 and 1970. The Majumber book is pretty much a home style cookery book.

Any other gems lurking in your loft?

[Frying Tonight]

I recently got Mrs Balbir Singh's Indian Cookery from a second hand bookshop.  It was written in 1961 and revised with new material in 1975.  I wouldnt call it a gem really, more a curiosity.  If you ever need a recipe for brain curry (mutton), let me know.