Great Curries - Poor Editing
When I started reviewing all my cookbooks my main goal was to cull my huge collection and get to a manageable number of books that would fit on my kitchen shelves. A huge, and unexpected, bonus has been the interest my children have taken in helping with this project. My son, in particular, is always excited to pick a book, thumb through the photos or menus, and pick several dishes to review. Then they are even excited to taste the results!
This book was entirely David’s project. He selected the book, The Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. He selected the menu: White Lamb Korma, Pulao Rice, Peas and Carrots and Indian Bread Pudding (Shahi Tukra).
To begin, this is a beautiful book with a full-page color photo of each dish. It also contains my favorite Red Chutney recipe, a lovely onion/date/ketchup combination that is spectacular on everything. Its flaws, which are frustrating, are in the editing. For example, The White Lamb Korma listed in the menus doesn’t actually exist. There is a white chicken korma or a lamb shank korma. We made the lamb because the picture paired it with the pulao rice so we suspect that was the intended dish. Some items in the index are listed on incorrect pages as well. The recipes themselves seem to be correct and well tested.
The lamb shank korma (Nalli Korma/Lucknow) was delicious! Tons of spices, yogurt and rose water combine to make a simmering sauce. The lamb is tender and flavorful. I left the chilis out of this dish, and both kids loved it.
Pulao rice is basmati cooked with caramelized onions, cinnamon and clove. It was close enough to risotto that my kids didn’t notice, except that they picked out the onions. I thought it was flavorful, and not that much harder to make than regular rice. In fact, if you pre-caramelize the onions, you could put the dish into your rice cooker.
The peas and carrots is actually called peas and carrots with cumin. The kids were less excited about this dish. Despite the title, it has a lot of ginger and hot peppers. Leaving the heat out, the dish was still a nice blend of spices stewed in tomatoes with the peas and carrots. I think it was too complicated for the kids, but Cris and I liked it.
Indian cuisine isn’t known for its desserts, and Shahi Tukra is a good reason why. This isn’t a bread pudding as we New Englanders think of bread pudding. It is thin slices of white bread, fried in ghee and served in a sauce of spiced evaporated milk. We liked the milk in our coffee, but the dessert fell flat.
All together the meal was great. We’ll keep the book, but it is an example of how poor editing can make a book frustrating to navigate. Luckily, time was spent on the recipes and the photographs so once you find what you are looking for, it’s great.
This book was entirely David’s project. He selected the book, The Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. He selected the menu: White Lamb Korma, Pulao Rice, Peas and Carrots and Indian Bread Pudding (Shahi Tukra).
To begin, this is a beautiful book with a full-page color photo of each dish. It also contains my favorite Red Chutney recipe, a lovely onion/date/ketchup combination that is spectacular on everything. Its flaws, which are frustrating, are in the editing. For example, The White Lamb Korma listed in the menus doesn’t actually exist. There is a white chicken korma or a lamb shank korma. We made the lamb because the picture paired it with the pulao rice so we suspect that was the intended dish. Some items in the index are listed on incorrect pages as well. The recipes themselves seem to be correct and well tested.
The lamb shank korma (Nalli Korma/Lucknow) was delicious! Tons of spices, yogurt and rose water combine to make a simmering sauce. The lamb is tender and flavorful. I left the chilis out of this dish, and both kids loved it.
Pulao rice is basmati cooked with caramelized onions, cinnamon and clove. It was close enough to risotto that my kids didn’t notice, except that they picked out the onions. I thought it was flavorful, and not that much harder to make than regular rice. In fact, if you pre-caramelize the onions, you could put the dish into your rice cooker.
The peas and carrots is actually called peas and carrots with cumin. The kids were less excited about this dish. Despite the title, it has a lot of ginger and hot peppers. Leaving the heat out, the dish was still a nice blend of spices stewed in tomatoes with the peas and carrots. I think it was too complicated for the kids, but Cris and I liked it.
Indian cuisine isn’t known for its desserts, and Shahi Tukra is a good reason why. This isn’t a bread pudding as we New Englanders think of bread pudding. It is thin slices of white bread, fried in ghee and served in a sauce of spiced evaporated milk. We liked the milk in our coffee, but the dessert fell flat.
All together the meal was great. We’ll keep the book, but it is an example of how poor editing can make a book frustrating to navigate. Luckily, time was spent on the recipes and the photographs so once you find what you are looking for, it’s great.