Review + Blog Tour: 'Curry Compendium' by Richard Sayce

 While I enjoyed the occasional curry, I didn't really get into the real love for it until I moved to the UK. Curry houses are on every street corner there and all of their food is absolutely delicious. During lockdown I found myself occasionally experimenting with curry dishes, not always successfully. So naturally I gravitated to the Curry Compendium as soon as I saw it. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and thank you to Literally PR for including me in the blog tour!

Pub. Date: 9/10/2021
Publisher: Literally PR

Lockdown saw a surge in people trying to recreate restaurant flavours at home – and now Brits want more inspiration as they get bolder in the kitchen.

In Curry Compendium, Richard Sayce expertly combines both volumes of his best-selling, Gourmand award-winning Indian Restaurant Curry at Home books, with a sprinkling of new recipes, to create the ultimate guide to cooking excellent British Indian Restaurant food in your own kitchen.

Richard Sayce, the man behind Misty Ricardo’s Curry Kitchen, is renowned by his many fans for quality recipes, attention to detail and his affable style. Having sold more than 50,000 copies of his first books, and amassing over six million views of his recipes on YouTube, there is a huge appetite for this new magnus opus packed with mouth-watering, easy-to-follow recipes.

Curry Compendium includes starters, side dishes, curries, rice and bread, along with a generous portion of traditional and street food style recipes. Readers benefit from supporting YouTube tutorials for the majority of recipes, each with a QR code to scan with a smartphone/tablet to watch online instantly. 

Key to know with Curry Compendium is that the recipes and tips featured in this book are geared towards British Indian Restaurant (BIR) food. This does differ from traditional Indian cuisine although, as a novice, I couldn't entirely point out the exact differences. The clear and detailed introduction by Sayce, however, lays out his love for and experience with BIR and it got me very excited for trying out his recipes. The General Information is also really useful because I can't tell you the amount of times I have poured over recipes and wondered what they meant by a spoonful. Is it heaped or is it flat? How thick is a sauce meant to be? All of this is explained right at the start, alongside suggestions of how to combat initial hiccups or taste issues. Working with spices can be tricky and I was really glad that so much attention was paid to it at the beginning. It gave me more confidence going into the cooking process!

From Base Gravy to basic Mixed Spices, Sayce starts you at the beginning, with the basics that need to be nailed to then build into a solid curry practice. The recipes aren't the most straightforward in the sense that they feature a lot of ingredients and have detailed steps. However, as Sayce says himself, with BIR food this absolutely pays off and adds to the complexity of flavour. Don't let the amount of information put you off. Rather, read through it step by step and let it sink in. A few recipes I am absolutely desperate to try is the Starters' recipe for Samosas. These are a no-brainer for me whenever I eat at a curry house or order Indian food, so learning how to make them is high on my list! Since I don't have a fryer I'm glad he also provided a way to bake them. Madras Curry is also high on my list, even if I'm not one of the grumpy men that usually make up its fanbase. While Tikka Masala looks intimidating it is also on my list and the steps are laid out so clearly that I have a great hope it will succeed. Since I predominantly eat vegetarian I was also very happy to have a section dedicated to that. The moment I find a store here in the Netherlands that sells paneer all of these curries are happening! Also Aloo Gobi, that is also happening.

What I really appreciated is that many elements of this book are accompanied either with step-by-step explanations featuring photos or QR codes to videos on Sayce's Youtube page. Sometimes you just need that extra guidance! This is all part of the personal touch that really shines from every page. Sayce's love for this cuisine and his years of experimenting and perfecting are clear from each recipe. I also liked that almost every recipe has Notes, which allow you to take the recipe a step further or to make it slightly easier, depending on how you're feeling that night. While cooking a proper curry still feels slightly intimidating, I feel a lot more secure after having read Curry Compendium. With all these tips and ideas, I think I'm in for some delicious meals, lockdown or no!

I give this book...

4 Universes!

Curry Compendium is a great BIR cookbook, full of incredibly useful tips and delicious recipes! Whether you want to go spicy or start with practicing side-dishes, Sayce has something for everyone!

Also, check out below a recipe I already tried myself: Raita, or Mint Sauce!