first... make your basics

Curry Base
This recipe doesn't make a finished curry but it does produce the basic curry sauce that you will need to make restaurant style curries. Made by thousands of subcribers to The Curry House Cookery Book - you can't go wrong.

Chicken Curries
Part cooking the chicken in advance is a restaurant trick which allows the chicken to marinate in the Curry Base in which it was cooked and saves time later in the cooking. The downside is that you have to start cooking much earlier in the day (or the day before) and I have dispensed with pre-cooking altogether in Quick Meals from The Curry House.

Lamb Curries
If you want to use cheaper cuts of lamb you must pre-cook the meat as it would take far too long to cook in the curry itself and it would ruin the taste. The lamb options in Quick Meals from The Curry House use prime lamb steaks which are cooked by a much quicker method so there is no need to cook the meat in advance.

Prawn (shrimp) & Vegetarian Curries
No instructions are needed other than to add cooked prawns or a vegetarian ingredient a few minutes before the end of the cooking. Ready cooked prawns need no further cooking and if you go further than just heating them through they will end up tough and chewy. Your vegetarian option should be fully cooked before you add it to the curry to warm through.

Curry Stock
Many of the recipes below use my curry stock instead of water to loosen the sauce and to add flavour. It is not needed for the recipes in my new book.

Garam Masala
This is my tried and tested recipe for garam masala. It is used in some of the recipes below but not in my new book. The recipes in Quick Meals from The Curry House are made without any pre-mixed spice blends.

Aromatic Masala
This is a handy little masala.

snacks & starters

easy Samosas
These samosas are a bit of a cheat but are quick to make and (best of all) they are baked in the oven, not deep fried. They can be made with a vegetable filling or a lamb filling. They are delicious either way.

Aloo Tikki
Aloo Tikki are spicy potato cakes. They make an excellent starter or you could serve them as part of a spicy buffet.

curry recipes

Korai
The Korai is a fresh tasting curry with stir-fried peppers and tomatoes and garnished with spring onions (scallions) and coriander leaves (cilantro).

Moghul Masala
Moghul Masala is a rich curry with plenty of ginger, ground almonds, yoghurt and cream. It's an excellent alternative to Chicken Tikka Masala if you're looking for a change.

Madras / Vindaloo
This curry is in the style of a Madras or a Vindaloo. In Quick Meals from The Curry House there are separate recipes for Madras and vindaloo and they do not taste alike. In many restaurants though, the vindaloo is just a hotter version of the Madras except some vindaloos contain potato. This is a generic recipe for that kind of curry.

vegetable and dal recipes

Mixed Vegetable Curry
A mixed vegetable curry is the perfect accompaniment to a biryani. Indian restaurants usually throw in a vegetable curry when you order their biryani so you can moisten the dry biryani with the curry sauce from the vegetables. Exactly which vegetables you use is entirely up to you - mine uses potatoes, cauliflower and peas.

Masala Dal
Masala dal is a spicy lentil dish made with a mixture of masoor dal (split red lentils) and chana dal (Bengal gram).

dessert recipe

Kulfi
Kulfi is the classic Indian restaurant dessert. It's ice cream that tastes like fudge flavoured with cardamom and is garnished with chopped pistachio nuts.