• rees.linda on January 15, 2015

  Brilliant book.Royal Chicken Korma is delicious. I love this book. Recommended.

• mziech on December 07, 2011

  Book on curries, with recipes from many countries (incl Thailand, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa etc) though most recipes are from India. Chapters are organised per ingredient e.g. lamb, chicken and poultry, vegetables etc. Additional recipes such as drinks, breads, rices and chutneys to serve with the curries.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Kerala-style 'bhuna' lamb, pork, beef or veal (Kerala ka bhuna gosht)

  • tekobo on March 17, 2017

    Slow cooked and you need to take the time to stand and stir at the end, to "bhuna" the sauce. Added butter at the end to finish like Jasmein taught us.

• Lamb with cream (Malai gosht)

  • Ro_ on January 27, 2020

    I found this a little dull. Added some ground almonds and sugar to pep it up a bit. My partner, who likes creamy curries, really enjoyed it but for me personally it isn't something I would want to make again, there are much tastier creamy lamb curry recipes out there.

• Moghlai lamb with spinach (Paalag gosht)

  • Ro_ on October 23, 2023

    There is a LOT of spinach in this - I love spinach in curries, but I found the balance a bit off because it was a little on the bitter/sludgy side (and I used young, fresh spinach too). I served it with a yoghurt raita which really lifted the whole thing, I think this is a must to serve with this type of curry.

• Lamb 'kari' with a sauce of ground nuts

  • Ro_ on April 27, 2021

    This lacked depth of flavour somehow...I think it could have done with some acidity maybe? I added some sugar. It was really nice but not special enough to repeat. It was also REALLY rich and filling, kind of too much with all those nuts.

• Lamb in a 'karhi' sauce (Karhi gosht)

  • etcjm on November 17, 2019

    Really good. I only used 1 dry chilli at the end and you could use more (I thought 4 was a bit much). It was a bit thin so I added some ground almonds. It needed longer than the 55 mins to cook. It's more likely one of those pop in the oven low for 2 or 3 hours. Really saucy, served with rice and dry Bombay potatoes. Definitely a do again. Could be a slow cooker recipe after adding liquid I think. Winner.

• Meatballs in a curry sauce (Kofta curry)

  • Astrid5555 on September 27, 2015

    Excellent! Can be made ahead since uncooked meatballs need to rest in the fridge overnight. Sauce was a little soupy, would have preferred a real sauce, still delicious!

• Pork or beef in Penang chilli sauce (Penang moo)

  • Ro_ on December 18, 2023

    This sauce was delicious! My only regret is that the pork I bought was too lean: given that the meat will cook in the sauce for a short while I would go for something a little fattier next time to avoid drying out. Otherwise this dish was great, loved the peanut butter flavour and just the right level of heat.

• Goan pork with potatoes

  • deborah_hyuuw0 on April 18, 2026

    Put it oven for an hour on 160 fan. Really good flavour and quick to prepare.

• Pork in a mustard spice mix

  • deborah_hyuuw0 on April 18, 2026

    Very tasty and quick to prepare. Baked in oven at 160 fan for an hour.

• Beef, pork or lamb curry with fresh and dried coriander

  • Ro_ on September 17, 2023

    This seemed to be reduced reeeeally slowly, then next time I checked it had dried out totally and started burning. So I don't know if I can give it a fair review, but even so. The suggested 1hr20 wasn't enough to tenderise the beef that I used. The flavours were OK but even from tastings before the drying out, a little on the bitter side. I couldn't get pandanus leaf so don't know how much it suffered from the lack of this. The addition of coconut milk was nice. I also added some sugar.

• Green coriander chicken (Dhania chicken)

  • tekobo on January 11, 2024

    Simple to prepare components ahead of time and then cook a la minute. Delicious with black rice. Substituted galangal for ginger.

  • fbcd on April 09, 2024

    This was good and simple to prepare. I let the chicken thighs marinate for 8 hours. The meat was quite garlicky, even more noticeable the next day. Served with Meera Sodha's squash and lime pickle rice. Recipe is available online at https://www.hokeystokey.com/green-coriander-chicken-4/

• Roast chicken (Curried whole chicken Durban style)

  • toms on September 21, 2017

    Made it with skin-on. Could do with an extra 15 minutes if you want the meat to come away properly from the bone.

• Chicken with spinach (Saag murgh)

  • Ro_ on September 03, 2023

    I finally found a wonderful chicken saag recipe! This was everything I wanted it to be, I think probably the genius addition of the crispy fried onions into the sauce (and I also saved some to sprinkle on top) helped a lot. I used a cut up whole chicken as advised and took it off the bone before serving, but you could probably make this with any cut of chicken and just adjust the cooking time accordingly. I used less salt than stated, as I often find it's too much in these recipes.

  • hamble_frf8da on March 29, 2026

    K

• Royal chicken korma (Shani murgh korma)

  • Ro_ on August 17, 2023

    This was a great korma recipe. I used a little more water than stated to get the sauce I wanted. I also reduced the salt quite a bit, and used flaked almonds instead of whole. The result was a very tasty korma, despite the relatively short list of ingredients.

• Vietnamese chicken curry (Cari ga)

  • Ro_ on November 28, 2023

    This was a really hearty and tasty curry. The texture of the sauce, along with the chunks of carrot and potato, kind of reminded me of a Japanese curry, but the flavours were different. There is tons of sauce with this curry, so lots of rice and bread to go with it is a must! I really enjoyed it and would make again.

• Chicken curry with a cashew-coconut sauce

  • Ro_ on February 08, 2021

    This was a perfectly nice curry, but somehow lacked depth of flavour, which was surprising given the chicken was cooked on the bone. I think maybe the shallots should be cooked longer and slower to really start to caramelise before continuing with the rest of the steps. Maybe more tomatoes, or some tomato puree too, and I'd consider cooking down the tomatoes first in the pan before adding the water.

• Burmese chicken curry (See-pyan)

  • etcjm on January 17, 2021

    Different, easy, a good one if you have people who hate with a passion getting whole spices in their curry. I was surprised at how different the addition of the fish sauce and lemon grass made this dish. Next time, I will add an extra lemon grass as the balance was a little off - still very tasty though. I used skinned bone-in thighs and opted to pop in the oven to cook, yes the sauce wasn't as thick as on the hob but that was just fine by me. Will do again and would be easy to upscale for lots of people.

• Minced chicken curry (Murgh keema)

  • Astrid5555 on August 06, 2021

    A pleasant quick weeknight family hit. Despite the potatoes in the curry this needs some Naan bread or similar for mopping up the juices.

• Curry boneless chicken

  • Ro_ on November 25, 2023

    Based on Madhur's recommendations of how to eat this, I made some rotis, salad and a yoghurt sauce to go with this, and we ate it kind of "wrap" style. It was very nice chicken, and I really appreciated eating it this way rather than with rice - I think it really works with the bread and complimentary yoghurt. One note - the ingredients list on EYB mentions fennel seeds, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds, whereas none of these are in the recipe in my book.

• Cardamom and black pepper chicken

  • catmummery on August 11, 2023

    this is a delicious tangy mildly spiced chicky curry; not a typical pepper chicken as not a dry curry but lovely and will go on the rota. had with simply spiced pointed cabbage and cavolo nero which worked well.

• Goan prawn curry (Samar codi)

  • greedyrosie on August 13, 2016

    I thought this curry was great, and very nice with coconut rice

• Fish curry with aubergines

  • Astrid5555 on January 09, 2023

    This was just ok, the final curry was very liquid even though I didn’t even add all the suggested water.

  • Ro_ on August 09, 2023

    We really enjoyed this. I had salmon that was already cut into pieces, so instead of frying it I just add it to the curry sauce and aubergines, and let it poach directly, and it worked out well. I didn't add chillies at the end, but I probably should have done. Loved the combination of fish and aubergines. I'd definitely make this again.

• Hyderabadi fish with a sesame sauce (Macchi ka salan)

  • Ro_ on November 25, 2023

    The sauce is a bit fiddly to make with lots of steps. I found the end result a bit bitter and gloopy, I ended up adding some coconut milk to thin it out a bit and bring some sweetness, which worked well. I think it was way too overpowering for salmon though. I wouldn't make this again.

• Salmon curry

  • Astrid5555 on May 01, 2024

    Delicious weeknight dinner, used frozen salmon fillets which I let defrost until I could cut them into cubes. Would use a little less water next time as curry base was very soupy.

• South-Indian mixed vegetable curry (Kurma)

  • Nichill on February 22, 2023

    Absolutely delicious. I’ve just eaten microwaved defrosted leftovers of this for lunch, completely unaccompanied. Deep appreciation.

• Stir-fried South-Indian green beans

  • Ro_ on October 23, 2023

    Nice enough but probably not something I'll repeat

• Green cabbage 'sabzi' (Band gobi ki sabzi)

  • Ro_ on November 16, 2023

    Nice enough if you have cabbage to use up, but not special enough to be something I'd go out of my way to repeat. I like that it was quite quick and healthy though.

• Aubergine slices on a yoghurt bed (Boorani)

  • Ro_ on August 10, 2023

    This was so good. I am an aubergine fan anyway, but given the simplicity of the recipe with just a few spices and seasonings, I was very pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. You end up with a lot of yogurt, so definitely need some bread of some kind to finish this lovely yogurty, oniony sauce off.

• The best aubergines ever

  • Ro_ on November 20, 2023

    This recipe really lived up to it's name. Aubergine is probably my favourite ingredient ever, and this is a great way to do them. Although there are a lot of elements, none of them actually takes very long to do, so as long as you brine the aubergines in advance you can bring it all together in an hour or less. The combination of the silky, oily aubergine, sweet tomatoes, creamy yoghurt and tangy tamarind was just to die for. I added extra yoghurt and tamarind after taking the photo ;-)

• Cold, spiced aubergine (Bharta)

  • Ro_ on September 13, 2023

    I was so excited to eat this that I totally forgot to add the mustard seeds and oil at the end, but it was still delicious as is, and having it without made the recipe very diet-friendly. I really enjoyed it, and would make again as part of a cold lunch or dinner, with other cold salad-y elements.

• Mushroom and green coriander curry

  • Ro_ on October 09, 2023

    This was a nice, fragrant but not particularly powerful curry. I would definitely say it's more of a side dish, as it lacked the punch (and the sauce) to be the main event.

• Okra with onions (Sel bhindi)

  • tekobo on August 03, 2016

    Nice, slightly sweet flavour came from slightly caramelising the okra and then the onion.

• Potato and pea curry (Mattar batata)

  • Ro_ on October 31, 2023

    I finely chopped the tomatoes instead of grating, as last time I grated them I ended up with a bit of a mess. But I don't know if grating would have given a more saucy texture to the curry. Either way, I really like this dish, the flavours were simple but tasty. I served with some plain yoghurt and oriander. Would perhaps use slightly less than the quantity of peas stated next time. Also, what's with the instruction to add "half a teaspoon of whole dried red chillies" ?

• Potato and tomato curry with green coriander (Aloo timatar)

  • Ro_ on August 10, 2023

    A really nice curry, I enjoyed the yogurt swirled in at the end. I wasn't sure how long the potatoes should initially be boiled for, but I would say until fully cooked because they didn't cook that much more in the 20m simmer of the curry.

• Potato and cauliflower curry

  • toms on May 17, 2022

    Make sure to fully boil the potatoes before using them in the recipe - I only parboiled, and they then needed some extra time at the end.

• Natal red kidney bean curry

  • monicahorridge on August 11, 2011

    This is absolutely delicious - really something different, a perfect mix of spices and, as always with Madhur Jaffrey, works perfectly. I added some green beans that needed using and this really freshened things up - others said it made the dish, so I'd really recommend it.

  • Ro_ on October 25, 2023

    This was a nice dish, but I think I prefer a similar recipe in Rick Stein's Indian cookery book. I covered the beans for most of the simmering time as I wanted to keep lots of nice sauce instead of having it reduce down, and would do this again.

  • melissa_8tppo3 on April 12, 2026

    I am always looking for bean recipes to lift our plant based diet. This one was super tasty and I made sure I used fresh tomatoes in the sauce. I eased off on some of the red chillies which was good for us - might add a touch more next time.

• Chickpea, potato and cabbage curry

  • RogerP on December 23, 2022

    Fine for a simple meal, but nothing out of the ordinary.

• Easy chickpea curry

  • monicahorridge on August 11, 2011

    Reliable, simple and relatively quick for an curry - maybe about 30 minutes.

  • etcjm on December 03, 2019

    I subbed the potato for cauliflower because I can't eat potato. Result was a curry which didn't thicken. Was quite but not overly spicy. Served with onion bhajis for a quick meal. Would do again but have other nicer chickpea curries which are a little more labour intensive.

  • Ro_ on October 18, 2023

    As another commenter said, this is a nice enough dish for something quite quick and easy, but not my favourite chickpea curry recipe. It had a slight sludgy quality, probably from all the whizzed up coriander. I would have liked a little more tomato maybe, to add more sweetness.

• Whole red lentils with garlic and mint (Geeli sabut masoor)

  • tekobo on November 19, 2022

    I've made this three different times over the last few years and it has been delicious every time. Used different types of lentils to good effect

• Mung and toovar dal cooked in a South-Indian manner

  • Ro_ on December 17, 2020

    This wasn't my favourite dal ever, it was slightly on the bitter side for me - but maybe I slightly burned the mustard seeds, even though I hardly cooked them at all, difficult to say. Be careful with the 50-60 minute simmer, my dal had absorbed all the water after about 30 minutes, so I needed to add more.

• Goat biryani

  • Keriou on July 07, 2018

    Excellent dish. Unfortunately you will never eat a biryani in a restaurant again!

  • tekobo on June 07, 2021

    This makes a very very good biryani. I substituted beef for the goat because that’s what I had. Froze at the stage the sauce was ready. Made up the dish about two weeks later. Delicious.

• 'Tangri' or chicken drumstick kebabs (Tangri kabab)

  • etcjm on May 11, 2020

    Didn't marinade for the required time, but the skin was still lovely and spicy. Meat was juicy. Started in the oven and finished on the BBQ. Will do again and marinade overnight.

  • Ro_ on July 10, 2023

    Like the other commenter I didn't marinade these for the full time (probably about 7 hours). I thought the marinade was nice but not incredible - I think there are other yogurt based marinades in this book that I prefer.

• Moghlai chicken kebab (Mughlai murgh kabab)

  • Ro_ on July 13, 2020

    We agreed this is one of the best chicken kebab dishes we've made on the barbecue yet. I don't know if it was just this lovely marinade, or also the fact that the chicken was perfectly cooked and not overdone, plus the fact that I bought really good quality chicken breasts...but whichever, I'll be repeating this!

• Silken chicken 'tikka' kebabs (Reshmi tikka kebab)

  • Ro_ on August 16, 2020

    These were nice: quite subtly flavoured, just a hint of pinky-orange tikka colour. I probably won't make them again however as the chicken kebab recipe on the next page of the book (Moghlai Chicken Kebab) gave me much more flavourful and delicious results.

• Cucumber, mint and tomato 'raita'

  • Ro_ on November 22, 2020

    This was quite a chunky raita, it could almost hold its own as a light salad dish in its own right. As it is, I served it with a lamb curry, and its refreshing notes of mint, tomato and cucumber provided a perfect complement to the earthiness of the lamb. Will make this again. I think you could leave out the tomato and add half the amount of cucumber for a thinner sauce if that's what you're after.

• My own wholemeal 'roti'

  • Ro_ on November 22, 2020

    A little difficult to judge because I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for. What I got was a bread that tasted "fine" but not outstanding - a little heavy and mealy. They didn't puff up that much in the microwave stage, but also to be fair I made two big breads instead of four smaller ones. They were fine to mop up delicious curry sauce with, but I have made other Indian breads which I prefer.

  • annettle on August 04, 2024

    Enjoyed trying the microwave step - my breads puffed up into full balloons like pita! Otherwise it's a plain wholemeal roti but I'll use this method again.

• Fresh mint chutney

  • Ro_ on December 17, 2020

    This was very very dark green, kind of looked like pureed spinach, not the prettiest chutney ever. Taste-wise it was quite one note: very minty, the tomatoes got totally lost though actually the amchur did come through as a counter note quite well. My main issue with this was the texture: it was kind of sludgy.

• My basic naan recipe

  • Ro_ on March 22, 2021

    I was pleased with these. My dough ended up much too liquidy, so I added a lot of extra flour to firm it up, and I should have added more salt at this point too. I found them easy to shape and cook in a frying pan. My grill sucks, so I skipped her suggestion to cook the top side under the grill, and just flipped them over and cooked on both sides in the hot pan. Came out great, I was really pleased with the texture, as I said they were just lacking a smidge more salt. I liked the seeds, but I'd use less next time. These would also be great with garlic butter on them, to turn them into garlic naans.

• Gujarati mango soup (Fajeto)

  • mjes on September 27, 2021

    Using mango pulp from a can, this soup is quick to make, delicious to eat, and makes a delightful luncheon soup. Recommended.

• Wholemeal flatbread (Chapati)

  • Ro_ on August 17, 2023

    The ratio of water to flour seemed very off, I had to use a lot more flour for the amount of water. The cooking method was fine, but I don't think the microwave stage was necessary as mine puffed up in the pan.

• Layered wholemeal flatbread (Warki paratha)

  • Ro_ on October 01, 2023

    I thought these were going to be way more difficult than they turned out to be, and the result was great! Flaky, buttery flatbread with a great texture including both soft and crispy - it was exactly what I was hoping for. The fact that you can make these in advance and reheat is a bonus.

• Chicken satay (Satay ayam)

  • Ro_ on October 17, 2023

    I used the recipe for the chicken and marinade, and then realised too late I didn't have enough peanuts in stock to make the all important satay sauce. So I had to improve a satay sauce recipe with peanut butter. Judging just on the marinated chicken it was very nice and I would make again.

• Vietnamese beef (or veal) kebabs (Cha bo)

  • Ro_ on October 26, 2023

    I wasn't sure if these were supposed to be cooked on skewers or not (at no point does the recipe say to thread them onto skewers, but the picture in the book shows them skewered). I decided to serve them with the suggested toppings scattered over the top, since I didn't have lettuce leaves to wrap them in. They were really nice, and the seasoned fish sauce to dip them in was really delicious and made this dish what it is. Just don't forget to add a good whack of salt into the kebab mix.

• Swordfish kebabs with ajowan seeds

  • Ro_ on October 30, 2023

    I made this with trout, since she mentioned river fish. I was a little disappointed - I found the spices in the rub too overpowering for the fish, and the citrus didn't come through at all. Maybe if I'd made it with the original swordfish as stated the balance would have worked better.

• Beef 'kaati' kebab (Kaati kabab)

  • Ro_ on November 08, 2023

    The beef marinade was nice, and as suggested I made parathas and fried egg onto them to go with. The combo was really nice, but I felt it needed more with it - some sauce, something crunchy etc - to make really awesome kebabs.

• Burmese chicken-coconut soup (Ohn-no khaukswe)

  • Ro_ on November 09, 2023

    Quite an unusual soup in terms of texture, but I really liked the richness and thickness the chickpea flour gave to the broth. At first I thought it was too bitter, but after adding the right amount of salt and a touch of sugar it balanced out fine. I don't really like hard boiled eggs or crispy noodles, so I didn't serve any of the suggested accompaniments except spring onions - I think it would be nice with another green topping as well, like some coriander. The amount of noodles was too much, next time I'd use more chicken and less noodles. But overall, I would make again.

• Plain Guyanese bread (Saada roti)

  • Ro_ on November 16, 2023

    Another very nice Indian bread recipe from this book, and simple to make. I found that my breads puffed up quite a lot in the pan without needing to go in the microwave (though this would be a good way to reheat them if making in advance). Will repeat.

• Yoghurt 'kadhi' (Dahi ki karhi)

  • Ro_ on November 16, 2023

    Delicious: I made the seasonings a bit in advance and stirred them into the yoghurt just before serving while they were still warm. Great as a side to spicy curry or dal, especially with bread eg naan/roti.

• Roti canai

  • Ro_ on November 20, 2023

    These were more faffy than your average flatbread, and I'm not really sure the payoff was worth it. The texture was nice and soft, but there was a taste I didn't particularly care for which I assume came from the condensed milk.

• Lamb or chicken mulligatawny soup

  • katiesue28 on December 05, 2023

    That was absolutely delicious and quite easy! It would be nice to increase the amount of broth so that I could add some veggies like potatoes and carrots. I topped my bowl with some minced cilantro. A warming and savory soup!

• Quick onion and cherry tomato relish

  • Ro_ on December 18, 2023

    I made this to go with the royal lamb kaati kebab recipe, and it worked really well. Nice sharp and sweet tones to cut through the spicy lamb in the flaky bread. I'm not sure I'd like it so much on the side of a curry with rice, but in a flatbread it worked really well.

• Guyanese flaky bread (Paraata-roti)

  • Ro_ on December 18, 2023

    These were so good! Big, soft, and the texture was great, really flaky. Definitely go with these if you want to be able to make a kind of curry wrap. The process wasn't too laborious - I didn't really get the instruction to play the cooked bread like a concertina in a tea towel or what I was supposed to be achieving with that, so I kind of skipped that step and it was fine. Also tasted good the next day gold, didn't go hard or anything.

• Royal lamb kaati kebab (Shahi kaati kabab)

  • Ro_ on December 18, 2023

    First off: the stated quantity is in no way enough for 4 people unless they have very small appetites or it's part of a much bigger meal. There were two of us, and I used 650g of lamb, that made just about enough for two kebab wraps each (I made the guyanese flaky bread recipe for the wraps, which was perfect). Also made the cherry tomato relish to go with, and added some natural yoghurt and it was all delicious. You could make the lamb in advance, then reheat to add the fried onions, chickpea flower and mint before serving.

• Vegetable biryani

  • Doc2mom on January 07, 2026

    This is a pretty good biryani recipe that is nontraditional (USA is labeled as the cultural source of this recipe in Jaffrey’s book) and it is pretty mild from a flavor profile perspective, noted by use of red peppers, mushrooms, and green beans as its key vegetables. It was decent on day one and really got better on the second/third day of eating once the flavors had melded. This recipe produces a huge amount of biryani so likely serves 8-10 people at the least. I might recommend adding something to spice this up or make the flavor a little more robust (for instance, fried onions here is a notable omission and the recipe could probably use them somewhere - either in the base or as a garnish)