An essential non-vegetarian cookbook

Have you ever had a chicken dish at a restaurant and wished you could have it every single day? I have a couple of dishes that I wish I could have for lunch or dinner on a regular basis. But it’s neither healthy nor financially feasible to order your favorite meal like that. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could replicate them at home instead? This way you can ensure the food is fresh and the spice/oil quotient is exactly right.

I often turn to YouTube recipes, especially Ranveer Brar’s channel, to make some dishes that isn’t our usual thing. But trying to cook while watching someone instruct is a harrowing experience. I can never keep up and it always takes longer than the stipulated time. And that is one of the reasons why I like cookbooks. They are easier to work with. Over the last few years, I’ve amassed quite a few cookbooks. I recently got Dan Toombs ‘The Curry Guy’ and it’s become my favorite one so far.

It’s a bright pink book filled with spicy chicken recipes. There’s everything from the classic butter chicken to elaborate kebabs and grilled delicacies. As with most cookbooks I have, this one also has full page photos of the dishes accompanying the recipes. Looking at the photos in cookbooks is one of the best parts of owning so many. I must admit that when buying a cookbook, the layout and presentation of the photos is a deciding factor.

The Curry Guy is divided into seven sections. There’s ‘Starters and Snacks’, ‘Karahi Cooking’, ‘Chicken Curry, Stews and Sauce-based Dishes’, ‘Frying and Stir-fries’, ‘Wraps and Sandwiches’, ‘Barbecue’ and ‘Basics, Accompaniments, and Sides’. Each section has interesting tips and recipes that you, until now, have only had at restaurants. Now, with Toombs help you can make them at home. The best part is that the dishes taste absolutely delicious—the recipes have been perfected in Toombs’ kitchen. You will also come to know about many other cooking styles and restaurant style gravies and curries.

You will learn how to make Dragon Chicken, Punjabi Chicken Samosa, Goan-Style Chicken Vindaloo, Szechuan Chicken, Chicken Rogan Josh, Kolkata Chicken Chaap, Chicken Shami Kebabs, and much more. If you follow the recipe to a t, the dish will taste like a restaurant cooked meal. I also loved the language which is quite conversational and gentle. This book of recipes from South and Southeast Asia will be an essential guide that you won’t be able to do without once you have a copy.

The Curry Guy (Chicken)

Dan Toombs

Published: 2024

Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Limited

Pages: 175, Hardcover