I LOVE the F & E Indian Cooking Book!!

[meganjane]

I now use this exclusively whenever I make Indian food. The recipes are delicious and easy.

The Tikka Paste is absolutely divine. I'm just so impressed that I have a large jar of this in my fridge and I can put together a tikka masala in minutes!

I made five different Indian dishes from this book tonight for our German backpacker. He loved all the dishes and had seconds.

[Cornish Cream]

Have you tried the Lamb Dhansak?We loved it, although I wouldn't seek out the 4 different dahl next time as I couldn't tell the difference once it was cooked.The Cardamon cake is good although more an adults cake.The Butter chicken is a favourite and I liked quirkycooking's idea of using coconut cream instead of the cream.It's good looking through deciding what to cook next.

[judydawn]

I haven't made anything from this book yet (only received it recently) but when I meet the girls in town on Monday I intend going to the Indian supermarket to get some things I cannot get locally.  I have to check the book out again and also check all the reviews as I will be guided by what others have done to begin with until I decide if I like this type of cooking or not.  I don't like anything too spicy so am I right in thinking most recipes are pretty mild or do I cut down on the spices?

[Cornish Cream]

judydawn look at the Chicken in Coconut Sauce page 102.I thought this was very mild and you could reduce the heat by taking the seeds out of the chillies.

[judydawn]

Thanks Cornish Cream, have made notes from what is written on this thread and I'm now heading to the review section to find some more.

[earth mumma]

Hi Judydawn

I haven't made anything from this book yet (only received it recently) but when I meet the girls in town on Monday I intend going to the Indian supermarket to get some things I cannot get locally.  I have to check the book out again and also check all the reviews as I will be guided by what others have done to begin with until I decide if I like this type of cooking or not.  I don't like anything too spicy so am I right in thinking most recipes are pretty mild or do I cut down on the spices?

I too just got my cookbook last week and made the Tikka paste.  It was heavanly and had authentic Indian flavours.  I think that if you don't like spicy foods (do you mean the heat aspect here?) then you will need to be careful with the ammount and types of chillies you add.  I had some little dried chillies that I used (which always carry a bit of a heat punch  ) so I reduced the amount to about 1/4 of the recommended - my kids like spicy, but not if it's too hot  .  We loved the tikka, but it did end up rather hot and only one of my kids really enjoyed it. You could try substituting fresh chillies (the long red ones are the mildest) and start with a very small amount until you find the right spice for your tastes.

[trudy]

Judy would you like me to bring you some fresh chillies on Monday.  The ones I grow are the long ones that they use in India.  If you use them while they are gree they are even milder.

[Rogizoja]

Love making the Nankathai biscuits - really tasty.  If chilli heat is too much for you, try using dried Kashmiri chilies - they're milder but still deliver on flavour.

[judydawn]

Thanks Trudy, yes please.  I've noticed so many of the recipes use them.  I've made notes of all the reviews now so tonight will go through the recipe book again and make a list of ingredients I need.  Trudy is that shop you took me to cheaper than buying at a supermarket (for readily available items we can get anywhere).

Thanks to you too earth mumma, I am a little more adventurous these days and can stand a bit of chilli but not too hot so I will probably start off using less than suggested and see how we go.  I only ever use the long ones and remove the seeds and if I use sambal oelek, use no more than 1/2 teaspn.

Thanks Togizoja for the tip re dried Kashmiri chillies - will put that on my list. Do you do the biscuits with or without the egg?

MJ, when you do an Indian banquet do you prepare everything in advance and reheat in the oven?  It would obviously be impossible to cook so many items at once without starting earlier in the day or having 6 TMX's in your kitchen 

[Bimbette]

Made the Chicken Korma from this book the other night and it was lovely.  Used 650g of skinless thighs but kept all the other ingreds as per recipe.  Lots of saucebut used the leftover sauce the next night to pour over the varoma steamed vegies.

[judydawn]

Great idea Bimbette, these sauces come in handy for another meal.

[earth mumma]

Hi again.  JD made the chicken in yoghurt for tea tonight.  It was quick, easy and so tasty - ds number 2 (my 'fussy' one) loved it so much he went back for 2nds.  I used 2 fresh long red chillies and it had the perfect amount of heat for us, tad bit more than a hint, but definately not the dominant flavour.  Yum 

[em]

we love the indian cookbook, the butter chicken and chicken in yoghurt are big hits in this house! i also make the tikka paste and it is beautiful.  we have had an indian dinner party based on this cookbook and it was a big hit with friends!! we make the naan breads also and they are delicious!
this would probably be my favourite tm cookbook

[judydawn]

Thanks for all your responses girls, I have yellow stickits everywhere!  I must admit the first time I read through the book, nothing really caught my eye but as I've been posting notes and re-reading the recipes I can see why you are all very happy with the book.  Thank goodness reviews are coming in thick and fast these days - they are a godsend. 

[quirkycooking]

We love this book too!  I just reduce the chilli a bit if I'm not sure, so the kids won't fuss... although they're used to a bit of heat from all the Mexican food we love!  That tikka pasta is so good - I'm with you Meagan, I love having it in the fridge for quick meals!! A few people have told me the naan bread recipe works really well, so I'll have to try that - I made them once but they were kind of tough and not as puffy as they should be.  (Could be the spelt flour though.)