‘Curry Guy Bible’ cookbook: Recipes from vada pav to onion pakora curry

Red lentil and vegetable kebabs

Serves 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal

I find myself eating a lot less meat these days and I’m not all that crazy about meat substitutes. That’s why I love veggie kebabs like these. They are both filling and delicious. Serve as a snack with a good raita or chutney. Here I have served them with homemade mango pickle and garnished them with flaky salt and coriander.  

Prep: 15 mins, plus soaking time

Cook: 20 mins

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 medium red onion, grated

1 medium potato, peeled and grated

80g broccoli , grated

1 medium carrot, grated

80g cauliflower grated

1⁄2 tsp salt

225g masoor (red) lentils, washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes

2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste  

5 tbsp finely chopped coriander 

50g ground almonds

1 tsp tandoori masala or garam masala  

1 tsp chaat masala (optional)

3 green chillies, finely chopped

1⁄2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (more or less to taste)

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Rapeseed oil, for shallowfrying

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the grated vegetables and the salt and fry, stirring regularly, for 5-7 minutes. You not only want to soften the vegetables but also cook out most of the moisture. They should be quite dry.

Drain the lentils and dry them on paper towel. Place in a food processor with the remaining ingredients up to and including the lemon juice and blend until you have a chunky paste – it should be smooth, but not pate smooth and there should still be some small chunky bits.

Place this lentil mixture in a mixing bowl and add the fried vegetables. Mix well with your hands to combine and season with salt and black pepper. Form the mixture into the shape of your choice – they could be small and round like meatballs, or made into sausage shapes.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. I usually use about 5cm of oil, but you could use a lot less if using a non-stick pan. Fry the kebabs for about 3 minutes until browned on one side, then flip them over and brown the other side for 2-3 minutes

Vada pav

Makes 8

These mildly spiced, deep-fried potato burgers are a delicious way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. The mashed potato is first fried with a few complementary spices and herbs, and then formed into large balls that are dipped into a seasoned gram-flour batter. Everything, right up to making the sandwich, can be done ahead of time. At busy restaurants and street stalls, the potato vada are formed and fried earlier in the day and heated through again in hot oil before serving. This is really convenient if you are serving a group of friends. When I tried these at food stalls in India there was always a plate of roasted chillies you could help yourself to for topping your vada pav, making them as mild or spicy as you want. If you really want to treat yourself, spread lots of butter on the buns before grilling!

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 25 mins

4 potatoes (about 800g), peeled and diced

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric

3 green chillies, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp chilli powder

10 curry leaves, roughly chopped

Salt, to taste

3 tbsp finely chopped coriander 

Rapeseed oil, for deep-frying

For the batter

120g sifted gram (chickpea) flour, plus extra if needed

1⁄2 tsp salt

1⁄2 tsp chilli powder

1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric

To finish

4 soft hamburger buns

Ghee, butter or oil, for browning the buns

Mint and coriander sauce

Tamarind sauce (optional)

Roasted green chillies

Boil the potatoes in water for about 10 minutes until fork-tender. Drain and mash.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop (after about 30 seconds), stir in the turmeric, green chillies, ginger, chilli powder and curry leaves. Move this all around in the pan to flavour the oil, then add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Season with salt and add the coriander. Allow to cool slightly, then form into 8 lemon-size balls.

Whisk the batter ingredients together, adding enough water slowly to make a thick and smooth batter. The batter should cling to, and coat, the vada. If you find it is too thin, sift in a little more flour.

Heat the oil for deep-frying in a large pan. The oil should be deep enough to cover the vada. You are ready to start deep-frying when a piece of potato sizzles immediately when dropped into the hot oil. If you have an oil thermometer, aim for 200C.  Carefully lower the vada into the oil and fry until crispy brown – about 3-5 minutes should do. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook these in small batches of three or four.

While the vada are frying, brown the buns in another pan in some ghee, butter or oil. When toasted to your liking, spread the mint and coriander sauce over the bun halves. Place a vada on top of the bottom bun and top with tamarind sauce (if using) and one or more roasted chillies if you like it spicy. Add the top bun and serve.

Onion pakora curry

Serves 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal

Onion pakoras, or onion bhajis as they are usually referred to in the west, aren’t just served as a starter course. They are delicious in this yoghurt-based curry sauce. So next time you have a few homemade onion bhajis, give this one a try. Why wait though? Make onion bhajis. You might just be surprised at how amazing onion bhajis can taste served in this mildly spicy sauce. If you live near an Indian snack shop, you could just purchase the onion pakoras, as I’ve never had a bad one.

Prep: 10 mins, plus the time to cook the onion bhajis

Cook: 10 mins

500g Greek yoghurt

25g gram (chickpea) flour

1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1⁄2 tsp ground coriander

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

5 fenugreek seeds

1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds

2.5cm piece of cinnamon stick

15 fresh or frozen curry leaves

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste  

12 onion bhajis (pakoras)  

Salt, to taste

3 tbsp finely chopped coriander, to garnish

Strain the yoghurt into a mixing bowl until creamy smooth (straining the yoghurt will help prevent it from curdling when cooked). Sift in the flour, turmeric, chilli powder and ground coriander and whisk it all in too. Add 400ml of water and stir until combined into the yoghurt. Set aside.

Now heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. When bubbly hot, add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle (after about 30 seconds), stir in the fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and the cinnamon stick. Infuse these spices into the oil until they become fragrant – 30 seconds should do the job. Be careful not to burn the spices or they will become bitter. Add the curry leaves and the onion and fry over a medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a further 30 seconds, then pour in the yoghurt mixture. Slowly bring to a simmer, then stir in the pakoras. Cook the sauce down until you are happy with the consistency.

Season with salt and garnish with the coriander.

Mint and coriander sauce

Makes 250ml

Prep: 5 mins

Cook: 5 mins

2 tsp cumin seeds

Very large bunch (about 100g) of mint

Very large bunch (about 100g) of coriander

6 green chillies (more or less to taste)

4 garlic cloves

5cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

Juice of 2 lemons

150g plain yoghurt (optional)

Salt, to taste

In a dry frying pan, roast the cumin seeds over a medium-high heat until warm to the touch and fragrant but not yet smoking.

Pour the roasted seeds into a blender or spice grinder with the mint, coriander, green chillies, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and 2 tbsps of the yoghurt (if using). Blend to a paste. If you are having trouble getting the ingredients to blend, add a little more lemon juice or a drop or two of water until you have a thick green paste.

You could now use the sauce to spread over sandwiches and wraps but if you are making chaats or like a smoother, thinner sauce, whisk the remaining yoghurt into the paste until very smooth. (You could even add more yoghurt if you prefer.) Season with salt. I like to store this sauce for up to 3 days in restaurant-style squirt bottles for squeezing over lots of different dishes.

Make it vegan: You could leave out the yoghurt for a stronger but very delicious flavour, or try a soy or coconut yoghurt.

Tamarind sauce

Makes about 200ml

Prep: 5 mins

Cook: 30 mins

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground ginger

1⁄2 tsp asafoetida* or garlic powder

1⁄2 tsp fennel seeds

1⁄2 tsp garam masala  

200g  caster sugar

40g tamarind concentrate

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. When visibly hot, stir in the cumin, cayenne, ginger, asafoetida or garlic powder, fennel seeds and garam masala. 

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Stir the spices around in the oil to flavour it for about 30 seconds, then pour in the sugar and tamarind concentrate along with 450ml of water.

Bring to a rolling simmer and let the sauce reduce until it has a chocolatey colour and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take about 20-30 minutes. The sauce will be thin but will thicken once cooled. 

Store in the fridge in a squeezy bottle, if you have one, and use as required. This sauce will keep for 2 weeks.

Note: If you are gluten-free, please check the asafoetida packaging as some brands contain wheat flour.

Extracted from ‘The Curry Guy Bible’ by Dan Toombs (Quadrille, £25) Photography © Kris Kirkham