Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
DELICIOUS RECIPES
Dan Toombs, aka The Curry Guy, has cracked the formula for cooking curry house curries like chicken tikka masala. Now he’s sharing it with you
Dan Toombs, aka The Curry Guy, shows you how to cook ‘British’ curries – just like you’d get in your local curry house
Dan Toombs has a big Cal i fornia smile and speaks with an American twang, but lives in a quaint corner of North Yorkshire and is today talking about how he’s about to take his British citizenship test. Confused? Well, brace yourself, because it gets more complicated. When he greets me at his home and ushers me into the kitchen, it’s towards the unmistakable smell of a curry cooking. At 11am? Well, there was a time when there’d be a curry on the go whatever time of the day chez Toombs. For this is The Curry Guy – as he christened his blog – a man so in love with Indian food he set about teaching himself how to recreate the cuisine himself, blogging about his culinary adventures.
He even dragged his family – wife Caroline and children Katy, 20, Joe, 18, and Jennifer, 14 – into the adventure, serving them curry morning, noon and night for a whole year. Now he’s considered such an expert he’s brought out a book teaching others the skills, which we’re serialising in Weekend from today (see opposite).
Odd as it might seem to have a man from California who now lives in Yorkshire teaching people how to cook Indian food, there’s something beguiling about his approach. For Dan’s dishes aren’t authentic Indian fare, they’re ‘British’ curries, the sort you get in curry houses that have evolved over the years to suit the British palate. Dan’s adventure to find out what went into these curries – the ones he only knew existed when he moved to Britain 20 years ago to set up a promotional merchandise company – has turned him into a publishing success. ‘It’s crazy,’ he says. ‘It started out as a hobby. I roped the family in because I had so many dishes I wanted to try. Then restaurants started letting me into their kitchens. Now, I’m a published author. I can’t believe it.’
Dan had never tasted curry before he arrived – the Americans are not known for their love of Indian food – and had no idea what he was eating wasn’t an authentic curry like you’d get in Delhi. ‘I became fascinated by the whole history of it, the way this tradition had sprung up. I travelled all over Britain for my job, and inevitably I’d end up in a curry house, marvelling how differently each one does things – but also realising there are many parallels. Then I wanted to know how to do it myself, but there wasn’t a lot of information out there.’
His biggest challenge was convincing Indian restaurants to let him into their kitchens. Traditionally, they’ve been highly secretive about their reci- pes. That changed when his blog began to gain followers. ‘There was a real sea change when some restaurants started following me. Gradually a few let me come in, then a few more. Soon I was going all over the country to learn more.’ And to eat. This is a man who has enjoyed his research. I find myself in his kitchen scoffing not one but three curries for lunch. And what do I learn from my day with Dan? Well, firstly, there’s a reason it’s hard to replicate the sorts of curries you get in curry houses – you’ve probably been trying to do it without cabbage. Who would think of putting cabbage into a curry? Well, he does – and so do all the big curry houses. The curry base that forms the starting point for all the most popular dishes is a sort of vegetable soup with spices, basically a thickened vegetable stock. To it, meat and further spices are added. In his book, Dan advises making huge vats of this base, which can then be portioned up and frozen. ‘The base is the essential part of it all. Get that right and you’re almost there,’ he says. ‘In every curry house there’ll be a vat of base on the go. They all involve different vegetables, some might be thick, some sloppy. It’s their biggest secret.’
Having prepared his base, within half an hour he’s shown me how to cook three different dishes – a chicken tikka masala, a chicken korma and a lamb rogan josh. Being quite the expert, he can have a banquet ready in no time. So is the Toombs house a Mecca on a Friday night? ‘It can be full of people. It’s a very sociable way of eating so we’ll often have friends over. Although we did go round to some friends the other night and ordered an Indian takeaway. It cost a fortune. The thing you soon realise is how much cheaper it is to do it yourself.’
The process for each curry is straightforward. Dan recommends batch-cooking the meat in advance, although you can add it raw at the time. Bowls of chicken and lamb are therefore lined up on the counter, along with little containers of spices and herbs. ‘I do this when I’m cooking,’ he says. ‘It’s a lot easier if you don’t have to scrabble in the cupboard for your garam masala.’
Thankfully his family shares his love of spicy food. Do they still eat as many curries? ‘No, a year of eating it every day was enough, but we still have one a few times a week. The thing about the word “curry” is that it encompasses so many things. There’s such a vast array of Indian food out there, I just wanted to say, “Hey, look at what’s possible.”’
‘Get the base curry sauce right and you’re almost there’