BRIT SPICE BY MANJU MALHI
Published in 2002
By Penguin Books
192 pages
ISBN 0-7181-4503-8
Guide Price: £16.99
Reviewed by Lopa Patel
Rating: (3 flames)
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REDHOTCURRY REVIEW
Reviewed by Lopa Patel
Rating: (3 flames)

Although Manju Malhi has obvious passion for Indian cooking and has been dubbed the new 'Madhur Jaffrey', this book doesn't quite hit the mark for me. I guess it is down to disliking the very essence of what she's trying to do, the fusion of British ingredients with an Asian style of cooking. So her recipes for Chicken Korma with Beer, Football Vindaloo and Spam Masala are not to my personal taste. She does however cook with flourish and the proportions and quantities of spices used are good. Now that many of original Indian ingredients are available so readily in Britain, it would be nice to see Malhi tackle recipes that take the requisite time to prepare and taste as they ought. But if you're looking for something quick and easy, then 'Brit Spice' could be just what you are seeking.

SYNOPSIS

In 'Brit Spice' Manju Malhi has created a whole new concept of cooking Indian food at home. The result is her Brit-Indi cuisine, combining British ingredients with Indian Spices. The key to the recipes is that they are incredibly quick and easy to make. Manju gives timings at the start of each one to show that an Indian meal can be made at home in literally fifteen minutes.

Find out how to rustle up Manju's delicious Indian meals using ingredients such as bread, bacon and baked beans. The ten-minute chicken curry is a must for everyone, or try spicing up a delicate salmon fillet with coriander and red onion, served on a bed of cumin and ginger-flavoured sugar snap peas. Make her famous coriander chutney and learn how to quickly prepare concoctions of mixed spices. All the favourites, and more, are here.

Thanks to cooks such as Manu Malhi, the stereotype of Indian food being a vindaloo after the pubs have shut has been firmly replaced with a new attitude to Indian recipes.

ABOUT MANJU MALHI

In 1999, voice-over artist Manju Malhi beat hundreds if other contestants to secure a guest cookery slot on BBC2's 'Food & Drink' programme. Since then she has presented her own television show for Taste TV called 'Simply Indian'. Manju Malhi lives in London and 'Brit Spice' is her first book.

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