Beyond Curry was created from something very personal to me — the food of Kerala and the recipes I grew up with.Kerala cuisine has a huge variety of flavours, ingredients and cooking styles, but internationally it is still not explored as widely as many other Indian regional cuisines.Through this book, I wanted to present Kerala food in a way that respects its roots while also showing how traditional dishes can work in a modern fine-dining setting.

.

Many of the recipes in Beyond Curry are influenced by my mother’s cooking.Those flavours formed the base of the book.My experience as a chef later changed the way I looked at presentation, texture and technique, but the original character of the food always remained important.Every recipe in the book was tested in my home kitchen, which is one reason I think of Beyond Curry as more than just a cookbook. It became something like a chef’s learning diary.

The book does not focus only on cooking instructions.It also looks at some of the things that influence the way a chef develops a dish, including:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • food plating and presentation
                          • cooking techniques
                          • ingredient combinations
                          • food design
                          • restaurant thinking
                          • the relationship between food and culture

For me, these subjects are all connected. A good dish is not only about what goes into the pan. The way it is cooked, served and presented also shapes the final experience.

One of the simple ideas I use when thinking about food design is:

How? What? Where?

How is the ingredient cooked?What flavours and ingredients are being used together?Where should each element sit on the plate?Sometimes the best presentation is very simple. At other times, contrast in colour or texture can make a dish more interesting.But presentation should never become more important than flavour.

A beautiful plate still has to taste good.

Kerala cuisine gives chefs a lot to work with.Seafood, coconut, rice, vegetables and spices appear in many different forms across the region.

What I like most is that many Kerala dishes can be full of flavour without being unnecessarily heavy.

That gives them a natural place in modern restaurant menus.For me, modern Indian cuisine does not mean copying another cuisine. It means understanding our own food properly and presenting it confidently in a contemporary way.

Beyond Curry brings together Kerala recipes, family influences, chef techniques and modern presentation.

The aim of the book is simple: to show that Indian cuisine has much more to offer than the usual idea of curries and tandoori dishes.

If the book encourages someone to explore Kerala food, try a new recipe or look at Indian cuisine differently, then it has done what I wanted it to do.

[BUY / EXPLORE BEYOND CURRY]

[FREE BOOK PREVIEW]