Floyd's India

by Keith Floyd

This title accompanies the eight-part television series for Channel 5 of the same name. In the series, Keith Floyd turns his attention to the remarkable continent of India, traveling throughout the country, comparing and contrasting the different food styles. The book depicts his journey from the green hill stations in the north of the country, through the bustling markets of Delhi, Calcutta and Madras, to the lush rice fields of the south. He cools off in the sparkling waters of the Indian Ocean and takes tiffin with sari-clad memsahibs. He uses the local specialities - the spices, mustard greens, dals, ghee, lotus seeds, almonds, and paneer - to create pasandas, kormas, koftas, bhajiyas, and all manner of spicy curries. Throughout his travels, Floyd meets the local people, shops in local markets and cooks according to local customs.

Genres: Cooking, India, Cookbooks, Travel, Food

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Keith Floyd was a restaurateur and TV chef who produced many cooking shows, including Floyd on Fish and Floyd on France, for the BBC and Channel 5 and published many books combining cookery and his travels.
Famous for his distinctive bow tie, he talked, drank and cooked whilst imparting his knowledge of classical French cooking to the nation in an unpatronising way.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Floyd was Floyd. I have a passion for the food & for the people, the sights and the sounds and the smells of Indian cooking. Floyd captures them and his entertaining style echoes all that I love about the place. He could have made a good living as a travel writer but chose to cook as well as being a formidable wordsmith. If you like India or are thinking of going there, get a copy of this book. Even if you never get to India, you can experience India's delight by cooking some of his recipes. The ones I have tried (and that's most of them) have all been marvellous. Strongly recommended.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally inspired to try cooking Indian dishes after seeing the ease and flair which Floyd stir-fried, chopped, and bhunaed his way across India. There were so many colors and fresh ingredients! I was hooked when he prepared the simplest of green pea curries.

The cookbook is packed with color photos of the dishes, ingredients, and scenes from the TV show. Everything is explained in detail. The first section is a long, entertaining descriptions of the regions in India and his travels. The second section is a great primer to the flavors and basics behind Indian cooking. The rest of the books is the recipes, divided by main ingredient. US based readers will be happy to know that all measurements are given in metric and English units.

I particularly appreciate that commercial curry powders and pastes are not used... everything is freshly prepared. He gives lots of recipes for making your own fresh curry powders. This series was produced when Floyd was off the bottle, and in a bit of a health phase, so there is heavy emphasis on vegetarian dishes.

I have prepared all the dishes in the Thali section, and they were really excellent, and quite different from one another: Simmered Lentils (Chana Dal), Cottage cheese in spinach puree (Sag paneer), Baby onions stewed in yogurt masala (Kande ki sabzi), and Potatoes with cumin seeds (Jeera aloo).

I think one of the most important techniques I learned is to make a ginger and garlic puree as a flavor base. Also, you can never have too many good, fresh chutneys to serve with the dishes.

This is a very entertaining fresh cookbook I return to over and over.