Pour over the 200ml of water, stir in the yoghurt and reduce the heat only slightly – you want the sauce to simmer. Their recipes are the real deal, using great techniques and secrets they've discovered on their travels in Asia as well as years of cooking curries themselves.

Stir in the flour, saffron, sugar and ½ teaspoon of salt, then slowly pour 300ml/½ pint cold water into the pan, stirring constantly. a selection of mouthwatering curries - from India, Thailand and Vietnam to Jamaica and Japan - cover everything from simple midweek family meals to fantastic weekend celebrations. This one-stop cookbook demystifies curry for the home cook.Once the onions are softened, stir in the crushed cardamom seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and bay leaf. Pinch off the ends of the cloves into the pan and throw away the stalks. Cook the spices with the onions for five minutes, stirring constantly. This is an absolute boon for thrifty cooks. Covering curries from near and far, it brings the Bikers' love of good food to one of Britain's favourite cuisines. Whether you favour a delicately spiced korma or crave the chilli hit of a vindaloo, this is a curry-eaters delight. Sprinkle in the fresh coriander and bay leaves and serve with chapatis, boiled rice or puris (Indian bread). Add the garlic, chopped chillies, chopped tomatoes, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, sugar and salt, then stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until the vegetables soften. It's a beautiful book with a wealth of information and recipes, however be warned: many of the recipes are complex and require a lot of steps and pre-preparation. Not everyone in the world owns a food processor; if you have one, it will be easier. There are a lot of ingredients that people who don't live near large Asian supermarkets may have trouble finding. And to be quite honest, I don't see the point of starting a recipe with commercial curry paste and then adding a bunch more ingredients, most of which are already in the paste. I don't feel you have to make your own paste, but starting with a commercial one just seems like, why do you need a recipe? But then I've happily prepared Thai curries using commercial paste and coconut milk. Call me a philistine if you will, but there it is.

Add the quartered tomatoes and fry for 2–3 minutes more, stirring until the vegetables are just tender. Mix the cornflour with the tablespoon of water to form a smooth paste. The sauce can now be used right away or cooled, covered and chilled until 10 minutes before serving. Inspired by the dishes that Si and Dave loved to eat growing up and that they cook with their families now, this is comfort food at its best. Recipes that are guaranteed to be delivered on flavour, even when you're short on time, all made with readily available and affordable ingredients. Real, everyday food to enjoy and share.

Finely chop 4 of the chillies – deseed a couple or all of them first if you don’t like very spicy curry. Remove the seeds in hot peppers before cooking. This reduces the heat for our kids but still leaves some flavour for the adults. I love watching the Hairy Bikers. Unlike some TV chefs, they actually tell you quantities etc while they're working, and the camera shows more of the food being prepared than the cooks striking poses and gurning for the camera. Add to that good food and good humour, and you've got quite a combination. I bought their Diet cookbook and enjoyed all the recipes I prepared from it (quite a few) so when I read the magic word, "curry"--I was away.