"Anjula, those who've never cooked Indian food will find it difficult to create their own garam masala blend. Ready-made garam masala can be stale and it usually isn’t balanced correctly. We need to break down the steps of our cooking method so that people can really understand the heart of Indian cooking.” These were the words that Anjula remembers her father saying to her when she was a young girl.

That's exactly what Anjula and her father did, they did away with garam masala and perfected the balancing and blending of ‘key spices’ and ‘warming spices’. They worked out that key spices held their flavour for much longer than warming spices, the latter only holding theirs for fifteen minutes.

This is a new kind of cookery book, with a unique, easy-to-master technique which has parallels with a piece of music. Just like music needs a good base, harmonies, melodies and the all-important finale - that's what you need to begin to create great Indian food.

Anjula’s base is made up of the key spices. The harmonies and melodies are the warming spices. The finale is created by fresh curry leaves, lemon and lime juice and zest, fresh coriander, mango powder and tamarind. This will enable people to feel the exhilaration that they get from great music. Indian food should make you feel like every bite is doing you good.

A great example is Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. Whitney starts singing acapella, with her voice sounding clear and pure. There is a dramatic change of key, which truly defines her version of the song, in which she forcefully delivers the core message of the song – she will miss him forever and he will always be in her thoughts. There are clear stages in this piece of music which for Anjula mirror the stages of cooking great Indian food. Ultimately there is a memorable finale.

It’s the unique ‘musical’ format and technique of Anjula's cookery book that will set it apart from all other Indian cookery books. Anjula's book will convert non curry eaters and build confidence in people to cook their own Indian food. At her cookery school, as she teaches, Anjula will often ask people to listen to their favourite music whilst cooking.

ENDS

About Anjula Devi

Anjula has made Indian food her career, passing on the wealth of knowledge accumulated with her father. She has founded her own cooking school, demonstrates at BBC Good Food Shows, has been appointed Brand Ambassador for the world’s largest Indian food company TRS Foods and created her own brand – ‘Route 207’. The brand is named after the London bus journey which Anjula and her father used to make to buy spices, vegetables and fresh fish from Shepherds Bush Market.

Full layouts of the book are available to view on PDF, for further information, interview and image requests please contact andy@anjuladevi.com