The recipes which readers might like to try are to be found at the end of each chapter. These are recipes which I use myself. I hope they will produce tasty results in your kitchen. Indians cooking in their own homes adjust the quantities of spices to suit their own tastes: some cooks use as many as twenty chillies when making a vindaloo, others just three or four. You should feel free to adjust the quantities to suit your preferences.
An Indian friend from South Africa once gave me a helpful tip which has improved my Indian cookery: when frying onions, garlic, ginger or spices always wait until the raw smell of the foods has disappeared before going on to the next stage of the cooking process.
I have also included some historical recipes in the body of the text to give a sense of what these recipes were like. Some of them might be interesting to cook, although I do not suggest experimenting with roast black rat.