INDIAN restaurant staff were a bit taken aback when one of their regulars asked to follow the chefs around the kitchen and make some notes.

But that is how Richard Sayce laid the groundwork for his two ‘Misty Ricardo’ recipe books which went on to win Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

While researching his guides to recreating British Indian restaurant favourites from home, he earned the trust of around 10 restaurants and takeaways and often joined the teams in the kitchen.

The Walton resident said: “I wanted to really get to the bottom of how food is cooked in Indian restaurants in this country. India does not have the same style of cooking. It has very much been invented for the British population.

“It’s mostly Bengali and Bangladeshi chefs rather than Indian chefs but the word Indian is used as it’s all encompassing.

“I started really analysing how they do it. I got to go into some Indian restaurant and takeaway kitchens to pick up little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.

“Sometimes you feel a bit awkward about asking because they might be concerned about who you are. They might think you’re some sort of inspector.

“Also in the workplace, people don’t like having someone looking over their shoulder the whole time.

“But I’ve had some good experiences. I’ve befriended a few chefs. I’ve even cooked with them in the kitchen.”

Richard started that culinary journey around 10 years ago and after a trip to Mumbai, an e-book, two paperback cookbooks and more than 100 cook-along videos on YouTube, he released his comprehensive hardback ‘Curry Compendium’ today, Friday.

Having sold more than 50,000 copies of his first books, and amassing six million views on YouTube, he felt the time was right to combine all his recipes – plus some new ones – in one place.

Richard Sayce

Richard Sayce

The 53-year-old added: “The book is easy to use, it walks you through the whole process.

“I’ve already had a decent number of pre-orders so I’m optimistic but it’s always a very nervous time.

“Because I’m independently published, everything falls on my shoulders.

“Putting together a book is also a very solitary process but the joy is in the delivery –people get in touch on social media and share pictures of curries they’ve cooked from my recipes. It makes it all worthwhile.”

Richard also saw a spike in sales of his books during the pandemic.

People were turning to cooking from scratch as something to do while they were stuck at home.

He said: “I was very fortunate during lockdown because cookbook sales really skyrocketed so I had a very good year.

“I’ve sold a lot of books in the past 15 months or so.”

Richard found that home cooks were contacting him more too with questions or feedback regarding his recipes.

He added: “I interact in a big way on social media. I’ve been doing that for years to build up my brand but also to be sociable and help people out.

“I like to be able to answer people’s questions.”

These days, Richard still makes a curry at least once a week and sometimes new recipes can be a result of happy accidents.

He added: “I like spicy food generally so I’m always adding spices to things and experimenting and from time to time stumble upon a good combination of flavours which I’m sometimes able to turn into a recipe. My neighbours do quite well out of it. I’m often giving them curries while I’m working on recipes and they definitely enjoy it.”

Richard Sayce’s Curry Compendium is out today, Friday, on Amazon and other bookshops. Visit mistyricardo.com