Book Review:

An Expensive Curry by Ananda Paul

An Expensive Curry is memoir of Ananda Paul — the man who turned a humble £4,000 car loan into a £22 million property empire… and then accidentally set fire to most of it. Twice.

All while his dad kept calling him “Idiot Son” with genuine affection.

It starts with his parents’ epic origin story: a cross-caste Kolkata marriage that was basically Bollywood Romeo and Juliet, except nobody died and there was significantly more curry.

Dad arrives in Britain as a hustling, Mercedes-obsessed, cigar-puffing machine who polishes his car more than most people polish their ego. Mum, bless her, once tried cooking eggs shells included, thinking they were fancy British grapes.

Their 1960s move to Kingston-upon-Thames delivers nonstop cultural chaos, family fireworks, and enough spicy anecdotes to open a restaurant.

Then comes the beautifully disastrous journey: pizza‑delivery boy, Yellow Pages warrior, and the accidental landlord of over 100 flats. Expect supercar arguments with Dad, spectacular divorces, a financial crash and enough bad decisions to make you feel spiritually superior.

He doesn’t just admit his mistakes — he plates them up with cocktails and a side of lamb‑vindaloo‑dhansak chaos.

This isn’t a “how I got rich” manual. It’s a warm, gloriously messy ride about immigrant parents, epic family disappointment, spectacular failures, and still somehow winning in the end.

Highly recommended. You’ll laugh, cringe, cheer for the Idiot Son, and probably want a curry afterwards.

Available on amazon books  and kindle.