Curry Recipes Online
Curry Photos & Videos => Pictures of Your Curries => Topic started by: spiceyokooko on April 10, 2013, 06:51 PM
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Just finished scoffing this lot and very nice it was too!
At the top, Saffron Pilau rice, bottom left, Bombay Aloo, dry style, bottom middle Beef Madras, bottom right, fried Okra or Bhindi Bhaji. I know the Okra dish looks like it's burnt, but it isn't, the colour is coming from the heavy caramelisation of the onions which produced an very intense sweet spicy dish, quite lovely.
I could eat that lot again!
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Looks quite nice, Spicey : I think I could manage to eat that !
** Phil.
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I haven't used beef in a curry for a long time. Do you pre-cook it and if so, how?
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Looks quite nice, Spicey : I think I could manage to eat that !
Thanks Phil, I enjoyed eating it!
I thought it was perhaps time I showed a little of what I cook and eat rather than just talking about it.
I know everyone likes pictures.
I particularly liked the Okra dish as that's not a vegetable I cook very often, but I saw some fresh in Sainsbury's and thought I'd give it a whirl. I'll definitely be cooking that again.
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I haven't used beef in a curry for a long time. Do you pre-cook it and if so, how?
Hi Fried
I did pre-cook it although it was already cooked! It was some leftover beef from Sunday lunch, which I just simmered in the base sauce I was going to use for about an hour, just to make it a little more tender as I can't stand beef that's hard and chewy.
It worked because it was lovely and tender.
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I might have to give that a try. I still have nightmares about the last beef balti I cooked :(
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I might have to give that a try. I still have nightmares about the last beef balti I cooked :(
Why, what went wrong with it?
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I cooked a Balti from PC's balti book and I undercooked precooked the beef which was a cheap cut. I also used a GM that was very heavy on the cloves.
I remember chewing the pieces of beef for an eternity before risking swallowing them. At the time I lived in a flat with a roof just below the front windows and I used to give scraps to a crow that visited. I left a bit of the beef for him and I didn't see him again. It was more vindaloo strength, hope he was O.K.
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.............. as I can't stand beef that's hard and chewy.
Whats Chewy done to upset you? ;) Joking aside,that does look very nice especially the Bombay Aloo :P and the Madras. I've never had Bhindi Bhaji for many moons as I seem to remember trying it after my veggie mate raved on about it and I didn't enjoy it. Perhaps its time for another shot as it sounds nice with the caramelised onions.
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At the time I lived in a flat with a roof just below the front windows and I used to give scraps to a crow that visited. I left a bit of the beef for him and I didn't see him again. It was more vindaloo strength, hope he was O.K.
Oh dear, poor Crow!
I find that most red meats like lamb and beef need a fair amount of pre-cooking to tenderness particularly as you say on the cheaper cuts. I like mine falling apart, so frequently pre-cook them for anything between 1-2 hours and it's best to test a piece for tenderness rather than simply relying on timing. Just fish a piece out and see if it breaks apart when pushed with a spoon, if it does it's done, if it doesn't cook it some more.
Also, don't be afraid of using meat with fat on it or fat marbling, obviously cut away any large pieces of fat, but the fat marbling will break down separating the muscle fibres and adding to flavour. It's the fats in beef and lamb that add so much to its flavour. You can always scoop off any fat or oil if it produces too much, but bear in mind that's where a lot of the flavour is.
I've pretty much stopped using chicken breast chunks or very lean beef or lamb as I find they dry out too easily, get tough and lack flavour.
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I'd definitely eat that lot for supper and would even give the okra a go since it was fresh :D. Like brinjal, I think that one is an acquired taste ::)
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I'd definitely eat that lot for supper and would even give the okra a go since it was fresh :D. Like brinjal, I think that one is an acquired taste ::)
Thanks CH!
A I mentioned I was in quite a large Sainsbury's today and as I don't go in there often, they have quite a good vegetable section and I noticed the Okra's looked quite young and tender, so I thought I'd give them a go. As you say Okra is an acquired taste, but I quite like their taste and texture and I think with the sweetness of the onions the dish turned out better than I expected.
I also had a browse of Sainsbury's ethnic section and noticed they had some quite large jars of Nishan garlic puree and ginger puree for GBP1.39 which I though was a pretty good deal, so I bought a jar each of those, not tried them yet. E2A Picture shown, 240g jars.
I also noticed they had some pretty good prices on some Rajah spices, 100g whole cumin for about 89p and 100g of Rajah Paprika for about the same.
Well worth checking out if anyone is after some Rajah spices although they only had a limited selection.
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I've used the Nishan garlic puree and ginger puree quite a bit throughout the years and find it Ok. Morrisons used to do it in what I called the Eastern European section (which was opposite the ethnic aisle) for 99p along with tins of coconut milk for 49p (which did go up to 60p). Now its been revamped all that stuff has disappeared. Bar Stewards >:(
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The madras looks very good indeed, i'm glad I reread the post this morning, I didn't spot the comment on the onions in the okra, I was curious as to how they got that colour! :)
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Dish looks lovely! :)
I couldn't get on with the Nishan purees. It's a while since I bought them, but I seem to remember a certain bitterness or tartness that I didn't like. Let us know how you get on with them.
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Excellent looks spicey! I would love to give that one a try. I've never tried okra or beef in a curry. I like beef, though I'm posh when it comes to dark meats and would rather not use it in a curry for fear of wasting it. As for okra, what does it taste like?
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Gav, Ramirez
Thanks for the heads up on the Nishan purees.
I'm not a big fan of processed food generally and much prefer to make up my own from fresh as I believe you will always get a better flavour that way. However, I'm open minded to new things and thought I'd give these a try.
I'll certainly report back on how I get on with them.
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Excellent looks spicey! I would love to give that one a try. I've never tried okra or beef in a curry. I like beef, though I'm posh when it comes to dark meats and would rather not use it in a curry for fear of wasting it.
As I mentioned this was leftover beef from a Sunday roast but I know what you mean.
Pick the cheaper, tougher cuts of beef to curry like stewing steak and trim off the excess fat and simmer it in whatever pre-cook sauce you use for a couple of hours till tender. Then add as normal. I think Beef and Lamb can produce some really intense flavours in BIR style dishes that you just can't get with chicken. I think this is down to the fat in the red meat being the flavour carrier in a similar way that oil carries the spice flavours. This is why I've moved away from using chicken breast chunks as I find they can get a bit dry, I prefer to use chicken thighs on the bone which carries some fat on them.
As for okra, what does it taste like?
Good question!
As CH mentioned earlier it's quite a distinct taste and as such somewhat acquired. I'd describe it as being somewhere between a green bean and a courgette. A lot of people get put off Okra by its somewhat slimey, mucus feel as a fresh vegetable and to get round that in cooking I believe it's best fried till slightly crisp. That's why the sauce is so dark, in frying the onions first then the Okra the onions caramelised producing a lovely rich intense sweet flavour with the crispy Okra. One benefit of Okra is that it's packed with nutrients.
I'm also really into Caribbean cookery and Okra is used quite a lot in that as well as sweet potatoes and sometimes they cross over into Indian food :)
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Good question!
As CH mentioned earlier it's quite a distinct taste and as such somewhat acquired. I'd describe it as being somewhere between a green bean and a courgette. A lot of people get put off Okra by its somewhat slimey, mucus feel as a fresh vegetable and to get round that in cooking I believe it's best fried till slightly crisp. That's why the sauce is so dark, in frying the onions first then the Okra the onions caramelised producing a lovely rich intense sweet flavour with the crispy Okra. One benefit of Okra is that it's packed with nutrients.
Interesting. I have only ever tried it once before and that was recently. It was in my usual BIR/TA and they offered me some to try. I don't know if it was their bhindi bhaji or one of chef's staff curries but it was enjoyable. I was asked what I thought and replied that it was good but that I couldn't really taste any noticeable flavour from the okra. The texture was simply soft with very little bit.
Crispy okra sounds much more appealing though. :)
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Crispy okra sounds much more appealing though. :)
Well I think so!
I always remember the Bhindi Bhaji of old, many years ago being these long slim green things floating in a sauce that felt slimey when you ate them! Although I liked the taste, the texture put me off them.
I read a few recipes before cooking these and the concensus seemed to be to fry until slightly crisp, so that's what I did! I'll cook the modified to BIR style recipe a few more times and if I'm happy with it I'll post it for people to try.