Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: sotonowl on August 16, 2013, 08:09 PM
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After years of trying to replicate the BIR taste, using the curry secret 1+2 editions I gave up. The curries were OK but nothing like the BIR we all crave. So a big thank you to the people on here, who have shared their recipes.
I used the Saffron base, and various other recipes which I have written down.
A special thanks to a gentleman who (thinking about it could be a lady) made me think again about Chicken Bhuna. I can't remember his username, but Bhuna is his favourite dish.
Chicken Bhuna was my first ever experience of an Indian restaurant (Curry Centre, London Road, Sheffield). Fantastic curry but I later progressed to Madras, Dhansak Etc.When years later I tried a Bhune again, alas it was nothing like the original, in fact it was just a chicken curry with loads of sauce and green capsicum and tomatoes. Well guess what? These dishes are not Bhuna dishes. bhuna is almost dry,
please try it, its fantastic, I have.
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Good to hear the site has re-awakened your desire to cook home BIR style food and that you are now finding success :D . One bhuna aficionado that springs to mind is Bob - 976 bar. Maybe this is the post. It certainly inspired me to cook my first bhuna :)
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html)
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Could also be secret santa, or phil. As far as I know both like their bhunas as dry as a bear's rear end.
Rob :)
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Great link back CH
good recipe
best, Rich
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Well, I am one of those who loved late 60's/early 70's bhunas, but sadly it is now a long time since I experienced one. The bulk bhuna that the Taj of Kent produced for the Marden Fete was excellent, but the bhuna we later had in their restaurant was not the same, and the one we had recently in Hildenborough was fairly dire : far too tomatoey, and far too much sauce. If you can let us know which recipe you used with such success, Sotonowl, I would be very grateful.
** Phil.
P.S. Whilst the bhuna in Hildenborough was dire, their tandoori dishes were excellent : each one differently spiced (chicken, lamb, and duck tikkas, seekh kebab, tandoori chicken) and all first class. For the tandoori dishes alone I recommend Cinnamon Square (Hildenborough) quite highly.
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http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html)
It was 976 bars recipe, he has reawakened my love of bhuna dishes
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Here is a pic of my recent efforts, all with recipes from this site, please note this is not the bhuna
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Sorry about the big pic
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... along with the perfect accompaniment ;)
Cheers,
Ken
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Yes, sorry about the lack of authenticity in the accompaniment but the cobra is considerably more expensive
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:P :P
It's 11:04 and i'm getting the urge for curry and bombay aloo already ;D
Looking good sotonowl ;)
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Re-sized for you.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/7070fb3581fe1ed7a011cf738382df6f.jpg)
All looks very nice indeed.
Rob :)
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Brilliant, thanks Rob,
Jim
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sotonowl
Looks a good home cooked supper, heavy on the oil, but hey :D
With your talk of dry Bhuna's, is your curry what you consider a dry Bhuna?
cheers Chewy
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Looks fantastic. I'm following this recipe for sure, as it looks so close to that meal I just had 2 days ago from a local restaurant.
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sotonowl
Looks a good home cooked supper, heavy on the oil, but hey :D
With your talk of dry Bhuna's, is your curry what you consider a dry Bhuna?
cheers Chewy
No Chewy, I said previously that the pic wasn't of the Bhuna I made
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Ooops, sorry, I missed that.
It does interest me, what people think a Bhuna should be.
cheers Chewy
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Cooking with Stella is the only way to do it :)
Nice one
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http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html) It was 976bar's recipe, he has reawakened my love of bhuna dishes
OK, so tonight I tried Bob's recipe, made with only very minor deviations (Rajah mixed masala in lieu of mix powder, only two ladles of base in total), and I have to say it was not bad. Rexture/consistency-wise it was perfect, but to my mind it lacked depth of flavour. I can think of two possible reasons for this :
- Although the recipe calls for garlic puree and ginger puree, it doesn't (as far as I could see) use them, so they were not added
- Bob does not specify how much pre-cooked chicken, and I put in two whole breasts (cut into curry-sized pieces), which is sufficient for at least two meals, so the spices were distributed over perhaps twice as much meat as Bob intended
Those aspects apart, it was definitely heading in the right direction; next time I shall either increase the spices or reduce the chicken, in the hopes of approaching ('though I fear I will never reach) the Chicken Bhuna of the New Delhi restaurant, Finchley Road, in the early 70's.
** Phil.
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http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6248.0.html) It was 976bar's recipe, he has reawakened my love of bhuna dishes
OK, so tonight I tried Bob's recipe, made with only very minor deviations (Rajah mixed masala in lieu of mix powder, only two ladles of base in total), and I have to say it was not bad. Rexture/consistency-wise it was perfect, but to my mind it lacked depth of flavour. I can think of two possible reasons for this :
- Although the recipe calls for garlic puree and ginger puree, it doesn't (as far as I could see) use them, so they were not added
- Bob does not specify how much pre-cooked chicken, and I put in two whole breasts (cut into curry-sized pieces), which is sufficient for at least two meals, so the spices were distributed over perhaps twice as much meat as Bob intended
Those aspects apart, it was definitely heading in the right direction; next time I shall either increase the spices or reduce the chicken, in the hopes of approaching ('though I fear I will never reach) the Chicken Bhuna of the New Delhi restaurant, Finchley Road, in the early 70's.
** Phil.
Let me know how you get on Phil, especially any improvements as I really have rediscovered my love of dry curries, especially the Bhuna.
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I will indeed. Somewhat preoccupied at the moment trying to get multiple medications into my cat twice a day (he has severe respiratory problems) so little time to cook curries, but when the opportunity arises a further attempt at Bob's bhuna is indeed on the cards.
(Update) So, having successfully administered the last of the day's medication, I am now defrosting a free-range chicken breast with the aim of producing my second 976bar Chicken Bhuna. The only change I propose to make from last time is to increase the amount of Kasoori methi; as there will be only 50% of the chicken that I used last time, I am hoping that the flavours will be more intense.
(Continued). I regret, no improvement. The sauce (if I may use that term for a dish that is supposed to be dry) had quite a pleasant flavour, although whether it was the true bhuna flavour that I am seeking I am less sure. But that flavour simply did not infuse itself into the chicken. I cannot help but feel that for a dry-cooked dish such as chicken bhuna, using pre-cooked chicken is not the way to go. Pre-cooked chicken in a rich sauce is one thing, because (a) one picks up a great deal of flavour from the sauce, and (b) the flavours from the sauce infuse themselves into the chicken. But for a dry-cooked dish such as chicken bhuna, I think that fresh chicken will be the way to go. I shall try that next time
** Phil.
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I will indeed. Somewhat preoccupied at the moment trying to get multiple medications into my cat twice a day (he has severe respiratory problems) so little time to cook curries, but when the opportunity arises a further attempt at Bob's bhuna is indeed on the cards.
(Update) So, having successfully administered the last of the day's medication, I am now defrosting a free-range chicken breast with the aim of producing my second 976bar Chicken Bhuna. The only change I propose to make from last time is to increase the amount of Kasoori methi; as there will be only 50% of the chicken that I used last time, I am hoping that the flavours will be more intense.
(Continued). I regret, no improvement. The sauce (if I may use that term for a dish that is supposed to be dry) had quite a pleasant flavour, although whether it was the true bhuna flavour that I am seeking I am less sure. But that flavour simply did not infuse itself into the chicken. I cannot help but feel that for a dry-cooked dish such as chicken bhuna, using pre-cooked chicken is not the way to go. Pre-cooked chicken in a rich sauce is one thing, because (a) one picks up a great deal of flavour from the sauce, and (b) the flavours from the sauce infuse themselves into the chicken. But for a dry-cooked dish such as chicken bhuna, I think that fresh chicken will be the way to go. I shall try that next time
** Phil.
The search goes on but are we looking for a meal or a memory
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The search goes on but are we looking for a meal or a memory
Hmmm, a good deep philophical question. Personally I am looking for a meal that evokes a memory; after my last report, I tried marinading raw chicken in the "sauce" (really too thick to be described as such) that remained after making and eating the last bhuna chicken, but the results were not impressive. I have just today bought some more Dutch onions to make a new batch of base, so will be trying again in the near future, but I am now completely out of Kasoori methi (which is not available locally) so the next bhuna will have to wait until that has been replenished, which will involve a train journey to Ashford and back ...
Incidentally, I do remember from my New Delhi / Finchley Road days that I always ate their bhuna chicken with chapatti; I think I shall have to make these next time, as so far I have not found that bhuna and pulao rice work well together at all.
** Phil.
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The search goes on but are we looking for a meal or a memory
Hmmm, a good deep philophical question. Personally I am looking for a meal that evokes a memory; after my last report, I tried marinading raw chicken in the "sauce" (really too thick to be described as such) that remained after making and eating the last bhuna chicken, but the results were not impressive. I have just today bought some more Dutch onions to make a new batch of base, so will be trying again in the near future, but I am now completely out of Kasoori methi (which is not available locally) so the next bhuna will have to wait until that has been replenished, which will involve a train journey to Ashford and back ...
Incidentally, I do remember from my New Delhi / Finchley Road days that I always ate their bhuna chicken with chapatti; I think I shall have to make these next time, as so far I have not found that bhuna and pulao rice work well together at all.
** Phil.
Now I used to attend the Embassy Ballroom on Mansfield Road in Sheffield on Thursday and Saturday nights, even at that time it was termed as the last chance saloon. I eventually met Maureen who i'd take home in my Ford Anglia but she would insist on calling in the Curry Centre on London Road in Sheffield. I would patiently wait outside for her and then take her home with the inevitable happening on the way. Eventually I thought bugger this I'll go and try it, this was my first curry, Bhuna, can't for the life of me remember what I had with it as I didn't get introduced to Naan for maybe 4 years later and I've never been a great lover of rice.
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What a romantic way to be introduced to the joys of
sex curry :)
** Phil.