Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: George on November 07, 2021, 06:45 PM
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I'd think this was good if served in a restaurant. Recommended.
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Any idea if there are any other (Indian) dishes in their "Gastro collection" range, George ? Not being a fan of CTM, I would nonetheless like to try something in the range that is a little more savoury and spicy. OK, never mind, just checked online — beef Madras, butter chicken, chicken jalfrezi. I'll given the chicken jalfrezi a go, I think.
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** Phil.
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The only other one I tried was the Jalfrezi but it didn't impress me much, to be honest.
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Oh. Shame. Perhaps I won't bother. My only problem with trying the beef Madras is that after almost 60 years of eating in British Indian restaurants, the idea of beef in a curry just doesn't feel right to me. Goat, mutton, lamb, chicken, king prawns — all seem natural, but beef somehow seems 'wrong' ...
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I agree that beef dishes seem out of place for a BIR, even though one of the first curries I have ever had was a Vesta beef curry. I may try Aldi's butter chicken to see how it compares to the excellent version from M&S. I accept that creamy curries are not to everyone's taste.
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I ended up buying a chicken jalfrezi and a butter chicken (there were no beef Madras), so will report back when I have eaten them.
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** Phil.
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Cooked the chicken jalfrezi this evening, and served it with a ghee-fried paratha. Not bad at all. I ignored the cooking instructions and fried the contents of the packet in a mixture of chilli-infused and garlic-infused rapeseed oils, added a liberal amount of kala namak to the pan, and cooked it at 50% (induction) until I felt that it had reached the desired temperature and reduction. Sufficiently good that I will probably purchase some more. Possibly the butter chicken tomorrow.
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** Phil.
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[...]Sufficiently good that I will probably purchase some more.
Sadly impossible. Only the butter chicken remains in stock, and as I haven't yet eaten the first of these, it did not seem a good idea to purchase more at this stage.
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I assume many other people are on to this range as very fine tasting. The shelf was almost bare at my local Aldi, this morning, but I did manage to pick up a butter chicken, so I can compare it with Aldi's chicken tikka masala and the M&S butter chicken which is sensational.
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Just eaten the butter chicken now. Needed a very large amount of kala namak (maybe three teaspoonsful), and the almond flakes were an unpleasant surprise, but overall a surprisingly good dish. I shall return to Aldi St Austell to snatch up a few of the remainder tomorrow, insha'Allah.
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** Phil.
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I ate half my Aldi butter chicken this evening, heated in the oven for 25 mins with no additions. It's good but I think the M&S butter chicken is better, albeit quite a lot more expensive. Moreover, Aldi's butter chicken is quite similar to their chicken tikka masala (CTM) in the same range. But, for my taste the CTM is better so Phil, I'd urge you to try the CTM.
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None left, George — only (about) ten butter chicken ...
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Phil - thanks for participating in this thread. It's a pity nobody else has expressed an interest so far. Aldi's CTM is quite similar to their butter chicken, like I said. It is nothing like I expect from a CTM if ordered in a BIR. The restaurant CTMs tend to be bright red, often with quite a prominent taste of coconut. I don't think there is any coconut in the Aldi version and maybe that is why it is so good. An interesting ingredient in the Aldi CTM is oak smoked water. I think you can taste something like that, helping the sauce to be moreish. I intend to try and make some oak smoked water myself, to add to a dhansak, for example. The butter chicken has honey instead and is not quite as good, for my taste.
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Incidentally, if you are interested in trying the butter chicken once again, George, I strongly recommend not heating it in the oven for 25 minutes. I re-heat mine in a shallow wok, in an excess of garlic-infused and chilli-infused rapeseed oils, and to my mind the addition of these oils (in excess) is a significant factor in the excellence of the dish, as is the addition of kala namak. I estimate that the dish needs heating for no more than eight minutes, and probably less — however long it takes to cook a frozen paratha from scratch.
P.S. Managed to acquire 2 x butter chicken and 1 x beef Madras in the Bodmin branch today. I won't make any further report on the butter chicken, since I now know that I like it, but will report on the beef Madras once I have tried it.
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** Phil.
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Although we have Aldi here in North Carolina, I’m guessing there’s only a slim chance of anything curry in them. If anything, butter chicken and CTM are what the vast majority of people here would even have heard of. Good for my missis, but not hot enough for me.
Now, if they happen to bring out a vindaloo….
Robbo
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I fear that you are correct, Robbo. A Google search for 'gastro' +site:aldi.us finds nothing. Your only hope is to see if your local store carries this sauce (https://www.aldi.us/en/products/pantry-essentials/sauces-salsa/detail/ps/p/cook-house-indian-sauces/) (the second one down in the list), and try making your own (with your preferred degree of heat, of course) ...
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** Phil.
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Phil - thank you for your suggestion for cooking the butter chicken in a pan on the stove. I will certainly give it a try. I put it in the oven for 25 mins because that's what it specified on the pack. Their preference was a few minutes in a microwave but I am trying to eliminate my use of microwave as an attempt to save money on energy by using my gas stove, instead.
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Just returned from Aldi with a £24-99 shallow cast-iron casserole (https://www.aldi.co.uk/blue-shallow-casserole-dish-30cm/p/712872548773000) (in blue)1, and used it to re-heat (?cook?) an Aldi Butter Chicken on an induction hob. Very successful indeed — required only 20% heat for a few minutes (probably fewer than five) to bring the contents — plus an excess of spiced oil, of course — up to optimal temperature. And the whole thing washed clean very easily, with nothing seeking to stick to the enamelled cooking surface.
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1 The link is to the more recent 30cm version; mine is 26cm, and was £5-00 cheaper.
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** Phil.
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I love a cast iron pan Phil. We have a couple of Le Cruset that are hideously expensive but just perfect to cook with. The missis just invested in a new pan from the Our Place company which does the same job but less pricey than the French pot. Really, really lightweight too.
https://fromourplace.co.uk/products/home-cook-duo?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=uk_brand_search_gen_na&utm_term=our%20place%20pots%20and%20pans&utm_version=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI063hrdWp9AIVx7KGCh1zJgPuEAAYAiAAEgJHcPD_BwE
Robbo
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Robbo - you sau Le Creuset are hideously expensive. I agree, so why do you waste your money? I bought a few Le Creuset items decades ago on day trips to France. At the time, their prices were more like Phil paid at Aldi. Regardless of price, they were nothing special to cook with and the enamel chipped away to leave rusting iron underneath, when they were not treated any worse than other brands of cookware. Here's a casserole dish via John Lewis:
https://www.johnlewis.com/le-creuset-signature-cast-iron-round-casserole/cerise/p5349564?sku=234142494&size=20cm&s_ppc=2dx92700055668775893&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKCAiAs92MBhAXEiwAXTi252Z8HEuxu0RUMTmZrSRIgiiwvXdMfRrHXv5n0PvI1H4KhMuu3VCAHBoCu9gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&irclickid=yMNVGfwLdxyIR811SZ0SoyHbUkG22i29A2uOwY0&irgwc=1&tmcampid=99&s_afcid=af_2916367
I think anyone paying that sort of money must be out of their mind. God bless Aldi.
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Agreed George, I inherited these when I married the current Mrs Robbo. She had them given as a gift some 30 years ago and they are still going strong. No enamel issue here.
Sometimes you get what you pay for.
Robbo
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What do you (both) think of the Chasseur range ? I have two large round casseroles in this range, and they seem both reasonably priced (tho' not as cheap as Aldi, of course) and durable.
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** Phil.
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Over here the Chasseur range is similar to the Le Cruset. Pricey but last a lifetime. I have no more need (or room) for more pots. I fully expect to never replace any of our cast iron cookware.
Robbo
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Well, I may have bought my "Chasseur" casseroles at a time when I was more affluent than I am today, but I don't recall them seeming expensive at the time. Looking online, it would seem that a Chasseur casserole is around 2/3 of the price of the Le Creuset equivalent in the UK. Oh, and maybe five times the Aldi version ...
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** Phil.
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Finally got around to trying the beef Madras today (the cling-film top was starting to bulge) and I was not really impressed. Re-heated/"cooked" using the same methodology as the butter chicken, the beef Madras also benefitted from the addition of a teaspoon of kala namak, but the results were not particularly impressive. I won't be bothering with that one again.
Next on my list to try is a pack of Kohinoor Lucknow Adraki Bhuna sauce, described as "a robust combination of caramelised onions, tomato, ginger and garam masala (just add 450gm chicken breast)". Ingredients include onions, tomato, sunflower oil, ginger, red pepper, green pepper, ground coriander, garlic, fresh coriander, salt, white vinegar, deggi mirch, garam masala, ground cumin, ground red chillies, ground kasoori methi and ground turmeric. Wish me luck !
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The Beef Madras I made using Chef Din's base gravy and pre-cooked beef was great, as were the Kashmiri Rogan Josh (also beef) and 2 Chicken curries. Not as convenient as buying ready meals from Aldi but worth the effort.
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the beef Madras also benefitted from the addition of a teaspoon of kala namak,
I looked up kala namak and found the following warning:
https://www.thedailystar.net/health/black-salt-and-its-health-hazard-1451023
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With respect, George, if you were to look up 90% of the things that I consume you would find health warnings associated with them : dripping, lard, mustard oil, butter, Jersey cream, Jersey milk, red meat, Smarties, Galaxy, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Asbach brandy, Armagnac, sugar, ... the list is endless. One more or one less won't significantly affect my life expectancy, so I shall continue to eat and drink the things that I enjoy, and pay no more attention to any health warning(s) associated therewith than I do to use-by dates, etc.
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** Phil.
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Next on my list to try is a pack of Kohinoor Lucknow Adraki Bhuna sauce, described as "a robust combination of caramelised onions, tomato, ginger and garam masala (just add 450gm chicken breast)". Ingredients include onions, tomato, sunflower oil, ginger, red pepper, green pepper, ground coriander, garlic, fresh coriander, salt, white vinegar, deggi mirch, garam masala, ground cumin, ground red chillies, ground kasoori methi and ground turmeric.
Sadly not as good as I had hoped. Good consistency, easy to prepare, but there is an imbalance in the spicing which makes it less than perfect. Ah well, no alternative but to bite the bullet and get back to cooking real BIR curries, I suppose ...
** Phil.