Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Peripatetic Phil on November 17, 2010, 08:57 AM
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Ever since discovering Kris Dhillon, I have continued to follow her basic precepts, including the pre-cooking of the chicken (I rarely use any other main ingredient). But yesterday, following up on my "Back to Basics (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5128.0)" thread, I decided to make a Bassar Curry Masala version but using raw chicken. And I have to say, it was not an outstanding success. OK, so the chicken had been frozen, I can't swear to it being free-range, it was leg not breast, and after skinning and boning it weighed 10oz not 8 so I had to re-scale things in proportion, but even allowing for all of these variations I felt that the final dish was lacking in flavour. So much so, in fact, that I converted it at the last minute from a Chicken Madras into a Chicken Achari. But interestingly, it seemed to be the chicken that was lacking in flavour, not the sauce : when the meal was over, and after I had had a chance to relax, I tried the sauce by itself, and it seemed absolutely fine. But the chicken hadn't absorbed as much of the flavour as it seems to when pre-cooked. So I wonder whether pre-cooking is not just a time-saver for restaurants, but also an important part of the process : is the simple broiling in onion/ginger/garlic gravy with turmeric a necessary pre-requisite for achieving full-flavoured chicken ? What do others think ?
** Phil.
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Definitely and it really improves the texture and colour of the chicken. I've been precooking my chicken in a half base, half water concoction and it really does something for the chicken you put in the curry.
The nearest I've got with lamb is to roast a leg, have a roast dinner and then use the remainder for curry. I've never had much success in precooking lamb any other way.
I tried CA's method of simply simmering chicken in water (the chicken was lovely and tender but it didn't have the colour I was after, too pale).
In Oz all the restaurants fry the chicken before they add the curry ingredients and you can really tell, the ensuing meat seems tough and dry. :( I miss my local BIR...
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The fact that the chicken is pre-cooked in ginger, onion and turmeric will in itself, give flavour to the chicken. Being cooked also opens the fibres in the meat allowing the final sauce to penetrate.
If the chicken it cooked from raw it will often be flash fried to seal the outer. By my way of thinking, that is the answer in a nutshell :)
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If the chicken it cooked from raw it will often be flash fried to seal the outer. By my way of thinking, that is the answer in a nutshell :)
OK, but in this case it definitely was not flash-fried ! It was simply added to the pre-heated (stage-3 sauce + oil mixture) immediately following the addition of the ground chillies and salt. As there was just over a pint of sauce to seven tablespoons of oil, the chicken could not have fried in these circumstances.
VC, you'll just have to open your own BIR in Australia and show the locals how it's supposed to be done ! (Incidentally, I seem to recall that when I was working at CSIRO in Melbourne for a few weeks in 1987, there was a multi-ethnic food mall not far from where I was based which served distinctly good and authentic fare).
** Phil.
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I tried CA's method of simply simmering chicken in water (the chicken was lovely and tender but it didn't have the colour I was after, too pale).
I didn't realise I had such a method VC? :P
For sure, if I precook chicken, I add some spices (including turmeric), vegetables, etc.....but generally, I admit, I don't bother precooking it (when using chicken breast, at least)
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Phil. That's Melbourne mate, I'm in hobart; they've only just found kebabs here (usually by the side of the road with a few empty tins of Victoria Bitter)...
CA. I think it was part of your spot on Madras discussion, I remember a thread saying that you left the chicken in hot water for 10 mins or so and it came out perfect (and it does) but not that yellow colour I crave. I replicate it by cooking the chicken in watered down base gravy now. It saves a lot of fuss and gives a great result every time.
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Try panpot's Ashoka pre-cooked chicken you will never look back.
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I'm in hobart; they've only just found kebabs here (usually by the side of the road with a few empty tins of Victoria Bitter)...
Oh. If Hobart has just discovered kebabs, I fear that McDonald's can't be far off : then you'll really need to get stuck into the Victoria Bitter !
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Try panpot's Ashoka pre-cooked chicken you will never look back.
Having trouble locating this one, 2-Sheds : any chance of a link, please
** Phil
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Here it is Phil
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3916.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3916.0)
Ray :)
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Thanks, Ray : I don't think I'd have found that in a million years. CA, do you have any recollection as to how it ended up under "# Supplementary Recipes (Curry Powders, Curry Paste, Restaurant Spice Mixes) > # Supplementary Recipes (Spice Mixes, Masalas, Pastes, Oils, Stocks, etc) " -- the note says you moved it there !
** Phil.
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Phil,
I also posted the Kushi precooked recipes in the same section. I don't really think that there is anywhere else for them?
I'll have a look now!
Ray :)
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No, I think it's in the right place? Cant see where else it would fit ???
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No, I think it's in the right place? Cant see where else it would fit ???
Not under "Hints, Tips, Methods and so on.. ", Ray ? It's pretty clearly a "method", as far as I can see ...
** Phil.
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Not under "Hints, Tips, Methods and so on.. ", Ray ? It's pretty clearly a "method", as far as I can see ...
** Phil.
Yeah, could do I suppose :)
Ray :)
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Phil , You need to Marinate Chicken for a minimum of four Hours before you precook it ,
otherwise it tastes of just err Chicken ::) ;)
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Ah. (Where is the "realisation dawns" emoticon when you need one ?!).
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Oh they have Maccers here Phil, mad about them. There's an outlet named Legs and Breasts (I know) that does a takeaway roast dinner (chicken, stuffing, veggies and gravy) in a foil takeaway container. Bizarre....
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CA, do you have any recollection as to how it ended up under "# Supplementary Recipes (Curry Powders, Curry Paste, Restaurant Spice Mixes) > # Supplementary Recipes (Spice Mixes, Masalas, Pastes, Oils, Stocks, etc) " -- the note says you moved it there !
Yes, of course I do Phil. The "Supplementary Recipes" section is precisely for that...recipes that "accompany/are additional to/compliment/etc" main dish recipes. Precooking clearly falls into this category, in my opinion.
The "Hints' Tips, Methods, etc" section is duplication of various other sections of the forum and should be removed, in my opinion.
The forum structure is long due an overhaul to make it easier for members to navigate. Over to Stew, then....
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CA, do you have any recollection as to how it ended up under "# Supplementary Recipes (Curry Powders, Curry Paste, Restaurant Spice Mixes) > # Supplementary Recipes (Spice Mixes, Masalas, Pastes, Oils, Stocks, etc) " -- the note says you moved it there !
Yes, of course I do Phil. The "Supplementary Recipes" section is precisely for that...recipes that "accompany/are additional to/compliment/etc" main dish recipes. Precooking clearly falls into this category, in my opinion.
The "Hints' Tips, Methods, etc" section is duplication of various other sections of the forum and should be removed, in my opinion.
The forum structure is long due an overhaul to make it easier for members to navigate. Over to Stew, then....
Hmm, I respectfully beg to disagree. You have to really stretch the possible interpretations of "etc" in both "Supplementary Recipes (Spice Mixes, Masalas, Pastes, Oils, Stocks, etc)" and in "accompany/are additional to/compliment/etc" for pre-cooked chicken to legitimately fall into this category.
And where do you find your citation of 'recipes that "accompany/are additional to/compliment/etc" main dish recipes.' ? I have just looked again, and I can still find no trace of those words.
** Phil.
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That's fine Phil, but someone has to decide where things best fit (there are plenty of square pegs and round holes on the forum!) and, at the time, that was me (and others). And I made the call I thought was best regarding the existing forum structure. Clearly, not everyone is bound to agree.
As I said, the forum really needs a revamp to make it clearer and easier to navigate (and to make it more obvious where to post and find things). Even then, I'm sure members will post stuff in the least appropriate places.... ;)
PS: It wasn't a citation, they are synonyms of "supplementary". It was my attempt to clarify my decision. Sorry if it confused you.
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OK, all understood. It seems to me that no matter how the forum is organised, not everyone will agree with the organisation ("Quot homines, tot sententiae"), and so one idea that might be considered is to cross-reference key posts under alternate headings. For example, one theme that frequently recurs in discussions are the Ashoka recipes : if we stick with the current idea of partitioning them into bases, main courses, side dishes, etc., then there could also be a top-level theme (called, say, "Recipes by origin") under which there would be second-level threads called (say) "Ashoka Recipes", "Bruce Edwards' Recipes", ... which would not duplicate the existing entries but would simply containing a complete set of links to them.
Might this have merit, do you think ?
** Phil.
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Phil, I agree with CA that the Pre-cooked recipe is a supplement and therefore correctly placed. But I do like your idea about having an index of recipes by origin. This would make things much easier to find indeed. Good idea. :)
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("Quot homines, tot sententiae"), and so one idea that might be considered is to cross-reference key posts under alternate headings.
Phil if you're going to go to the effort of using quotes from dead languages you could at least have the decency to also stick to English and not wander off into Americanisms too! It's alternative NOT alternate. >:(
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f you're going to go to the effort of using quotes from dead languages you could at least have the decency to also stick to English and not wander off into Americanisms too! It's alternative NOT alternate. >:(
OMG, I used an Americanism without realising it :o It must be all this interaction with TasteTester about Burrito Supremes and the benefits of owning a set of kitchen scales. Shades of Fowler, Gowers, Weseen and Onions, please forgive me : I promise never to sin in this unthinkable way again.
** Phil.
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Shades of Fowler, Gowers, Weseen and Onions, please forgive me : I promise never to sin in this unthinkable way again.
** Phil.
;D