Curry Recipes Online
Beginners Guide => Trainee Chefs / Beginners Questions => Topic started by: natterjak on March 15, 2011, 03:15 PM
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Just looking at Basmati rice on the SpicesofIndia website: Akash Basmati (http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Indian-Food-Akash-Basmati-Rice.html#aRFG020_2dp)
It seems to enjoy a large price advantage compared to all the other Basmati rices on that site. Just wondering if that's a bad sign?! Anyone used it? What about other sources, do you buy 10kg of Basmati cheaper than
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Also, would anyone recommend spices of india as a mail order spice supplier or are there better options? Do you know which delivery service SOI uses as if it's Parcelforce that alone will be enough to persuade me not to bother!
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Hi natterjak
I used to use Spices Of India all the time, but have not needed to lately due to discovering some new local shops that sell most of the things they sell.
However, having ordered from SOI many times, I have never had a problem. Can't remember who their courier of choice is though, but its never been a problem in the past, always a prompt service delivered when expected.
You get free delivery for orders over 30 pounds, plus that means you only need to pay 1 pound for next day delivery.
Makes economic sense if you order a big bag or rice and several jars or pastes and or pickles in one go.
Not so economical if you just need 1 small bag of spice as delivery is flat rate of 5 pounds I think.
All the best
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Another positive vote for Spices of India. If all you need is rice, and you don't have any local Asian shops around, I would recommend finding a big supermarket, as most of them tend to have an 'Asian' section that usually has big bags of rice.
I've bought the 'Gold' version of the below (5kg), which is about
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Hi Guy's,
When it comes to rice, I've bought some really expensive stuff and some real cheapo stuff too, with equally good and bad results.
My acid test is this, if it cooks in the rice cooker, without overcooking, then that's fine. What I find is, most of the cheaper brand don't cook so well in the rice cooker, therefor, I have to cook them on the hob, testing, testing, testing, all the time. I still get good rice, just a little bit more care is needed, that's all.
Ray :)
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Hi Natterjak, kike Ramirez i've tried the Gold XL from Tesco's if I recall. The rice is pretty good indeed.
Here's a topic that is a worthwhile read: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3487.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3487.0)
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Thanks guys, and Axe that thread is quite illuminating. Basmati buyer beware eh?
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What about this, especially after reading the topic Axe linked?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00432JB9M/ref=nosim/?tag=hotukdeals-21 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00432JB9M/ref=nosim/?tag=hotukdeals-21)
Badshah Basmati rice has been aged for one year to ensure fluffy, elongated grains and improved separation. It is nurtured in the ?rice bowl? region at the foothills of the Himalayas where the unique soil and climate produce the world?s most splendid rice. Nourished by crystal clear snow fed streams and carefully harvested by hand, these long aromatic grains create a fluffiness and flavour which, when cooked, knows no equal. ;)
Good reviews for it too
Martin
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Thought i'd bump another thread by using this one which i hadn't come across before. Martinvic, thanks for your comments and the link as Badshah is the rice i have been using for .......mmmmmm can't remember now but it's certainly a few years, and the same bag (25k - was a bargain when i bought it
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Hi CH
Sorry, not sure about the particular brands you are asking about, but just in case wondered if you would be interested in any Tilda pure original basmatti rice?
I don't know if all Sanos are doing this deal but the 2 near me are selling 4Kg bags half price. Think they are down to 5.99 or something like that.
It certainly does make lovely plump separated rice!
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Hi CH
Sorry, not sure about the particular brands you are asking about, but just in case wondered if you would be interested in any Tilda pure original basmatti rice?
I don't know if all Sanos are doing this deal but the 2 near me are selling 4Kg bags half price. Think they are down to 5.99 or something like that.
It certainly does make lovely plump separated rice!
That's a great price for 4kg (8 quid in Tesco). In fact, it's the same per kilo as buying a 20kg bag, as the cheapest I can find 20kg of Tilda down here is
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Gutted !!
All this talk of cheap basmati .. you guys are really lucky living in UK .. all your curry stuff seems so cheap. I had to pay 40 Euros on Friday for a 10kg bag of Tilda .. there's only one Asian shop to my knowledge in Slovakia so we have to pay whatever they ask or go without. Green cardamom were 3.50 Euros for 50g !!
I swear by Tilda and agree with SD .. the longer you have it the better it tastes.
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Gutted !!
All this talk of cheap basmati .. you guys are really lucky living in UK .. all your curry stuff seems so cheap. I had to pay 40 Euros on Friday for a 10kg bag of Tilda .. there's only one Asian shop to my knowledge in Slovakia so we have to pay whatever they ask or go without. Green cardamom were 3.50 Euros for 50g !!
I swear by Tilda and agree with SD .. the longer you have it the better it tastes.
I got lucky with Tilda at sainsbury's 2 weeks ago. A 4kg bag of the pure basmati was on offer at ?6.50. Staff had put a 5kg bag in the space where the offer was so without realising I took it to the till, when I questioned the price (?20) they honoured the ?6.50 price and put it down to staff error. Result :)
W
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Gutted !!
All this talk of cheap basmati .. you guys are really lucky living in UK .. all your curry stuff seems so cheap. I had to pay 40 Euros on Friday for a 10kg bag of Tilda .. there's only one Asian shop to my knowledge in Slovakia so we have to pay whatever they ask or go without. Green cardamom were 3.50 Euros for 50g !!
I swear by Tilda and agree with SD .. the longer you have it the better it tastes.
Sheesh! That's expensive rice!
But that price for cardamoms isn't too bad, Colin. Depending on where you buy them over here, online a 50g bag can set you back anything from 1.95 (or 2.40 euros) from Spices of India to an eye-watering 6.01 (Bristol Botanicals. Not that anyone in their right mind would get them from there).
I can pick them up a little cheaper than 1.95 from Asian stores, but cardamom is a notoriously expensive spice.
I've heard of restaurants reusing whole spices such as cardamoms two or three times when making stocks, etc. It's not something I've tried, but might be worth a go?
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May as well get your money's worth out of the little buggers. Chef Az told us at our recent BIR visit that they reuse two or three times during the week the spices that are infused to create an akni stock which is then added to the curry gravy :D
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Makes you wonder what else gets recycled in the typical BIR. Whole spices picked out of the pilau and reused? Untouched chunks of chicken fished out of curries not finished by restaurant customers and returned to the pre-cooked meat tub? It probably all goes on!
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Makes you wonder what else gets recycled in the typical BIR. Whole spices picked out of the pilau and reused? Untouched chunks of chicken fished out of curries not finished by restaurant customers and returned to the pre-cooked meat tub? It probably all goes on!
One of my mates works for a pest control company and regularly has to call on restaurants to deal with unwanted wildlife, and...
And I'm not going to say anymore as you've probably seen it all on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and the like, but after some of his discoveries suffice it to say that I know where I'm not going to eat in future.
Mind you, I've seen some domestic kitchens that beggar belief.
You should have seen mine after the weekend's baseathon! ;)