Hi,

I also find a small hand grater, looks almost like a paddle, approx 6 inches long without the handle, very useful for garlic and ginger.

Also a coffee mill for grinding spices when making your own ground spices. (Not suitable for coffee grinding thereafter!)
Small hand grinders are also available from some shops. Useful for making your own garam masala or curry powder etc.

A nice karahi or wok for cooking the curries is a must. I prefer the karahi because it is made of a much thicker material.
(Holds the heat better) Woks tend to be very thin and in my hands I tend to burn the spices and garlic and ginger too easily
when using a wok. But that would be your choice of course. On this site there is a thread about the type of pans some of the curry gurus use.

And then of course a nice, sharp knife which will become your favourite knife and nobody else is allowed to use ..............

Last but not least a special place to keep your beer handy while making the curry (VERY important)

Hi all,

Interesting site on building your own tandoor at:

http://piers.thompson.users.btopenworld.com/books.html

Cheers,

Barry.

Sure, you can count me in as well.

Cheers,

Barry.

Hi all,

I have an observation here regarding the couscous mentioned in this article.

On some of the Indian sites I have browsed, I have often come across the word
couscous but spelt differently. Some of the more traditional curries use? Khus Khus.
And what is Khus Khus?
It is Poppy Seeds!!!!. Also gives a 'smokey' flavour to dishes when used!

Now if this lady that wrote the article was told it was couscous, which one was it?
Did she automatically assume it was couscous (pasta type).
Is it not possible that it was in fact Khus Khus, as in Poppy Seeds?

Could be worth a try! I think Poppy seeds as an ingredient make more sense
than adding pasta derivative (couscous)Would like your thoughts on this.

Barry.

Hello Pete,

The ingredients used to make poppadums are urad dahl or moong dahl with rice flour added, (depending on the make ), bicarbonate of soda, salt and hing (Asafotoeda). Probably the hing
giving off the smell ?
I actually got the ingredients today to make my own poppadums. After experimenting I will post
my findings for those interested. I know Ghanna would like to know!

Cheers,

Barry.

Hi all,
Found this while browsing. May be of interest!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE BASE CURRY SAUCE
Stage one
ingredients:
               15 fluid oz measure of SPLIT RED LENTILS
               4.5 pints WATER
Thoroughly wash the lentils in several changes of water and remove any
stones.  Put them in a large pan with the water and bring to the boil.
Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.  Skim off the
froth that collects.  Partly cover the pan and cook for a further 40
minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the lentils are cooking take the following
stage two ingredients:
               4 lb COOKING ONIONS
               7.25 teaspoons GROUND GINGER
               7.25 teaspoons GARLIC POWDER
               1.5 teaspoons ASOFOETIDA
               5.5 pints COLD WATER
               3.5 teaspoons SALT
Peel and slice the onions in half, place them in a large micro-waveable
casserole with 8 tablespoons of the water.  Cook on high for 16 minutes
(650-watt Microwave), stir and cook on high for a further 16 minutes.
Leave to stand for 10 minutes.  Add the rest of the water to the onions.
Put the ground ginger, garlic powder and asofoetida in the liquidiser with
a third of the onions and water - liquidise for two minutes.  Liquidise
the remaining onions with the water for two minutes.  Put the mixture in
a large pan, add the salt and bring to the boil.  Turn down and simmer
for 10 minutes.
While the lentils and onions are cooking take the following stage three
ingredients:
               29 ozs TINNED TOMATOES
               2 large FRESH TOMATOES
               18 fluid ozs SUNFLOWER OIL
               3.75 teaspoons TURMERIC
               3.75 teaspoons PAPRIKA
Liquidise the tomatoes for two minutes.  Mix all the ingredients together
in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer uncovered
for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
When the onions and lentils are cooked put them together in the large pan
and mix in the cooked tomatoes.  Bring the mixture back to the boil and
turn the heat down to simmer.  It is important at this stage to skim off
the froth that rises to the top of the sauce.  Continue simmering and
skimming for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce
sticking.
You should now have approximately 10-11 pints of base curry sauce that
can be cooled and frozen for use later (in small batches), or used
straight away.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This recipe found at : http://homepages.tesco.net/~andy.oddjob/curry.htm

Barry.

Hello all,
I made the Khalia refcipe as per curry king tonight and it was EXCELLENT.
The pre-cooked meat recipe was as per Mark J and was also EXCELLENT.
I did make one or two changes. I misread Mark's recipe and added one
tablespoon of curry powder and not one teaspoon as per recipe.
( Probably the beer!)I did not add ANY water and cooked my lamb in
the spices and it produced enough water on its own. I also added 10/12
fresh curry leaves at the stage of frying the onions and fryed the curry
leaves with the onions.
Regarding the recipe of curry king, excellent recipe. I NEVER use chilli
powder. Any recipe I cook curry I substitute chilli powder with fresh chillies.
That was the only change to this excellent recipe. When I added the
pre-cooked meat, I added the pre-cooked meat with all the spices and
sauce from pre cooking. The flavour of this curry was out of this world.
As an accompanyment to this curry, I made ghannas onion bhaji where
the onions were slightly fried beforehand. The bhajis were flattened
after the first fry, left to cool and then browned in the hot oil for a
second time. Plain basmati rice with the curry......... Really a fantastic
meal! Thanks to all for sharing their recipes. Definitely will be on my
list of favourite curries.
While preparing the curry, did start out with some popadums and sweet
mango chutney with a nice beer or two or three or......... Don't you just
love preparing those curries........

Hello Pete,
The moment you put your poppadum into the oil, approx 2 seconds
later just turn it over and fry it on the opposite side and spread the
edges flat with your tongs. While they are frying you can still change
the shape in the oil but once removed from the oil they go crispy.
Dont fry on the first side too long. Flip over VERY quickly!

Respectfully,
Barry. 

Hi all,
I spoke to quite a few of my asian friends today and nobody was
able to shed any light on this. Two of the people I spoke to work in my
currry ingrediedients supplyer ( Quality foods ) and nobody was able
to give me any information. They are both from India and nobody has
heard of it. It may have a different spelling but I am still working on it.
Will keep all informed.

Respectfully,
Barry.

Hi ghanna,
I don't know the answer to your question but if I
should venture a guess, I would suspect that the meat is tenderised,
pre-cooked and ends up in the end product this way via the meat.
This is only a guess though!

I work in Southall and will find out for you tomorrow. I usually get all
my ingredients and spices from a store opposite my work almost the
size of Tesco.
(OK, a smallish Tesco!)

Barry.