Hey all
Randomly looking through ebooks and found this.
I assume I got it from here but just in case, wanted to share.  A lot of the content is from this website and refers to names going waaaaaay back to the Cory Ander / Chewy Tikka etc days...
And more recent members, Mick Crawford and Curryhell get mentions too!
It seems a lot of the very old stuff may be lost, so this doc might be of use.
I'm certainly going to give some things a try and get it onto good old fashioned paper.

Cheers
Robbo

Julian has been around a long time. A very clear video.
https://youtu.be/3Nogt06vSuc?si=OhhBD8wa0o0ZjsTk

I think I'll try this one. I've used cashews in a few traditional curry recipes recently but not seen in a base before. Spring has sprung, soon it'll be outdoor cooking time. Excited!

Robbo

Hey all, good to see the site back up.  Pics won't upload for me for some reason, even though the file size is less than 500k.  You'll just have to imagine the beautiful lamb kebabs from the Dishoom book and accompanying kali mirch potatoes courtesy of my newest YouTube addiction, chef Ranveer Brar.  Really like his cooking channel.  Pav Bhaji will be next - my favorite lunch in Mumbai.

Anyone have experience with the air fryer? I just got myself one, having seen a ton of recipes / uses. Bought a little rack with skewers to do kebabs, chicken tikka, pakora, etc. Chicago winter temperatures ( just 11 deg F this morning) don't favor my outdoor grill, so this gadget will keep me going.

Robbo

Apparently this guy is a celebrity chef in India. He certainly has a swagger to him and comfortable in front of camera. Recent videos have the benefit of subtitles but earlier one do not.  All recipes in descriptions are English though. I can easily sit through the videos without subtitles too.
https://youtu.be/wWj8H28DfsI?si=6TE39Q0dB7Y2czxD

Tons of recipes and instruction.  Worth a look.

Robbo

Yesterday I made Rik's vindaloo paste and boy was that a labor of love. An hour peeling garlic.


I was a bit concerned about the seemingly ridiculous 3 cups of ketchup (a foodstuff for kids and absolutely disgusting to me), but I followed the recipe exactly and now have 11 portions to experiment with.  7 TBSP of paste per dish. Freezer now full.
Rik calls for 10-20 dried chillies so I went with 19. A mix of dried Kashmiri and a few d'arbol.


Today, the roasted onion paste / base and tonight the first bash at the final dish.

Robbo

https://youtu.be/GzjX18psf9A?si=b6U8IUy6VPTkhDmV

Robbo

I have to admit, I never came across Frankies in all my visits to Mumbai, but stumbled on a recipe and gave it a bash.




A bit like the filling you get in veg samosa, fried up and wrapped in roti. I had some chicken tikka handy and rustled up onion & peas pulao courtesy of Chetna's mum.  Delicious.
The Frankie potato patty thing is also fantastic reheated with a fried egg on top for breakfast.

Robbo

I found this guy while looking for a recipe for my fave Pav Bhaji veggie recipe. Best street food I tasted in Mumbai.
https://youtube.com/@yourfoodlab?si=LGmVEeCyLnNvfSCG

Almost 6m followers and a ton of recipes. Some later ones have subtitles but all those I looked at have the recipe in English in the description.

Worth a look.

Robbo

I've been down a bit of a middle eastern & African rabbit hole recently. Yemeni rice dishes kept appearing in my biryani research and look beautiful. Most recently I came across some Ethiopian dishes that got me interested.  Tibs is a simple stir fried dish usually beef or lamb but I've also seen chicken versions. I decided to give it a bash, which necessitated adding a couple of things to the pantry.
1. Niter kibbeh - a spiced ghee infused with cinnamon, ginger, garlic, onion, fenugreek seed.
I'd wanted to make ghee for a while and it was pretty straightforward. When you fry the beef in this kibbeh it smells wonderful. I wonder why they don't do a similar thing in Indian cooking?


2. Berbere - a spice mix widely used in Ethiopian cuisine.  (Ethiopian garam masala?)
I found some at a local supermarket which has an extensive international foods section - including McVitie's chocolate digestives for $5 no thank you.

I made tibs last night, served with garlic naan and it was delicious. The traditional injera soft sourdough flatbread served in Ethiopia doesn't appeal to me and looks a bit of a faff to make.



Definitely one to repeat.  Next, to make my own berbere mix.

Robbo

Hello all, been a while.  Hope you're all still at it.
Back from my tour of Japan and it was incredible. The most beautiful places I've ever been to. I was pleasantly surprised at how widespread curry is in Japan.  There's a fast food chain called CoCo Curry with over 1200 branches and their curry was delicious. Tons of choices and ready in minutes. Wish we had them here.


Robbo

The missis picked this set up for me. She's nice that way.



Bonus feature to the chance of trying new masalas though, these little tins have 2 lids and the internal one has a very satisfying snap when pushed into place. A great airtight fit and perfect for re-use.


I just made a fresh batch of garam masala from the Dishoom cookbook and mix powder I think I got from this site. Works very well with my instant pot pressure cooked base.

8 coriander
7 turmeric
5 cumin
4 curry powder

Spring is here and almost time to get the grill out from storage so I can curry it up outdoors.

Robbo

Me and the missis are off to Japan next month and in her extensive research she read that Japanese Indian restaurant curry is just like BIR.  I was already looking forward to the culinary experience but now, I have the chance to try vindaloo in a country I'd never have considered. Pity I have to fly 14 hours though.

My only experience of Japanese curry is this paste, which makes a perfect sauce like I used to get in Chinese takeaways in the UK. The extra hot version is very good.



Robbo

This morning chef Imran appeared in my YouTube feed. The universe is listening.
I just sat and transcribed his chicken madras recipe...which looks delicious.

https://youtu.be/HK5RUk-dQDQ?si=3-BvXd5uKtxO22zH

And also the vindaloo sauce he uses to make it.

https://youtu.be/_QlG_-FIrrM?si=jliEuMyaOjdjeAGj

I've never seen coconut milk in a vindaloo or madras curry but worth a punt. In the sauce recipe he describes soaking Kashmiri chillies overnight but they don't look like the dried Kashmiris I have. Mine are much larger, on the left whereas his look like the regular smaller dried chillies I sometime use, on the right.
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What do you guys think about the chillies he uses?
His channel looks to have a good selection of dishes.

Robbo

I've made several Mexican dishes after watching the Cooking con Claudia YouTube channel. Absolutely superb so buying her book was a no-brainer. Full of deliciousness. Some of her recipes use the instant pot too, which makes for quick results.  Strong recommend.
I also happened across young Koreans, Aaron and Claire.  Equally good dishes and another purchase of their book.  Followed by a number of Korean ingredients.
The rice book was bought after reading a BBC.com article. Hard to resist a book dedicated to my favorite foodstuff.


Robbo

We get Labor Day off today so I took the whole week as a vacation and am cooking Indian dishes from the Dishoom book every day this week. (Except Wednesday when the missis has dinner with daughters and I revert to BIR vindaloo).
This is how the week looks.


Sheekh kebabs are already sat in the fridge for a little afternoon aperitif.
Ditto the coriander-mint chutney.
Chicken marinaded overnight, ready for grilling and my bash at Chicken Ruby.

To say I'm excited is a woeful understatement.

Robbo

This week I made this dish and it was wonderful.  The aroma when I broke the seal after baking was so good.  Definitely worth the effort.  This Dishoom book is full of beautiful looking recipes and I plan to work steadily through as many as I can.


Robbo

On vacation this week so took the chance to make a fresh batch of garam masala and the mix powder used in the recently revived Bruce Edwards base and vindaloo.
Vindaloo night again tonight.
Also a quick trip to the local Indian grocer, Patel Brothers in Naperville and picked up fresh curry leaves, kasuri methi and moong dal - oh and for the drive home, Punjabi samosa and paneer chilli puff from the hot food section. I love wandering the aisles, they have so many specific masala packets, I want to try everything.



A question:
Does anyone use asafoetida? I read some reviews that say it's so pungent you have to keep it in 2 containers and the smell can permeate your pantry.  All the recipe books say it adds real depth of flavor to dishes like dal but I'm a bit wary.

Robbo

After a very useful discussion with ChatGPT about local fishing spots, I asked for a BIR vindaloo recipe.  I was very specific about not wanting traditional Indian.

https://chat.openai.com/share/5f47ca28-fca3-43a4-9609-bb814e7fd11d

I'm going to give it a bash and see if I can make something of it.

Robbo

Last week I had to visit a customer in Streamwood, Illinois.  I checked around for Indian takeout with the thought of bringing home dinner.
http://www.indiafoodieus.com/

Very small restaurant and very friendly.  Managed to go there for dal makhani lunch with garlic naan and took home chicken vindaloo for me and tandoori chicken, veg pakora for the missis and a couple of veg samosas too.
Very good indeed.  Just a pity it's a 40 min drive and a little too far for a regular dinner run.
The search for BIR stateside continues.

Robbo

With the onion masala I made this dish with some lovely locally made paneer.
https://myheartbeets.com/wprm_print/9029

Because I diluted my onion masala, it turned out a lot more liquidy than I'd have liked, so next time I'll omit the water or maybe just not dilute the onion masala.  The paneer dish only used half of the onion masala but was so tasty I decided to use the same spice mix to make a potato curry for breakfast.

Peel 3 medium potatoes and cut into 2" pieces
Heat 1 TBSP ghee and 1 TBSP mustard oil in pan.  Fry potatoes about 5 mins just to get them golden.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, cook 30 secs
Add 1 Serrano chili, chopped, fry 1 min
Add a splash of onion masala
Add spices:
1 TBSP kasuri methi
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp turmeric

Fry spices, adding a little onion masala at a time while stirring, till all the masala is in - 3/4 cup total.
Add 1 cup frozen peas.
Put the potatoes back in the pan, add some boiling water, cover and cook till the potatoes are done. Stir occasionally. Garnish with fresh coriander.




There's nothing earth shattering here, but I'm going to stick with this spice mix and try it on chicken next.

Robbo