Oh for the good old days of Speckled Hen, Marstons, and all those other wonderful bottled British ales : sadly the liver has issued its final public warning, and -- not wanting to end up like George Best -- I have heeded its cries for mercy.  As to free-range, if ever you've has the misfortune to eat a battery-hen curry (a well-known supermarket own-brand, for example), you will know that it tastes like cardboard, so by buying only free range not only do I know that the bird has had a better lifestyle (albeit rather short), I also know that my curries will have flavour and texture !

Clausthaler Extra Herb : the link you give is 17.99 for 24 x 330ml; I buy from Beers of Europe (http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/beers/cgi-bin/Beers_of_Europe__Clausthaler_71.html#aDEC190) at 26.97 for a case of 20 x 500ml (330ml is never enough for me !).  Also the alcoholfree.co.uk one is Clausthaler Classic which is a bit sweeter on the palate, and not as satisfying to my mind; I used to swear by Main Thaler but sadly that has completely disappeared, and Clausthaler Extra Herb is a pretty satisfactory substitute.

Nah, you're right 330ML is just too small. If you eat BIR though you are eating cheap chicken though surely?

BIR = "cheap chicken" is probably true in many cases, but the chicken used in Messrs *********'s own-brand non-pre-packed curries is truly tasteless.  For a while I would buy one of their curries for cheapness and then re-spice it to my own taste, but it didn't take me long to realise that no amount of re-spicing can disguise the blandness and texture of their chicken.  I don't know whether Halal restaurants use battery hens or not, but I do know that the proprietor of one in New Eltham (S.E. London) once proudly told me that every week he would go to watch the hens being slaughtered so that he could tell his customers with confidence that he could personally guarantee that they were Halal.

I suppose with amount of chilli I stick in my curries I could bung in a sewer worker's sock and not notice...

Chaa006,

wow - only can admire u're cooking pedigree.

and by the looks of it beer too. for me i would add banks's and that Landlord stuff from  near the alleged beer or ale capital Huddersfield.

the recipe quite intrigues me on the possibility of getting an impoverished BIR version. will report back if i get anywhere with it. 

Thank for your kind words, Jerry.  But when you wrote "an impoverished BIR version", did you by any chance intend to type "improvised" rather than "impoverished" ?  I rather hope that you did !

Incidentally, I now realise that when I described the recipe, I forgot to clarify that I use what most have called "spiced oil" and I call "recycled oil" (because I don't make it specially; it is just the skimmings from the most recent curry) at every stage in the proceedings, including the pre-cooking of the chicken.

Quote from: Chaa006 on October 07, 2010, 05:21 PM
"improvised" rather than "impoverished"

Chaa006,

of course u're correct. i suppose i've only been used to BIR and for whatever reason have never been able to find anything sort of "traditional" that i like. my mind does remain open and positive. a good friend even made me a highly rated traditional dish once but no joy - well not for me.

just a question on the recipe - is the fenugreek seed. i've not used the seed for quite a while but my recollection is that it is very different to the powder or the leaf (methi). the rest of the "fudge" i think i can do and looking fwd to trying out next time i have base.

ps it's a me too on the oil front. best wishes,

Hi Jerry,

Methi powder is infact ground methi seed, quite different to dried methi (kasoori methi) which are the dried leaf.

Ray

Yes, all of the "ground whatevers" in the recipe were ground seeds of the whatever rather than being ground leaves or any other part.  I don't normally grind my own spices, I just buy them in bulk from Indian grocers, but I did grind mustard seeds of various colours when I was trying to follow Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi's recipes for Tandoori Chicken & Chicken Tikka -- I just couldn't believe that he would use Coleman's mustard, so I felt obliged to grind my own !

Quote from: Razor on October 08, 2010, 06:56 PM
Methi powder is infact ground methi seed

Razor,

many thanks albeit disappointing news - i'd thought fenugreek seed was sort of a bit aniseed. have now wet finger tasted the methi powder i all ready have (from CA's aka) - it tastes for me worse than the leaf.

makes the pot even more interesting i guess.