Lamb bhuna

[livo]

Last night I prepared yet another version of Lamb Bhoona, (along with a Bombay Beef Curry) and it turned out very well. It is one I'll be making again.  It was based on a book recipe, Balti Bhoona Lamb, (1000 Recipes Indian, Chinese Thai and Asian) and I made a few adjustments and additions of my own because the book written recipe appeared to be quite lacking in anything much in the way of spices.

I doubled the amount of lamb to 500 - 600 grams, substituted a mixed curry powder for just turmeric, added the last 2 TBSP of my homemade Balti Paste into the preliminary paste and further added a good pinch of Kasoori Methi halfway through. I then added a cup of chopped red and green capsicum at the end of cooking.  It produced a very nice curry and the best of the 3 Lamb Bhoona I've made recently.

For the Curry Powder I blended 1 TBSP of Clive of India Authentic Curry Powder, 1 TBSP of Mother's Recipe Madras Curry Powder, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder and 1 tsp ground fenugreek seed.  From this I used 1 TBSP for the dish.

There is another one I'm looking forward to trying soon and that is the one by Hari Ghotra.
https://www.harighotra.co.uk/lamb-bhuna-recipe

This looks very promising.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I portioned a whole (remaindered) leg of lamb just this week, so shall be very interested in the outcome of your experiments Livo.  But I think my first challenge will be to make a really good lamb dhansak, and then a lamb biryani

[Peripatetic Phil]

Having recently re-discovered the delights of home-cooked (albeit not home-made) BIR cuisine with my Co-op Indian meal deal for £8-00, and being too mean to spend £3-50 on just one Co-op main course, I took a pack of free-range corn-fed chicken breasts out of the freezer a day or so ago, and this evening made a rather good Indian chicken curry (generic name because I mixed two quite different dishes) using Aldi's "Specially selected fragrant Punjabi-inspired bhuna" mix.  As before, I bhooned the spices before adding the chicken, but this time using the technique that my wife taught me for making Singapore rice noodles — rather than adding the spices to oil in the pan and then frying, I heat the oil in the pan, add the spices, and immediately turn off the heat (being induction, this is virtually instantaneous).  The spices change colour nicely, and become beautifully fragrant, but there is zero risk of burning them.  I also used considerably more oil that Aldi recommend — probably 60ml, if not more, being a mixture of chilli-infused and garlic-infused rapeseed oils.  When the spices were nicely bhooned I added the chicken (two breasts made about 24 curry-sized pieces), turned up the heat to 40% and cooked and stirred until the chicken was uniformly but lightly cooked.  I then added one heaped dessert spoon of the sauce, stirred and cooked until it had reduced, added a second heaped dessert spoon and repeated — this left about 2/3 of the sauce unused.  I checked the seasoning, added a heaped coffee spoon of kala namak, four finely chopped green chillis and a few finely chopped coriander stalks.  Finally I blended in the remaining "chicken tikka" sauce from the previous (Co-op) meal and served with a freshly cooked frozen paratha (fried in ghee).  A delicious meal, not at all time consuming, and far better than anything I have eaten in any local BIR for quite some time.
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** Phil.

[Robbo141]

Very satisfying Phil.  I've yet to find a store-bought simmer sauce / curry I'm happy with, so sticking to what I know. For the times I have no base gravy I can always rely on the Instant Pot for a quick 'dump and cook' meal.
Singapore noodles was my go-to lunch on the many times I was in that beautiful little country. Not as often as I ate my absolute favorite Nasi Goreng though...

Robbo

[Peripatetic Phil]

Gonna give it a whirl tonight. Dead right though: spices, then meat is the order of the day...

Be sure to use lamb if you seek my result of approx 75% as good as a BIR buffet bhuna. Mix spices with some water to form a paste and fry carefully on low heat. Then add a small amount of the sauce at a time, remaining on low heat. The overall cooking time should be dragged out for as long as possible to maximise the flavour of the end result.

Sadly I failed to heed your warning, George, and attempted to cook a chicken bhuna using the Aldi stuff.  While it wasn't a total disaster, it was nothing like the good bhuna chicken dishes I have had in the past.  I used pre-velveted chicken (my wife had given me a large batch that was superfluous to hotel needs) for the first time, and I am now unconvinced that pre-velveted chicken works in BIR cuisine [but see below], but it was not the texture of the chicken that I disliked as much as the flavour of the overall dish.  Ah well, I will have to finish it up, and will then probably turn the remainder of the pre-velveted chicken into (Chinese) chicken with chilli and black bean sauce !

Of course, it is possible that Aldi have changed the recipe — have you tried it recently ?

[Update 19-Apr-2023]  I have just learned that the chicken was not just pre-velvetted — it had been marinaded in soya sauce. thus explaning the unpleasant flavour.  Why herself thought that it would work in a curry I will never know ...
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** Phil.

[George]

Of course, it is possible that Aldi have changed the recipe — have you tried it recently ?

Not tried for a year or more but I have a few bottles of unopened bhuna sauce in the cupboard, so thank you for reminding me. Almost certainly past the use by date.

My most recent discovery of really tasty food from Aldi is their chicken biriani, a chilled food dish which is very good indeed. Much better than most biriani from BIRs. Not all branches seem to stock it

[Peripatetic Phil]

I shall look out for it, George (the biryani, that is).  From the Aldi illustration, it would appear that one has to assemble it before serving, as the rice and the chicken+sauce appear to be contiguous but separate, if you know what I mean.  As to "use-by" dates (or "best before" dates, or whatever), I treat them in the same way that I treat rules  — for the guidance of the wise but the blind obedience of fools".  I routinely remove mould from cheese, pâté, compôtes, etc., and then eat what remains.
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** Phil.

[George]

Phil  - the Biriani is left 'separated' for the first half of the cooking time. You then stir it together for the remaining time. Worth searching for because I think it 's so good.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Phil  - the Biriani is left 'separated' for the first half of the cooking time. You then stir it together for the remaining time. Worth searching for because I think it 's so good.

OK, my task for tomorrow !

[George]

Almost a year later...Aldi seem to have deleted the chicken biriani not long after I recommended it. Typical! One from Sainsburys is also quite good.