I do believe I may have had one too many Kingfishers the other night. Sorry about that
Was just thinking that there doesn't seem to many places to get a phal hereabouts, with most TAs etc. just offering any old curry made medium, madras hot, vindaloo hot; occasionally phal hot. I remembered then the late night's boozing at the Jabez, and trips into Rusholme in the hope somewhere was still open. The late night/early morning phal was a speciality in those days, and a force to be reckoned with. More of a thick sauce type affair, volcanic lava with tons of chill powder and some chicken (often roast), rather than a proper "curry". Mega hot. The, "I want it as hot as you can make it, please waiter". When ordered, you would have to finish it, or you would look extremely silly in front of your mates, and of course, the ladies.
I then thought, why not have a go at making one?
Ex-hot chicken phal:
Not a bad effort. Definitely hot. Used lots of swear words when eating it, accompanied by sweating, sniffling, dribbling, hiccups, and a burning pain in my chest. This was very tasty though. Lovely chilli and garlic, black pepper, and sour. But it was so bloomin' hot! Was it as hot as the Rusholme phal? Maybe not, perhaps I should have gone the whole hog and used just one type of chilli powder, or deggi mirch. I wonder if they used (or even could get) deggi mirch back then? How much salt (and vinegar) did they use? Probably loads. Did they even bother to cook the chilli properly? No, I don't believe they did, recalling "experiences" the next day, and the day after.
Anyhoo, a few more pics below, including a few of the prep, in reverse order.
Straight from the pan:
Quite authentic TA appearance I felt, after being allowed to rest a while with the lid on:
This is great!
Not far off ready. The sauce is thicker than it looks.
More freshly milled black pepper:
I'm happy the spices are cooked sufficiently. The flavours of chilli are awesome. It's not just about heat.
Still in no rush at this stage. Test for bitterness. There should not be any. Then singe with a little gravy.
I'll drink a bottle of Kingfisher (275 ml) whilst this stage is being cooked, maybe two. No real chef skills at the moment. But these spices must be cooked. There is no way this amount of chilli will get cooked with just a quick mix/scrape, and boiling/reducing in base gravy for a few minutes. The glorious flavours of the chilli wont develop, and there will be serious next-day issues.
2 tsp of mix powder, 1 rounded cs of ex-hot chilli powder, 1 rounded cs of kasmiri mirch (a very nice blend). Methi and fresh lemon juice to follow:
1 1/2 cs of sunflower oil and 1 tsp of Pran mustard oil:
Feedback as always, welcomed.
Rob
Topic: Ex hot chicken phal ( 21,288 )
