Chicken Garlic Naga courtesy of CBM

[curryhell]

Thanks. Apologies CH perhaps I should have put the gravy question to you seeing as it was you who you actually started the thread!! On your advice SD I'll probably use the one from book 2 as it's a bit different to what I've made in the past. The other one with it's cabbage and coconut block reminds me of Chef Shah's garabi which is one I've already done before.

I'm presuming for the special mix powder it wants you to grind the cardamoms up "pods n all"?

Thanks for the advice.

No worries Mike.  I forgot to state I was using the Zaal base and mix powder.  As for the grinding of cardamoms, if it's good enough for the BIR kitchen, it's good enough for me.  And i can't see them being a**** to take the seeds out of the pods when grinding.  In fact it could even intensify the cardamom hit, and possibly not for the better.  But that's a question of ones own taste  ;D

[Salvador Dhali]

If you are unconvinced that the pod has almost no flavour, split one open using a sharp knife (so as not to crush the seeds and release the essential oils) and try chewing the pod; I think you will find it almost tasteless.

** Phil.

The shell of the green ones may not be very flavourful, but the black ones are packed with flavour throughout. (They're also much harder to de-seed.) I honestly didn't think my grinder would cope with the black cardamoms, but as said above, I was most impressed.

Not sure how long it would last if it was used for this purpose every day, mind...