Topic: Chicken Garlic Naga courtesy of CBM

[curryhell]

The house is awash with the smells of BIR and the Leffe is starting to flow freely, although it's a  school night  :.  I've just finished cooking my Elaichi North Indian Special.  On smell, initial taste and instantaneous lip burn, it has the promise of a damn fine curry.  Maybe more on that later.  The use of CBM's tamarind sauce in preference to Tamarina or Imli sauce reminded me that I hadn't posted any feedback on the title of this post which i cooked two days in succession. So here it is.
Whilst Mick doesn't post here any more  , but he does regularly pop in.  His contribution to this site over the years with his videos and inside information provide IMHO some of the best information available to us home BIR chefs.  This, plus invaluable info and other videos posted here by some current and past members inspire me to continue my journey and share when i can.

Never had this dish but obviously my taste for naga and anything naga connected goes without saying.  I'm also  a fan of loads of garlic.  So when i happened across this recipe in CBM's second book it went straight on the radar.  Last week i decided the time was right to give it a go 

Here's a pic of the ingredients.  For obvious reasons i can't go into detail.  Buy the book, it's only the cost of a pint and more than worth it just for the tamarind sauce recipe 



Onions and garlic were fried to take out the rawness.  As expected the spices went in followed by the diluted tomato puree and a little bit of base to fry and "burn" the spices"



In went half the base for the first reduction.  No stiring allowed, as per Sam's instructions courtesy of  H4ppy Chris.  Bit of a gamble on electric, but what the hell 



Notice the change to the pan handle??  Any you can guess why    Yes, i left it on high heat for a little too long before i checked what was going on in the pan.  Upon realising the predicament I immediately transfered the pan contents without scraping that which was definitely burn to the bottom of the pan into another pan and continued on my way with the addition of the remainder of the base reducing it to the desired consistancy.



It would either be close to what was intended or at worst, at least edible.  And I was hungry  :  Anyway, here's the finished first attempt.  I've got to say, i was impressed with the flavour of the dish, but reluctant to comment until i had cooked it again, this time without "over caramalising" the sauce  ;D



And on the plate



and closer still



So hence my need to cook it again the next night paying a little more attention.  Here's the finished dish



And a little closer



My supper, cooked without incident  and delicious it was too 



And a close up of the rice for those interested



My comments on the dish:  I had cooked it the day before I ate it, as i believe you cannot fully assess a dish immediately after you have cooked it.  I know some will disagree, but they're entitled to their opinion.
The morning after i'd cooked it, I had one of those kitchen moments where you awake to a restaurant smell.  And when you walk into the kitchen, it

[Paul-B]

OK, for us newbies, what is the book and where can we get it from?

[loveitspicy]

Looking good as ever CH

best, Rich

[Garabi Army]

OK, for us newbies, what is the book and where can we get it from?

Hi Paul, Google 'Curry Barking Mad' 

Cheers,
Ken

[Stephen Lindsay]

Fingers right on the incendiary button CH - looks fantastic as usual.

[Peripatetic Phil]

OK, for us newbies, what is the book and where can we get it from?

I answered that one just a couple of days ago :

http://www.indiancurryrecipes-cbm.com/online-store.php

** Phil.

[Naga]

Can't disagree with any of the foregoing praise, CH - looks excellent and I bet it tasted twice as good as it looks!

I'm a big convert to Mr. Naga chilli pickle and I love a massive garlic hit in my curries - and just about anything else, really!

Lucky save on the first curry and good thinking to leave the sticky stuff in the pan - I don't think I could go back to an electric cooker. I don't really have that problem on my current gas cooker as it's seen better days - plus, I use a Prestige 26cm "This Morning" non-stick aluminium flat-bottomed shallow wok for my curry cooking, so there's little chance of anything sticking!

I've only tried one recipe out of CBM's second book yet. It's like I said in the recent Roshney thread - too many curries to try and too little time to try them!

Anyway, back to your grub - it looks as good as anything I've seen in a restaurant and certainly better than anything on offer in my neck of the woods. I must have a go at your pilau rice - I currently use Aussie Mick's recipe, which I rate highly, but I do like the look of yours.

Oh, and I definitely think that a curry benefits from a day's rest. I usually make my curries in 2-portion quantities and, when it's a hot one, my good lady wife wouldn't thank me for it. The 2nd portion goes straight into the fridge for me the next day and it always deepens in flavour and delivers a more rounded and mature chilli hit.

[Kashmiri Bob]

Cracking spread there CH.  Looking at those dishes I can't wait to get back in the kitchen, tonight.

Echo CBM's videos/recipes make for top notch BIR.

Rob 

[Aussie Mick]

Excellent looking tucker there CH.

We're offering this dish as a special for the month of November, and although I normally can't take any higher heat than a Madras, I managed to eat half of this curry. It's so addictive.

We are unable to get Mr. Naga down here, but i did manage to source "Pran" naga pickle......love the stuff.

[Salvador Dhali]

Many thanks for that, CH - that looks the business.

As a fellow fully paid-up member of the naga dependents' club and a fan of CBM, this one has also been on my radar for a while.

Despite always starting out with the intention of doing something different, I've been far too lazy of late, making what are my favourite (but the same) hot curries all the time - but this, and some contributions from others here (such as Bengali Bob), have inspired me to break the mould.

This will be kncocked up at the weekend!