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