Topic: Welcoming in the New Year

[curryhell]

Having resisted the temptation to head to the pub to see in the New Year and thus avoiding the compulsory next day hangover, it seemed only proper to start as we mean to go on - with a curry  ;D
Nothing special or complex, a nice tasty not overly hot phall made to spec as per the Zaal video using Az's base and mix powder.  All details are contained in this thread which is a good starting point for any new to the BIR journey:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,7714.170.html



I added some left over bombay potato and saag aloo which i had cooked the night before, having used the little india base, both of which i was very impressed with 



I was tempted to do some special fried rice but by this stage the Leffe was beginning to take effect  so i ended up with simple pilau.  Again, a cast off from the day before  :



All in all, a satisfying supper which can be consistently produced 



Looking forward to the curry challenges of 2014.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL PARTICIPATING MEMBERS ON CR0

[fried]

Happy New year! I'll be starting with Gammon joint, eggs and some potato wedges. No curry until I finish the Christmas leftovers

[Gav Iscon]

Looks lush CH. After a bit of argument this morning with the missus as i wanted to knock up some curried mushrooms on toast, some how its nearly lunch time and I'm having some Fray Bentos pie with beans. Is this really 2014 


Although we did stop in last night and I made a Chicken ceylon using Chewy's madras and some bombay potatoes with plain basmati. Then settled down to watch a great Hootenanny with a bottle of wine.

Happy New Year Everyone.

[curryhell]

Looks lush CH. After a bit of argument this morning with the missus as i wanted to knock up some curried mushrooms on toast, some how its nearly lunch time and I'm having some Fray Bentos pie with beans. Is this really 2014 

;D ;D ;D ;D That will just ensure you'll enjoy your next curry creation Gav.  I'm having plain old bangers, mash, onions and mushy peas for tea for the very same reason.  And then it's off to the pub to celebrate the New Year 

[Kashmiri Bob]

Quality food CH.  Within minutes of viewing I've set about prepping a new batch of base gravy. Chicken tonight!  First curry for 2014.  Happy New Year!

Rob 

[Micky Tikka]

Yes Happy New year everyone
Ohh my head

Sorry CH for got my manners  love the curries

[natterjak]

Nice effort there CH. I had my own curry fest yesterday, but slightly different approach to before. Instead of pre cooking my chicken and making base gravy to freeze into portions, I batch cooked a whole load of curries from scatch and portioned them up for the freezer. So that means 4kg of chicken breast was cooked to the IFFU method, then about 7 litres of base gravy, then straight into cooking double portions of curry eight times. I was juggling two curry pans, each 26" with double portions on the go and I did this until I used up all my chicken and nearly all the base gravy - 16 curries in all.

All served up straight into takeaway tubs and into the fridge overnight and today they're into the freezer. The mess created around the cooker was biblical in proportions but I'm thinking I now have 2 months supply of curries I can microwave straight from the freezer (based on my current fairly conservative rate of consumption) and I only have to do the washing up once,  and clean the kitchen once as opposed to 16 times. Downside is I spent about 7 hours yesterday cooking, but I'm thinking there are economies of scale at play here.

Sadly no photos or video. I did try to rig a camera but couldn't get a decent angle on the cooker and given the ridiculous amount of spluttering going on I would've been ashamed to post a video of such a dirty cooker anyway. For the record I cooked 4 Roshneys (Zaal of course), 6 Ceylon (my own), 2 dopiaza (C2Go from YouTube) and 4 Jafflongs (Manzil via YouTube Leviteish) (ex hot).  Chunky onions and peppers to be added to the Jafflongs and Roshneys will be fried off fresh each time while the curries defrost in the microwave.

I've always avoided freezing complete curries because I was sure defrosting and reheating them destroyed the texture of the veggies, but have recently experimented based on good advice received elsewhere and found that as long as the bigger chunks of onion and pepper are fried fresh each time and added to the reheated curry, it works well. Furthermore the curries seem to improve from resting before consumption - maybe the oil infuses the spice flavours better, or simply your senses are clearer having not cooked from scratch on the day.

Adding up the totals of ingredient costs and cooking time and dividing by 16 I reckon I came in at around

[Stephen Lindsay]

The first of many for 2014 CH and a tasty looking feast as ever. I had me a takeaway last night (Chicken Madras) ans it was absolutely terrible, no taste, loads of chilli that it was at least a Vindaloo and I could taste nothing else. Having spent 9 quid I've stuck it in the freezer and I will rescue it at the weekend.

[Micky Tikka]

I think your right there NJ about frozen curries we make seemed to taste better
And echo those reason you suggested
I bet your glad that days over  ;D

Bad luck SL buy some chips and dip it in 

ooh my head anyone got a good cure

[natterjak]

I think your right there NJ about frozen curries we make seemed to taste better
And echo those reason you suggested
I bet your glad that days over  ;D

Bad luck SL buy some chips and dip it in 

ooh my head anyone got a good cure

You know what, it was quite fun actually. Maybe I was a squirrel in a former life as I seem to have a hoarding instinct and love to batch cook for the freezer. I do it with chilli con carne and lasagne meat sauce too. Can't beat getting home late from work and pulling out a portion of good tasty home cooked food to get it onto the table double quick,!