Topic: Maliks Indian restaurant LIVE CAM!

[George]

Almond powder was seen in trays sitting next to the coconut powder
in the Bir Kitchens I have been in. I have been allowed to taste them.
Both coconut and almond powders do play a part in the BIR kitchens
i have been invited into.

OK this sounds pretty persuasive. I look forward to trying both mixes at home to see which produces the most BIR-like end result.

[chowie]

I doubt they are all Kormas, some others on the menu could be these

Chicken Pasanda
Mild, creamy and nutty dish of tender pieces of grilled chicken tikka cooked with coconut, almond, piastachio, cashew nuts and cream with a hint of masala sauce, seriously rich and sumptious.

Butter Chicken
Seriously rich and sumptious dish of tender pieces of grilled chicken cooked in a thick, creamy and buttery sauce.

Chick Peas for this as well as veg sides

Chana Paneer Masala
Chick peas and cheese cooked with garlic and reefs special masala sauce, medium hot and deliciously spicy and nutty.

Looking through the menu a few other ingredients used are;

Aubergine
Okra
Taramind
Peri Peri Chillies
Green Beans
Bahar sauce containing Bangladeshi citrus fruit.
Lime Pickle

The Thawa Dishes are interesting

Chicken Tikka Thawa
Spicy with lots of vegetables, Butter beans, green peppers, olives, pickled onion, mixed herbs and coriander.

Chicken Tikka Dhaniya
Roasted whole coriander, mixed herbs, ajowan, jatri, jayfal, star seed and curry leaves.

Never looked through the menu before, but iy does make me wonder if any of the above ingredients are in the base.

[Secret Santa]

I doubt they are all Kormas

No chowie, they really are (mostly)!

I've watched so many made that I can instantly tell when a korma is being made, and it really is almost every other curry. I'm as amazed as you presumably are.

Of course there are others that look similar, but they are different enough, contents wise, to mark them out as not being kormas. They make more kormas than CTM and that's supposed to be the favourite BIR curry!

[haldi]

They make more kormas than CTM and that's supposed to be the favourite BIR curry!

I was hanging out, quite a bit at a takeaway, a few years back.
It was nearly only Kormas cooked
Probably seven out of ten curries
Occasionally they made up two, for one order!
The chefs were really fed up cooking it
Actually ,although not my favourite,they were very nice
The chefs joked with me and called it "an Englishman's curry"
CTM wasn't any where near as popular

[Secret Santa]

Occasionally they made up two, for one order!

It's funny you should mention that haldi. I saw them make up four in one go in a wok the other night. He started by shovelling ladles and ladles of the two white powders in to the wok and I was thinking OMG what on earth is this going to be! Anyway he then got the kewra water bottle out (if that's what it is) and at that point I was pretty sure it was going to be a korma and I was pretty relieved when he bunged in four portions of meat.

I think you can get away with doing many at a time for any of the creamy curries like korma, CTM, pasanda etc. because there is no requirement for fierce heat to get things like puree and spices going like you need in the savoury curries. All good stuff eh?

[joshallen2k]

Anyway he then got the kewra water bottle out (if that's what it is)

SS - what makes you think its Kewra water vs. Rose water?

I've seen a few times rose water listed as a Korma ingredient.

[parker21]

hi josh they are the same ingredient just 2 different names

regards
gary

[Secret Santa]

SS - what makes you think its Kewra water vs. Rose water?

Oh that was just guesswork. I've seen kewra used in some authentic kormas. However, I think it might just as likely be rose water, or maybe a mix of both!  The bottle is transparent and the video quality too bad to see any label.

[joshallen2k]

hi josh they are the same ingredient just 2 different names

In my local Indian grocery they have both rose water and kewra water. A quick google on the topic told me that they are made from two different flowers (pandan vs. rose).

I've been using rose water in my korma, but I think I will try the kewra variety to see if it in any small part gets me closer to BIR.

[haldi]

I was watching video K
They started the base off picture
The large pot arrives with a depth of liquid in it
What is this?
I don't think it's just fresh oil

Then he skims off some oil from the curry gravy, he is currently using,and adds this to the new pot.
Then he adds something chopped and white-ish to it
Ginger, garlic??
Now the onions go in
Loads of them and after a lttle while only a little water
After a short time the spice goes in

What I find particularly interesting is how little water has been used
The onions and spice are cooking mainly out of any liquid
You could only do this if you were cooking in a very large quantity
The top onions and spice are steamed, not fried or boiled.

Clutching at straws or something important?