Topic: When is a Bhuna not a Bhuna?

[Panpot]

How about this then. I just had a Chicken Bhuna from my local TA. It has an open plan set up and its possible to watch everything though some of the tubs of ingredients are out of sight so cant be sure of everything but here is what was done with the Bhuna.

First he used the spoon(chefs spoon) to take out a little of what looked like Ghee and put it in the pan. Now the interesting thing about the pan was that it was not cleaned from the previous dish. He immediately added a little (about a quarter of the spoon) base sauce (yellow in Colour) and gave it a stir he then added again with the spoon about a table spoon of what looked like tomato puree then off the heat turning round away from the cooker he put in spoonful of what looked like precooked onions in an oily almost sauce like state. he stirred it all round scraping round the pan,as they do.

Next to my amazement he put in with the precooked chicken about a quarter to a half of a block of Coconut Cream cut into rather big chunks roughly an inch square in size. Next a quarter of a spoonful of methi leaves before almost immediately adding a ladle of base sauce. All stirred round while tipping to let the pan catch fire then added from a plastic bottle not unlike a catering tomato sauce bottle a good squeeze of spices together with two quarters of a medium tomato and what looked like a good dollop of the red onion paste and a little chopped coriander but as it was all stirred together it coloured the rest so I feel it had red dye in it as the chicken was a kind of off pink once it was served up. The finished dish had a red colour to it but not overly so.the pan was left to cook the lot on a medium heat for about five minutes with an additional quarter of a spoon of base sauce added with a stir half way through.

That was it,it did taste good and had much of the smell but not hot chili wise. The menu describes it as "Cooked in tomatoes,onions,ginger and spices served with a thick sauce". The Coconut block may have made the sauce thicker but it certainly didn't add a coconut flavour. There was no obvious addition of ginger and again no taste of it in the final dish.

A bit different from our best BIR Bhuna. Not sure this is how it would be cooked in a BIR locally but will find out all going well Sunday as per my other posts.

[Secret Santa]

Next to my amazement he put in with the precooked chicken about a quarter to a half of a block of Coconut Cream cut into rather big chunks roughly an inch square in size.

Never in a month of Sundays was that coconut block. No way, no how. Nope!

[Panpot]

OK Secret Santa, I was gob smacked too but what do think it was since it was pure white it was 12 feet away from where I was standing and it melted into the sauce. I was also positioned in one of the metal tubs that fit into the rack above the gas rings exactly the same as the one in the Malik video? What do you also make of the Ghee and Sauce for frying in and the use of the red paste? In addition the onions which were a just below me in the corner of the counter were chopped about half an inch square but cooked in an oily almost curry like looking sauce?

[Curry Barking Mad]

I was also positioned in one of the metal tubs that fit into the rack above the gas rings exactly the same as the one in the Malik video?

Interesting post little mate

[Secret Santa]

OK panpot, here's my thoughts on why it wasn't coconut block:

1. Coconut cream takes ages to dissolve (well the stuff I use does anyway!), especially in 1" chunks.

2. With that much coconut cream used there has to be a coconut flavour in the end result. If not why would they use it? It would be money down the drain, and the BIR business is very competitive as you know. This is the best argument against it being coconut cream in my opinion.

3. No BIRs that I have seen have used coconut block in the curries. Admittedly I haven't seen that many BIRs, so that's a weaker argument.

4. Compared to coconut flour (which I know is used in BIRs), coconut block is expensive.

Having said that, I am stumped as to what it might actually be if not coconut cream! A type of sugar perhaps? But probably not in the quantities they have used. Anyone take a guess? What's white, comes in 1" cubes, looks like coconut cream, and dissolves easily in a curry?

What do you also make of the Ghee and Sauce for frying in and the use of the red paste? In addition the onions which were a just below me in the corner of the counter were chopped about half an inch square but cooked in an oily almost curry like looking sauce?

Well, at a guess, Bhuna is a rich dish so I would expect the use of ghee. The red paste I would suggest is tandoori masala, the same as used in CTM. The onions sound like they have been precooked in turmeric, a common technique used in BIRs.

[Bobby Bhuna]

What's white, comes in 1" cubes, looks like coconut cream, and dissolves easily in a

I'm thinking maybe frozen garlic and or ginger puree, ice cube style. Maybe they make massive batches for freezing. Just a thought and probably a little far fetched. Still anyone got any better ideas?

[JerryM]

wow!

i don't actually believe this is technically a bhuna. but boy oh boy it's gone on my fav's list to try - it's sounds my type of curry.

dilemma though - just used up my last block. did it taste like it had block in it. it's suprising how subtle the taste is but u can tell if it's coconut or not for sure. it does not smack of coconut though.

the other interest for me (other than the cooking technique which is quite revolutionary) is the spices - were they dry powder in a bottle or an oily paste

then added from a plastic bottle not unlike a catering tomato sauce bottle a good squeeze of spices

the yellow onions for me would be just pre fried in reclaimed yellow oil.

i will try this recipe out this week. i presume all spoons are chef spoons ie the methi is 1/4 chef spoon.

[Derek Dansak]

that white chunk is likely to be garlic puree. bir make their own garlic puree with some oil added, which is stored in fridge. the fridge dries it out, and after a week it turns white and hard. they add a big chunk to each dish. around a heaped tsp is common, added very early, before base. i bet thats what it is. as bobby pointed out also. bir dont generally use block coconut, instead they use cocunut disected powder as its dirt cheap!

[welshman2004]

Sugar cubes maybe ??

[SnS]

There are a number of pastes used in Indian cookery, both authentic and BIR.

Ginger paste
Garlic paste
Ginger-garlic paste
Fried cashew paste
Boiled cashew paste
Fried onion paste
Boiled onion paste

... so I suppose it could be any of these, but highly unlikely to be coconut block.

SnS  ;D