Topic: mushroom jalfrezi DISASTER!!

[jimmy2x]

had a crack at a vegetarian dish last night, so thought might make a jalfrezi. The thing is i was kinda not paying much attention and forgot to add any chilli lol.

also will add using mushrooms, onion, peppers ect caused a lot of water in the dish. I had to thicken a bit with corn flour, could have used passata or even more spice, if i had remembered to add some chilli it might have helped!!!

anyway was very bland, being i used the be base which i made without the chilli added was just a mild mush.

runny curry slop


after attempted save with corn flour, at this point looked reasonable




final pic before starting to eat and finding out it was crap.




i think the lesson here is to have a little taste before you serve.Also not sure about using mushrooms, think a potato curry might be better.




best wishes

[Cory Ander]

also will add using mushrooms, onion, peppers ect caused a lot of water in the dish. I had to thicken a bit with corn

Hehe, thanks for being honest Jimmy 

Personally, I'd skip the corn flour and just blitz it on full heat to evaporate the excess water.  Otherwise, I'd be inclined to add some other thickening agent (such as coconut milk powder)

[jimmy2x]

aye canny get it right all the time


would like to add, my rice has not been up to scratch recently. This is 100% down to the product itself.

I bought value basmati own brand rice from morrisons, no matter how long i wash before cooking it still comes out stodgy.

The 1kg box of basmati from lidl is far far superior, just wash for a good bit under the tap, comes out nice and fluffy. I use a sieve to wash the rice under the tap then when cooked i put out into the sieve for a couple mins to drain. realy great rice.


just dont buy the morrisons rubbish.

[976bar]

Whenever cooking mushrooms they always give out quite a lot of liquid. This is why you had lots of liquid in your curry. It needs to be reduced down, so it might be worthwhile either adding the mushrooms at an earlier stage or cooking them separately and reducing the amount of liquid that has been expelled by them prior to adding them to the curry

[jimmy2x]

good idea 976bar, will try cooking them seperate next time. I think the liquid watered down my base far to much also, making it bland. prob was 50/50 base and water from the mushrooms, this is just too much, had that washed out taste.

i will try your suggestion next time, just another lesson learned ehhh

[Secret Santa]

I bought value basmati own brand rice from morrisons, no matter how long i wash before cooking it still comes out stodgy.

jimmy2x, not all basmatis are the same, it could be just that you're adding too much water.

[jimmy2x]

aye ss, but im realy happy with the lidl basmati results, cant realy better it so gonna stick with what i know works for the way i cook my rice.

lidl rice is a few pence cheaper too 

[976bar]

Jimmy, I tend to buy Tesco Value Basmati rice quite a lot as my kids are gannets for the stuff.

If just boiling the rice, measure out you're rice, wash it several times then stick it in the pot and add enough water to cover it by about 1/4". Pop the lid on and bring it to the boil, let it boil for 1-2 minutes, then turn the heat down as low as you possibly can and steam the rice with the lid on for between 8-10 minutes. This should give you perfect rice. Once done remove from the heat and let stand for a couple of minutes before serving.

Check the water content after about 5 minutes to ensure its not too dry and sticking.  You can always add a little drop at this stage without ruining the final result.

[mickdabass]

going back to the mushroom thing, I sometimes add a few raw sliced mushrooms at the same time as I add the cooked meat - never had a problem. Anyone else tried this?

[Unclefrank]

Hi jimmy,what i do is deep fry the onions and pepper in oil that i cook my bhajis in, then when onions and peppers have "blistered", take  them out and place on kitchen paper to get rid of most of the oil then add to dish when the jalfrezi is nearly finished you only need to re-heat the onions and peppers.For the mushrooms dont over cook them they still need to be slightly raw in the middle. As for the rice try this  http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/631855
this is excellent tried it four times now and everytime its top notch.