Topic: K Dhillon book reviews

[CurryOnRegardless]

Hi Axe

Glad you liked the cauli keema it's worth playing around with it to get it to your taste, I had forgotten about the garam masala, don't use the stuff myself, I ended up starting the dish off the usual way with some g/g paste and spice mix and carry on from there.

The idea of adding spinach sounds good, must give it go,

Cheers
CoR.

[Malc.]

I must admit, when I was preparing the Cauliflower and reading the recipe, I was very tempted top add spice mix and Garlic and Ginger. however, I really wanted to try the recipe as it was, to give it a fair go.

I like the idea of using the Spice Mix and Garlic but I will reserve that for when I do the dish as the main part of the meal as I wouldn't want everything to taste the same. As an accompinament to a main meal, it's probably better with its delicate level of spicing, albeit with slight alterations to suit a preferred taste.

What I liked most, is that it is another way of getting my 1 of my 5 a day without compromising on loss of flavour. I did add salt but only a very small amount, which to be honest was noteable. It definitely could have used a little more. I am currently looking into alternative natural sources to provide the salty balance in the recipe and the wife mentioned lo-salt yesterday, which is another option.

[JerryM]

Axe,

the KD1 base is the same as KD2. i think there is just a slight change in the cooking to stop the bad smell that u get with KD1 (down to the ginger being simmered).

given what both u and CoR say i'll have to dog ear the cauli keema in KD2.

[Razor]

Axe, Jerry.

The Karahi Keema, p96, is absolutely spot on as a filling for meat samosa's, really really close to good TA style samosa's.

With regards to the base, she has upped the quantity of onions to 1kg in the new book, and she fry's them off for a good 30 mins at the start before adding the water.  That's why you dont get that angin boiled onion smell.

I have done this base a couple of times and it's ok really. 

The pilau rice on p163, is also really good, if a little colourful, and there are a few more pilau rice recipes on the following 4 pages.

I need to get into it a bit more, and try some different recipes from the book.  I'm not big on fruit in curries and there are a few in the new book that require them, and I don't like fish too much so there is a whole section that I just skip past.

Maybe I should just give one or two a go, and see

Ray

[Malc.]

Ray,

One the reasons that I bought the book was due to the rice recipes. I am a big fan of rice and very much look forward to trying them.

I looked at the Karahi Keema you mention the other night. I would have made it there and then but was put off by the requirement of base and the 30 min simmering time. I will definitely be giving it a go once the KD2 base is made this weekend.

Fish is a contentious issue in our house. My eldest daughter 13 is going through a typical teenage reaction to things at the moment and has decided that she hates fish. Despite once having a very healthy liking for it. My youngest daughter 10, is fine with fish but my wife is stuck at only familiar white fish, without skin and the odd tuna steak or salmon fillet.

I was never a big fan of fish myself, but have forced myself over recent years to be more adventurous and now have a much healthier liking for it now. I am hoping that the familiar flavouring from the Indian Cuisine, will entice the wife and my eldest to be more forgiving of fish. I must say, it will make a welcomed change to eating fish too.

[Razor]

Hi Axe,

Yeah, I was surprised too with the addition of base in the Keema, but the long simmering just evaporates it, and the end result is a quite dry Keema, perfect for filling those samosa's.

As for fish, I guess I'm like your wife.  Only really having tried white fish.  I had a bad experience with tuna a while back and the smell of it makes me wrench these day's   And if I find a bone, that's it, the whole thing goes in the bin.

I absolutely love kippers or smoked haddock, but I just hate the sight of bones, and as much as I try, I just can't get past it.

Definitely give the Lamb cutlets a go, but I would definitely increase the volume of spice, maybe even double.  Not for the heat, but for the depth of flavour, and marinade them for as long as you can.  They are very very similar to a BIR's Tandoori Chops near me, and not your usual red, dried up, burnt offerings.

Ray

[Gazza63]

I brought this book when it first came out so paid full price plus the added postage to Thailand, on the cover it states  "Mouthwatering Indian Restaurant Dishes to cook at Home" I never encountered most of the dishes that she has put in this book any any BIR that I used to frequent, and as someone allready stated it's upmarket fare from the sort of restaurant that makes patterns on the plates with the food and sticks a flower on top, I do give Chriss credit though for being the first person to show me twenty years back the basics to producing a half descent curry at home , I still use her Dhansak recipe with a couple of tweeks as my standard but the rest of the curries in KD1 taste nothing like a BIR, I mean where is the coconut in her Korma ?, I believe that she now lives in Australia so maybe in the new curry secret this is what passes for a BIR curry in Oz, incidentally she has just launched a new book on easily recreating Thai restaurant cooking at home, I might just have to buy it and compare it with my friends recipes and methods as he works in a typical Thai working class restaurant and is going to give me some cooking lessons if I pay him in beer, I promise that they will be posted in the Chinese/Thai section if I go ahead with the offer, any requests for specific dishes?

[Malc.]

Interesting comments, I wonder where most of her research was based. Its certainly not the BIR recipe I would expect though.

On the Thai front, that sounds like a great opportunity. I'd love a really good Pad Thai recipe.

[Malc.]

Well tonight we tried the Tandoori Chicken and the Mushroom Pilau and were suitably impressed with both. Both recipes were made to spec only replacing the suggested oil/ghee with Olive Oil and reducing the salt content by a third.

The Tandoori Chicken was very good. It had a suitable bite to it and the level of flavour was very good indeed. The only thing missing was the charcoal aroma and taste. Though cooked in a hot oven (250c) we did get blackened edges to the thighs that I cooked, which leant to the finished dish.

The Mushroom Pilau was also good, I went back for seconds! I will be honest and say that it wasn't what I expected, but I will be cooking it again with some small adjustments. What did surprise me was that it had a very slight kick to it which was very unexpected but none the less desirable. What I liked most about the recipe, was the minimal 1 tbls of oil required to fry everything for 4 people. Certainly gets my approval for what that may be worth.

I'd say the book has paid for itself already. 

[Secret Santa]

Axe are you referring to the recipes from the first or the second book?