Topic: Chef Din: 1970's BIR

[livo]

I didn't experience the gelatinous feel in my curries but I used only drumsticks in the preparation of the gravy so this may have been the contributing factor there. 

Chicken and flavoursome gravy is not new.  Chewy Tikka wrote about it quite a while ago and I made a gravy with the addition of chicken frames back then, which I enjoyed.  I can't remember whether it was a JB or a CT gravy but it was definitely different.  The downside of a strongly flavoured / spiced gravy is that it is likely, or possible, that your different curry dishes will be "similar". My daughter said both my Beef Madras and Beef RJ tasted the same.  I don't think they did but there was a similarity as you'd expect.

If you do fry your gravy chicken, as I did, don't expect KFC or a Southern Fried Chicken, because it isn't.  It produces an unusual but enjoyable fried chicken that has definite Indian flavours.

[Secret Santa]

I didn't experience the gelatinous feel in my curries but I used only drumsticks in the preparation of the gravy so this may have been the contributing factor there. 

Did you leave the skin on them?

[livo]

Yes, but the skin on a few drumsticks, with predominately large bone, is possibly less likely to produce the same amount of gelatinous material as throwing whole chicken carcasses into the mix.

I would have thought that this material would have been scooped out in the removal of the excess (spiced) oil. I also allowed my oil to sit in the fridge for 24 hours in a jar and removed the top scum before cooking my dishes, so maybe that's the difference.  There was also material that settled beneath the oil, which I didn't use.

[mickdabass]

Its great to see some quality discussion on the forum again. Long overdue 

[Secret Santa]

I tried the base-gravy cooked-chicken deep fried like Chef Din recommended. Wasn't impressed. The flavouring is too mild to be of much consequence and the nice, crispy blistered-skin you get from normal deep frying a quarter of chicken isn't there because the skin has been boiled and rendered in the gravy. He reckons it's much better than normal fried chicken. I disagree.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I confess, I don't really know what "normal fried chicken" is.  Kentucky Fried Chicken, yes (wonderful, IMHO, or at least it can be from the better franchisees) but what exactly is "normal fried chicken" ?
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** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

... what exactly is "normal fried chicken" ?
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** Phil.

I mean like you get from the chippy. They just deep fry a quarter of chicken so the skin crisps up nicely and you get that umami hit.

[Secret Santa]

Its great to see some quality discussion on the forum again. Long overdue 

We just need topics to bounce off. Chef Din's base and curries aren't exactly anything new but there's the cooking the chicken in the base which is enough to get a conversation going.

The sad fact is we've just about done to death every BIR topic imaginable and I think that accounts for at least 95% of the reason for the dearth of posts on the forum

[Peripatetic Phil]

... what exactly is "normal fried chicken" ?
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** Phil.

I mean like you get from the chippy. They just deep fry a quarter of chicken so the skin crisps up nicely and you get that umami hit.

Ah, fair enough.  I don't think I've ever ordered one, whence my puzzlement.  Perhaps I should !
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** Phil.

[livo]

I'd written the same comment in my previous post mickdabass, but second thought and removed it. I agree.  However, I also agree with SS. I've seen other forums suffer the same fate. The recent growth of BIR Chef content on YouTube is great and has given us material to use, try and discuss, but it is also direct competition to forums like this one.

Santa, your description of the fried chicken is accurate. It just didn't really tick any boxes. Sort of mild Indian flavour which was out of place in a normal chicken gravy. It was OK and I enjoyed it, but a bit less than hoped for.  I won't do it again. If I do cook in the gravy again the chicken will be used in curry.

I feel that it isn't really necessary to cook whole or even portion chicken in the gravy. Frames, bones or even a good chicken stock or broth would suffice and actually pre-cook chicken instead.