Topic: The Tilted Pan

[George]

Can I say, although I don't really post on here or make many curries anymore. please keep posting your pics and recipes Rob. Love 'em.

Why don't you make currys any more? Is it for health reasons? I fear for anyone who consumes more than a single BIR style curry each week, given all the oil and salt. I've been told my blood sugar level is too high. I am labelled as pre-diabetic. Eating lots of kormas in the 1980s and dhansaks more recently can't have helped. MY GP also says my cholesterol is/was too high and I should consider taking Statins. I switched from full cream milk to semi skimmed and made a few oither changes to get the cholesterol under control. I'm still working on the blood sugar because they can only test it (hba1c) every 3 months, at least if there's much chance of picking up a change.

[Kashmiri Bob]

That's got my juices flowing for my leftover Chicken Bollywood Blast.  Saag looks good Rob.  Any recipe for it?

Not an exact recipe Dave. Expect will of got most of it from on here somewhere.

Have been using fresh spinach lately. It’s often on yellow sticker. The big bags, not sure on amount. Steam it. After wilting down one bag, can cram another one into the basket. I use a potato masher to force the liquid out.

A little oil in the pan with chopped fresh garlic (lots) first, followed by chopped onion and salt (lots). A little turmeric powder. Chopped fresh tomato. A squeeze of lemon.








All mixed in. Usually store at this point, as a pre-cook. Frozen.





Partial defrost and take enough out for a portion of bhaji. A little oil, or butter.  More salt (to taste). I like to add some fresh chopped green chilli. A local TA use a masala in theirs; it’s fabulous. The Bangla Lounge or the Bangla Kitchen, I can’t remember. Here I used Jalpur GM (1/2 tsp), which is quite a lot, given its pungency; it’s heavy on black pepper too. As standard for the saag bhaji, fry hard and hot whilst bashing the living daylights out of it. It should catch. I have a small black iron frying pan for this, which is best, but I can’t find it.





Next time will try a chaat masala. Julian has said that some kitchens use it like a GM. Also, Yorkshireindian has suggested recently, I think, something on the lines of chaat masala being the secret to many of the TA side dishes.

Chicken Bollywood Blast?

Rob

[Kashmiri Bob]

Can I say, although I don't really post on here or make many curries anymore. please keep posting your pics and recipes Rob. Love 'em.

Hi Martin. Hope you are keeping well. Thanks for your comments. Should be getting really busy on the cooking front soon. Just waiting for my local Asda to yellow sticker their dispo BBQs. Should be imminent. They will be clearing them out (along with the sun tan lotions and potions) to make way for the Christmas items. Last year they dropped the price to £0.67 each. Planning a lot of Kashmiri/Tandoori lamb chops. Some platters too. So will also be revisiting the kebab shop chicken seekh kebab. In the next batch of baltis will have a go at the Balti Exotica. A combination of lamb, chicken, king prawns (and fruit) in a medium balti sauce. Best wishes.

Rob

[Kashmiri Bob]

Basic Prawn curry. Planned to add mushrooms, but forgot to buy any. So went with spuds.










Rob

[Kashmiri Bob]

A few more general thoughts/conclusions on tilting the pan when making BIR curry.

In a nutshell, it allows the gravy/curry to be reduced for longer periods and at significantly higher temperatures than the (contemporary) approach we are familiar with. This is explained by differences in the surface area of the pan in contact with the curry. Other factors that facilitate the higher temperatures are a) more oil is used and b) stirring is kept to an absolute minimum (throughout cooking). Counterintuitively this means preparation of the curry will take longer. In fact, the cooking time is often doubled.

This is a technique that is still used in some TAs/restaurants. It is combined with rich/aromatic base gravies and pre-cooks. Seasoned oils (including bhaji oil) are also used by some establishments. Collectively these techniques underlie the old school BIR curry approach. This for many will solve the missing 5% (and some).

Most TAs/restaurants nowadays do not do this. Too slow.

Rob