Hello! There's more to this than I imagined!

[Les]

The question marks in the previous message represent 1/2, 3/4 and 1/2 respectively.
** Phil.

Thanks Phil
Dont know why it does that, I've put it right now.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I missed one    There is a fourth, in the in-line prose, and it represents 1/4.

The problem usually occurs if you try to insert a "real" fraction (by, for example, copying from a PDF with real fractions in the font used) and then paste it into this forum.  It normally looks fine on preview but mutates into a question mark when it is finally posted.

** Phil.

[Les]

I missed one    There is a fourth, in the in-line prose, and it represents 1/4.

The problem usually occurs if you try to insert a "real" fraction (by, for example, copying from a PDF with real fractions in the font used) and then paste it into this forum.  It normally looks fine on preview but mutates into a question mark when it is finally posted.

** Phil.

Well spotted that man, changed that one as well : Must remember to check in future

[Malc.]

It normally looks fine on preview but mutates into a question mark

Those pesky mutants!

Oh and Dave, I always thought it was Ootidee (ooo-tee-dee), but having now played it back over and over and listening to it intently, I stand corrected.

May the force be with you.

[Stephen Lindsay]

Welcome to the forum ootini and if I may chuck in my tuppence worth with the other curry heads.

Are you doing one portion of each curry? If you are planing on cooking a bigger size of each dish then the best way is to cook them individually and then combine them, e.g. in a casserole dish or pot - you wont get good results trying to do 4 Madras dishes in one go.

The other thing I was thinking is that I am sceptical that the BIR Pasanda is cooked in yoghurt - I would suggest it is simply a Korma with different additions at the end - I'm thinking of cashew nuts for example but this may vary geographically.

Steve

[martinvic]

Hi ootini

It might be worth having a go at making at least one of your curries on Friday, after you have your pre-cooked meats or veg done.
As it's going to be your first attempt at making BIR curries, it should help you get the feel and techniques sorted first, especially before attempting four different curries in one go.
If it goes wrong, nothing lost, you'll learn from it, try again.
If it works out fine, you could keep it, and re-heat it in your pan on saturday (adding a little moe gravy/base or water)

As a relative newbie myself, I think I'd find trying to cook four different BIR curries on one night quite daunting, and could get really confusing (unless you get really, really well organised first).

Cheers
Martin

[chriswg]

Hi Dave

Best of luck to you, you'll have good fun cooking the curries, even if they don't taste perfect. A couple of newbie mistakes that I first made:

1) Use the right sized pan, something small, ideally 20cm - 24cm. Any larger and the cooking methods don't seem to work.

2) If you are using ghee, use it very sparingly. I ruined 6 hours work on a meal by treating the stuff like butter. Everything ended up tasting like rancid cheese.

3) Even with everything pre-cooked you should start cooking an hour before you want to eat. Make sure everything else is ready (rice / side dishes). For your first time you should consider a supermarket pilau rice you can just stick in the microwave.

4) Less is definitely more with the spices. Indian cooking isn't like English or Italian cooking where you can add extra ingredients to ramp up the taste. With Indian cooking, if a recipe suggests half a tsp of something, make sure that's all you add. A slight spice imbalance can ruin what would have been a tasty dish.

5) Cook the garlic and spices for longer than you think. Brown is ideal, black is ruined.

6) You will find cooking much easier after 2 cans of Stella, but then much harder after 5!

7) Remember, keep your expectations low. You'll get better with every curry you cook so the first one is always going to be the worst. Watch all the videos and read as many comments as possible, in other words try and learn from our many many mistakes.

Chris

[Peripatetic Phil]

For your first time you should consider a supermarket pilau rice you can just stick in the microwave.

I feel worried about that idea -- there are so many rubbish pilaus out there in supermarkets that unless Dave has time to test his selected one first, this could compromise the quality of the meal.  IMHO, if you want to save time. let your local BIR T/A prepare and sell you the pilau rice -- at least they know how it is supposed to taste !  Oh, and Dave : frozen paratha are a life saver -- stick some in the freezer, and if you try to make pilau rice and it fails, you can always fall back on the paratha !

** Phil.

[natterjak]

For your first time you should consider a supermarket pilau rice you can just stick in the microwave.

I feel worried about that idea -- there are so many rubbish pilaus out there in supermarkets that unless Dave has time to test his selected one first, this could compromise the quality of the meal.  IMHO, if you want to save time. let your local BIR T/A prepare and sell you the pilau rice -- at least they know how it is supposed to taste !  Oh, and Dave : frozen parathas are a life saver -- stick some in the freezer, and if you try to make pilau rice and it fails, you can always fall back on the paratha !

** Phil.

Phil do you make your parathas or buy them?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Phil do you make your parathas or buy them?

Buy buy buy  ;D  Bulk catering packs, 20 per pack, dirt cheap, so fast and reliable.
** Phil.