Topic: North Indian Special (vindaloo strength)

[976bar]

There's a restaurant near me that does a dish called, "The Berkshire Fire eater", which apparently is made from Naga Chilies. Some say.....

I'm no Stig and have no intention of having one of my 45 minute episodes of my diaphragm going into spasm's just to complete a "Man V Food" episode for Berkshire TV!!!

It makes me wonder how the guy who does that programme is still actually alive today having watched most of his series.....

Fair play.....

[curryhell]

I've just made a batch (3.5l) of Abdul's base, so will be making this tomorrow night now as I have Roast Chicken tonight

I look forward to a full report and any suggestions for improvement.  And pics of course ;D.  Roast chicken,curry? Curry, roast chicken,? .  Why waste a good chicken when you can curry it  ;D

[curryhell]

It makes me wonder how the guy who does that programme is still actually alive today having watched most of his series.....

Fair play.....

I've watched a few of his programmes.  If he continues to consume at his current rate i'd say he's a good candidated for a heart attack!!!!  But what a way to go ;D.  I'm up for the "Bershire fire eater" 

[curryhell]

Curryhell that looks spot on to me....very nice indeed!!!  Next curry feast I do that will certainly be on the menu.Glad you tried the Elachi,by the way have you tried the new Desi Restaurant in Grays??? (The old Thai place).Had a sit in meal and it was lovely(although I got a take away this weekend and it was really average-strange how it can be so different.)Anyway I thought of you whilst reading the menu,they do a dish called 'Bollywood Blast' containing naga chillis...phew!!!

Hi JB. Have had positive feedback so far and will look forward to hearing yours as you are familiar with the real taste of the dish i am trying to master.  Must admit, it is a bit of a looker when done and tasty too, but is it close to Spice's?
As i said wasn't overly impressed by Elachi, particularly the unnecessary overdosing on food colouring .  I was impressed with the special fried rice though .  Had a takeaway from the Bilash at the weekend and their rice was very similar.  May need to try and emulate that one, curry was nothing special, saag aloo pretty standard, brinjal bahji absolutely desperate to the extent i ended up binning it .  Glad to hear good reports on the Desi.  Looked at the menu and thought it to be ok and prices comparable to Spice.  Glad you enjoyed your meal.  Clocked the Bollywood blast and will be ordering it with some extra heat when i get round to trying it which shouldn't be too long away now.  Funny you should say the takeaway was pretty average though.  A friend of mine had a one from Spice and said it wasn't as good as eating in!!!  Maybe the weekend isn't the best time to order when it's more a case of just firing it up and getting it out of the door?  Have got pappadum on my radar now for a TA ;D

[976bar]

I look forward to a full report and any suggestions for improvement.  And pics of course ;D.  Roast chicken,curry? Curry, roast chicken,? .  Why waste a good chicken when you can curry it  ;D
[/quote]

Funny you should say that, I've been toying with the idea of marinating a whole chicken with Tikka spices, then roasting it in the oven with some vegetables, then making a sauce to pour over the top once it's done....

Lay all that on a bed of rice and serve it as an Indian Platter......who knows?

Probably not BIR but who cares!!

[curryhell]

Funny you should say that, I've been toying with the idea of marinating a whole chicken with Tikka spices, then roasting it in the oven with some vegetables, then making a sauce to pour over the top once it's done....

Lay all that on a bed of rice and serve it as an Indian Platter......who knows?

Probably not BIR but who cares!!

Now you're talking.  The only good chicken is a curried one - even if done in the oven .  Enjoy and look forward to hearing your opinion on the NIS.

[976bar]

Ok made this for lunch today and I am impressed

I used Abdul's base so hence you won't see the oil floating in the dish as there isn't that much in the base, which suits me better, and I only used 1 tsp of Rajah Extra Hot Curry powder along with the 5 green chilies.

I'm not usually a fan of "sweeter curries" so found 3 tsp of mango chutney a bit too much for my personal liking. But very tomatoey, garlicy and was nice with the pre-cooked Onion and green pepper.

Would I make this dish again? Most certainly, it was a nice refreshing change.

Would I make any changes to the dish?

I would reduce the amount of mango chutney to 2 tsp and then see if I need anymore lemon juice (just a personal preference for me as I like sour dishes more than sweet).

Probably increase the fresh garlic to 3 cloves which I slice not chop, and I might increase the Onion and pepper to half of each rather than a quarter.

The heat level was spot on for me.

Well done curryhell nice post of a recipe

[curryhell]

Ok made this for lunch today and I am impressed

So glad you enjoyed it 976 .  A reduction in oil is not always a bad thing.  I will try it with Abdul's base once I've thinned the freezer down a bit.  As for the chilli heat, that is always a personal thing and normally it is a medium dish, not the heat i like it  ;D. I don't mind the sweetness because it is offset by the souring agent.  I found that the mango chutney gave it a savoury sweetness not a sickly sweetness that using sugar can give, if overdone.  I used tamarind concentrate second time round rather than lemon juice and found it to be better than lemon juice.  I always find that lemon juice is very discernable when used in a dish.  The tamarind was a lot more subtle.  Upping the garlic content  .   I love the stuff so i will probably up it by double the amount once I've found the overall flavour i am looking for ;D ;D.  And i completely agree on doubling the onion and pepper content.  I would also suggest that if you can burn the onions and peppers at the edges when you're frying them off, do so since that's how they always appear when my local serves the dish up.
That's another thumbs up the NIS.  I await Razor's report now and JB's when he gets round to hosting another curry fest.
Thanks again for taking the trouble to try my recipe and the detailed feedback 976

[abdulmohed2002]

Pictures look lovely, i wanted to ask, did you use food colouring?

I have read the recipe and there has not been any food colouring mentioned but it looks quite red and I would like to know whether it is because of the chilli powder and tomato puree.

Thank you,

Abdul

[976bar]

Hi Curryhell,

I always brown the edges of Onions and Peppers when cooking for an Indian dish, it gives it more flavour