Topic: Pat Chapman - Why so much hostility?

[Razor]

I have the Balti curry cookbook by Pat Chapman, I picked it up for pennies from a charity shop in Llandudno earlier this year, and I've got to say, it makes for a really interesting read.

I've not tried to replicate anything from the book as of yet as there seems to be a lot of 'supplementary' ingredients required to complete most dishes.  However, some of the dishes sound really interesting, especially the; Balti mt-spi-cha-chi-aub (de-coded, that means: Balti Meat with Spinach, Chana, Chickpeas and Aubergine )

I'm certainly up for giving the book a try.

Ray

[curryhell]

I have most of Pats books and still use them. Although my base is different, I still use the other parts of his recipes to great effect. So I would say well done Pat.

Light the touch paperand stand well back .  Many people are very anti, a few pro and some of us just grateful .  If you are happy with what you are cooking using his recipes then fair play mate.  I started trying to cook restaurant curry just before he released his books over 23 years ago so i did find them informative at the time.  However, you will learn far more from the many posts on this forum.

[Petrolhead360]

I have most of Pats books and still use them. Although my base is different, I still use the other parts of his recipes to great effect. So I would say well done Pat.

Light the touch paperand stand well back .  Many people are very anti, a few pro and some of us just grateful .  If you are happy with what you are cooking using his recipes then fair play mate.  I started trying to cook restaurant curry just before he released his books over 23 years ago so i did find them informative at the time.  However, you will learn far more from the many posts on this forum.

I started using Pat Chapman's book about 22 years ago in the vain hope that I could replicate BIR.
I never really got near with his recipes although he did introduce the subject of the restaurant curry masala gravy in 'Favourite Restaurant Curries. I remember giving up with this as it was a lot of work that just produced yet another home made curry.
What his books did teach me was about spices, methods and technique.
There are a few curries that remain favourites though just for when I want an alternative to the BIR taste.

This is one of them I made last night.
Lamb Tikka Masala Curry from the small format book - Tandoori and Tikka Dishes.
It contains green masala paste which I made from the book a few weeks before Christmas.
For the first time I used a griddle to cook the tikka adding a few pieces at a time. See pic.
The final result was very good, with a distinctive 'tang'.
The rice was made BIR style not Pat Chapman's.





Regards, James

[Razor]

Hey James, all looks very good my friend.

So, your lamb tikka masala, is it identical to the book or have you put your own twist on it.  I've got to say that it looks very different from a chicken tikka masala, which is good for me, as I don't really like CTM. 

If you've stuck your own twist on this, why not post the recipe as if it tastes as good as it looks, I'm sure many of us would love to give this one a try.

Ray

[George]

James - your rice and curry look delicious. I had to smile when you wrote that the rice is BIR and not Pat Chapman.

Is the green masala you used the same recipe as given here:

http://www.patchapman.co.uk/page/green-masala-paste

[haldi]

After George's post, I nipped onto the Pat Chapman's website
He seriously needs some proof reading
At just a glance, there so many glaring mistakes & you wonder how long they have been there for?

He refers to events in the year "200"

Hmmm

He quotes a complimentary email describing his cooking classes "in a work - fantastic"

What?

He also posts a curry gravy recipe with fennel seeds

No! Tried it years ago..horrible

I think he is a nice bloke but if you want to know anything, his site is not the place to go

[curryhell]

Hey James, all looks very good my friend.

So, your lamb tikka masala, is it identical to the book or have you put your own twist on it.  I've got to say that it looks very different from a chicken tikka masala, which is good for me, as I don't really like CTM. 

If you've stuck your own twist on this, why not post the recipe as if it tastes as good as it looks, I'm sure many of us would love to give this one a try.

Ray

Hi Petrolhead.  Thanks for posting your results.  It's good to hear something positive came from your Pat Chapman experience .  That curry looks tasty and certainly doesn't bear any resemblance to a BIR tikka masala.  Interesting way of cooking the lamb.  How do you normally cook your lamb tikka?  And were the results better? I admit i have always avoided using the meat in curries because it always seems to be a little, in some cases alot, on the chewy side. However, i've now been introduced to the slow cooker method for precooking and the results are melt in the mouth for ordinary lamb.  But how do i get melt in the mouth lamb tikka?  This one still eludes me   I'm sure if i ask the question, someone will tell me the answer ;D.  Would be interested to see the recipe for this one mate.

[Petrolhead360]

Hi Razor

>So, your lamb tikka masala, is it identical to the book or have you put your own twist on it.  I've got to say that it looks very different from a chicken tikka masala, which is good for me, as I don't really like CTM. 

I followed the recipe from the book. Back in the day as I tried each of his recipes I would make a note in pencil a score out of 10 and comment on possible improvements for next time.
This recipe I gave a 9/10 with no comments. Now please remember this is my taste which is rich and vinegary. I do like the tang in my curries and this is nothing like CTM as I'm used to.
I hadn't made this dish for years and only flicked through my collection of books as my interest was re-ignited by this site along with others including YouTube.

If it was as good as I remembered then I made it exactly as written.
 Except the following;
I used Pataks Tandoori/Rogan pastes

I marinated the lamb overnight in the fridge and next morning I froze it for about a week. As it was Christmas time I didn't know when it would be used, and I heard somewhere freezing can improve the flavours in curries.

I used the griddle to cook the lamb Tikka. This was a test as the book calls for oven cooking. I think Julian suggested using a griddle to get the burnt edges while retaining moisture. I would normally use the grill but feel I had better control using the grilled.
It was a nightmare to clean after though


Hi George
>Is the green masala you used the same recipe as given here:

Yes exactly the same although he has change from the book
Book = 4 fl oz (100 ml) vinegar
Website = 4 fl oz (120ml) vinegar
I work in ml so I used less.

Hi Haldi
I think those mistakes have been there for years


Hi CurryHell
>How do you normally cook your lamb tikka?  And were the results better? I admit i have always avoided using the meat in curries because it always seems to be a little, in some cases alot, on the chewy side. However, i've now been introduced to the slow cooker method for precooking and the results are melt in the mouth for ordinary lamb.  But how do i get melt in the mouth lamb tikka?

I usually use the grill but will try the griddle again as I was pleasantly surprised.
Now this may be down to my butcher. He selected it for me, hanging on a hook in the window, and boned it for me. He is a master butcher and has shown me where he hangs his meat for 21 days.
I will ask him next time what part of lamb it was. But it had an exquisite taste once as Tikka  and in the finished dish with that melt in the mouth experience. Definitely not chewy
The long marination may have helped too.

Hope this helps.

Regards, James

[George]

After George's post, I nipped onto the Pat Chapman's website

Wasn't the Curry Club brand name sold to one of the leading spice producers and used by them on a website, in the early 2000s? Perhaps Pat Chapman has taken it back for a relaunch, or perhaps I'm mistaken.

Within the thousands of recipes he's published, there must be a few good ones. Perhaps this lamb tikka dish is a good example. It would be good to hear from other members who rate selected recipes highly.

[spiceyokooko]

That curry looks tasty and certainly doesn't bear any resemblance to a BIR tikka masala.

And neither should it! I think the original poster made it quite clear from his post that it was not intended to be a BIR dish at all, I think it's a pretty safe assumption to make that it isn't going to look like one or taste like one for that matter. I certainly agree that it looks very tasty indeed.

This is a particular bug bear for me in these forums, people get far too hung up on what a dish looks like and whether it's a BIR dish or not. Whilst I fully appreciate the site focuses mostly on BIR type dishes, there's a whole wealth of indian cookery and cuisine that falls outside the BIR remit, but are very enjoyable dishes to eat in their own right.

I make a Chicken Masala dish that's about as far away from a BIR styled Chicken Tikka Masala as you can possibly get and it just happens to be one of the nicest flavoured chicken dishes I've ever had whether in a BIR or cooked at home.

It's easy to forget sometimes I think that the dishes you find in BIR's are simply anglicised 'fast food' versions of traditional Indian cuisine and that going back to the cuisines roots can be just as satisfying as trying to replicate the BIR dishes we're all familiar with.

Chicken Tikka Masala is a classic example of what I'm referring to, this is a totally English invention, created specifically for English tastes and does not feature in traditional Indian cookery. Personally (and it is my own personal opinion) I find Chicken Tikka Masala to be quite horrible.

Just another viewpoint.