My First BIG BASH!

[DeeDee]

I was entertaining the in-laws over the weekend so I went all-out and did Tandoori Chicken, Makhan Chicken, Chicken Korma, Seekh Kebabs, Cucumber Raita, Onion Salad, Yoghurt Mint Sauce and Rice ... and boy are my arms tired.

These pictures may be dull as old boots to the pros but I thought other newbies might be cheered by my endeavors ...

I found that by sitting down with pen in hand and writing out a timetable of when, where and how long I was able to have a wonderful time cooking all the above dishes (meat ones for the first time) without an ounce of stress.  Learned a big lesson in "being prepared".

Started the day before marinading the tandoori chicken.  So bright, I got sunburn!



Then on the actual day I started with the Onion Salad and Yoghurt Mint Sauce as appetizers.  Here is the Sauce before mixing ...



Making the kebabs was a breeze.  I thought it would be well hard, but it was easy.  Thats my weeny bit of curry base and some pre-cooked chicken in the background.  Here are the kebabs formed but uncooked. Again, note the radioactive look...



I used red onions for the Onion Salad on a whim and I won't be doing that again.  Waaay too strong.  the Yoghurt sauce was delish!



The final meal took about half an hour to actually cook, which still amazes me.  All in all it went down very well.  The tandoori chicken only cooked for ten minutes and melted in the mouth like butter.  The kebabs came out too dry but were still edible (and a half).  The cukey Raita was great and worked with everything for those at the table who found it all a bit spicey.



The best part of the whole exercise was having leftovers for lunch the next day!!

Cheers to everyone for your brilliant ideas and recipes ... it's a bit lonely over here in NYC cooking on me own and I appreciate all your cyber-support!!  This is without doubt the best BIR site on planet earth.

DD

PS. Another social gathering looms this weekend.  RESULT!  Going all out to do entirely NEW menu.  Any Ideas?  Not just for single dishes but more for three or four that compliment each other.  Before you answer, please note one of the guests is Indian and vegetarian ... so I'm looking for a MENU that kicks arse for meat eaters and veggies!

PPS.  How tricky is Gulab Jamons?  In Dhillons it looks fiddly.

[DARTHPHALL]

Excellent post DD looks so bright & appetizing.
Bombay Alloo would be a good dish for your next venture.
All the best......
                .....DARTHPHALL.....

[raygraham]

Hi DD,

Super pics and it looks really appetising. Just needs a bit of indian music in the background as well!

For your menu how about Poppadoms and Pickles, Onion Bhaji's, Tandoori King Prawns with your Raita, Cauliflower Pakora's, Veg Byriani, Prawn Patia, Chick Pea Tikka Masala, Garlic Naan's and a bucket of Cobra to wash it all down with. Lots of starters and two main dishes will keep everyone happy.

Most of these can be derived from the basic KD base.

Ray

[traveller]

funny you asked about gulab jamun because i attempted them for the first time yesterday evening.  They didnt rise (double) like they were supposed to when added to the syrup and i had troubel making the dough...i had seen my mom make them hundreds of time so I know something was not right.  I made the milk powder recipe with heavy cream and couldnt get a nice pliable dough no matter what I added to it - it was all cracking all over the place and they came out rather solid rather than nice and squishy.  I dont recommend it as something to try for the first time and then entertain - better to experiment first.  I noiled them in the syrup for 15-20 to get the syrup through to the centers - they are almost mush now!  BUT, they taste amazing!!!!

[Curry King]

Great pics!

I did a curry night for some friends at the weekend as well I really must sort my camera out, as for veggie dishes I would go for some pakoras with spicy dip, I make them every time I do a curry night and they are always a favorite with everyone.

[traveller]

I highly recommend bombay aloo too...i recently made it for the first time and it is really tasty!  They dont have it in the indian restaurants in the US - at least none of the hundred I have gone to have had it!
About the gulab jamun..i looked at the recipe in the curry secret book and it looks pretty good - see, the milk powder i used here in the UK was funny and crumbly - not fine like the US ones are.  I used a recipe that said to use heavy cream and non-fat milk powder, by using full fat milk powder, you dont need the heavy cream.   So I think if you follow the recipe from that book, it should come out ok.  I forgot you were in the US - that makes a big difference with the ingredients.  You dont have to worry about trying to find the right conversion for baking soda/powder (the recipe used self-raising flour) because i am told the UK ones are a different strength to the US ones.  Most of us "americans" bring the baking powder from the US to use in US recipes to avoid disaster!
Please let us know how it turned out - I am interested in giving it a go once i get the proper milk powder from the indian stores here.

[Mark J]

Great stuff DD, I love reading posts like this, really interesting

[DeeDee]

Cheers for the replies.  I'm going to pass on the Gulab Jams this time.

Menu forming:

Poppadoms, Onion Salad, Nibbles and Chutney
Onion Bhaji's - Recipe?
Bombay Alloo - Cheers DarthVader! ;-)
Tandoori King Prawns with Cukey Raita (Nice one Ray! Is Tandoori King Prawn Marsala in KD's the same?)
Veggie Pakoras (Thanks Curry King!  Recipe?)
Veggie Byriani
Chicken Madras (from our Forum of course!)

Small blobs of ice cream for dessert!

:-)

DD

[Ashes]

Nice one DD!

Doing that much food can be heavy on the ole limbs, in March this year we moved to a bigger place and ended up inviting everyone we know for a meal (not in one go of course ), but right up until the summer we were fully booked on the weekends entertaining ppl, i ended up cooking curry dishes, with raita, nans or chappattis, rice (only a few got starters) and its bloody hard work and after a couple of months i didn't wanna cook another curry for anyone (apart from me and the family).

Guess i wouldn't make it as a chef then, but i know the pain of a few long months, also know that a lot of people have been really surprised how good Indian food is too. My father in law & mother in law have a sailing boat and they usually spend the summer travelling around the lakes in Sweden, and although my mother in law is a really good cook, on a boat you?re pretty limited to what you can achieve, they turned up at out new place starving for some real food, having lived off ships biscuit's no doubt and i produced 3 curries for them, a stack of Nan's and rice and the usual run of the mill stuff Ive been doing, and my father in law pissed off my mother in law off by eating more than Ive ever seen anyone eat in my entire life; and then saying how grateful he was to eat some real food, lol... he?s eaten curries before, but this was obviously the right food at the right time and he was hungry, hes a tall guy too, never seen anyone so hungry in all my life, it took him about 2 hours to eat everything.

Some how its worth the effort and takes a special breed to be so dedicated to a cuisine.

Keep up the good work!

[raygraham]

Tandoori King Prawns with Cukey Raita (Nice one Ray! Is Tandoori King Prawn Marsala in KD's the same?)

Hi DD,

Any ideas where we can all get a cheap plane ride out to NYC cos if you do you might see 300 of us turn up for a platefull!! Have you got a big enough pot??

I was thinking more of using the recipe I made from the Balti Kitchen DVD which is pretty damn good only using King Prawns instead of Chicken.
Can you get Tandoori Masala Powder?
If so marinade Prawns ( fresh uncooked is best ) in this, per packet instructions with yoghurt and some lemon juice then hot oven bake for about 5-7 mins ( not too long or Prawns will dry out ). If prawns are pre-cooked then only oven bake for 3-4 mins.

Then use the K.D. base ( if that's what you have ) about 1 1/2 cups in a frying pan, add 1 Tbsp Veg oil to the base, 1 Dessertspoon Plain Yoghurt, 2 Tbsps Single Cream, 1 Teaspoon Concentrated Mint Sauce, Pinch Deep Orange Food Colouring and a quarter of a block of Creamed Coconut. Bring to a simmer. Add Prawns and chopped Coriander, stir for 1 minute and serve.

Onion Bhaji's

These are nice and from the e-book "Secrets of The Indian Restaurant Curry" which I believe happens to be an American book!

1 Large onion, fine sliced
4 ozs Gram Flour, sifted
3 fl ozs Water
1 Tsp Turmeric
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Coriander
1 Tsp Garam Masala
1 Tbsp Chopped Coriander
2 Pinches Salt

Add water, spices and salt to the flour and mix to a stiff batter.Add fresh coriander and onions and mix well. It should drop sluggishly from a spoon.

Drop 1 heaped Tbsp of mixture into very hot oil and fry for 3 mins. Press flat with the palm of your hand ( careful it's HOT! ). return to the oil and continue cooking for 2 mins or until golden. Drain on kitchen paper then serve.

Have a nice time, just jealous I can't be there!

Ray




Ray