Topic: Raan of Lamb

[raygraham]

Hi All,

I knew I had seen a recipe for Raan of Lamb somewhere...........................Pat Chapman!
I can hear the groan!

Anyway first a comment on his seemingly new book.
My wife ( bless her! ) bought me "The New Curry Bible, The Ultimate Modern Curry House Recipe Book" for Christmas and although I am not a great Pat Chapman fan I opened the book in anticipation of some new revelations on the BIR front.

To my amazement apart from a different cover it is an exact copy of his "Curry Bible" book of a few years ago which I have also got!!

Every recipe is the same and every picture identical. Pat doesn't look a day older, that's cos he isn't!

It should be called "The ultimate rip-off!!!

How can he get away with that? To me it contravenes the trades description act as it isn't The New Curry Bible at all, just the old one in a different wrapper. Anyway my old copy went to a good home and this one goes back on the shelf to gather some dust.

In the meantime after Curryqueen mentioned Kursi Chicken which it seems I had at a restaurant this Christmas I have uncovered a recipe for the equivalent Lamb dish "Raan of Lamb". and here it is.

Ingredients

3 1/2 lb leg of Lamb on the bone
110 mls Milk

Marinade

150 gms Natural Yoghurt
2 Tbsps Sunflower Oil
2 Tbsps Lemon Juice
3-4 cloves Garlic, crushed
1" cube fresh Ginger, crushed
2-3 fresh Chillies, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh Coriander, chopped
4 Tbsps dried Onion Flakes?? odd!
2 Tbsps Ground Almonds
1/2 Tsp Aromatic Salt....which is 100 gms Coarse Sea Salt, 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon, 1 Tsp Ground Allspice all mixed together.

Masala

2 Tbsps Coriander Seeds
1 Tbsp Allspice Berries
1 Tsp Green Cardamom Pods
1 Tsp Fennel Seeds

Method

Lightly roast and grind the Masala spices
Put the Marinade ingredients and ground Masala spices into a blender or processor and pulse adding the milk until you have a pourable? puree.
Take all the fat and skin membrane from the meat. Stab all over with the point of a knife. Good therapy if you are feeling wound up that day!
Pour over marinade and cover. Leave in the fridge for 24-60 hours..........blimey!

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C or Gas 4 and transfer the lamb to a roasting tin and slow roast for about 3 hours. Leave to rest for 30 mins in a warm oven. The flesh should fall off the bone.

He also says this can be made using Chicken for a festive Kurzi Murghi
Just skin the bird and stuff with Keema and/or Rice and coat with the marinade as above.
Bake in the oven at 180 C or Gas 4 for an initial 40 mins plus 20 minutes per pound weight of the stuffed bird. This sounds just like we had at Xmas and it was delightful.

But if you are not highly delighted then please send your complaint to:-

Pat Chapman
The house with the Rolls Royce Outside
Sittinpretty
The Tax Haven
Rippemoff
Fakingham

Enjoy!

Ray

[Mark J]

Indeed pat has started reprinting his older books with new covers, beware if you already own then

[George]

...a comment on his seemingly new book. My wife ( bless her! ) bought me "The New Curry Bible, The Ultimate Modern Curry House Recipe Book" for Christmas and although I am not a great Pat Chapman fan I opened the book in anticipation of some new revelations on the BIR front. To my amazement apart from a different cover it is an exact copy of his "Curry Bible" book of a few years ago which I have also got!! Every recipe is the same and every picture identical. Pat doesn't look a day older, that's cos he isn't! It should be called "The ultimate rip-off!!! How can he get away with that? To me it contravenes the trades description act

Ray

I suggest he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. Why don't you contact your local Trading Standards people and see if they can help. We all should, actually, or at least those folks who are as disgusted with this rip-off merchant as I am.

I took another look at his original ' Indian Restaurant Cookbook' (1984) the other day. We all know what it promises on the outside cover and introductory pages. There's no mistake in the objective - BIR curries and flavour. "...to achieve that special Indian restaurant flavour",

All of this is quickly forgotten, once inside, with (a majority of) recipes you're never likely to see at any BIR, including:
- spicy tomato soup
- prawn and mushroom vol-au-vents
- curry puffs
- lentil rissoles ('these rarely appear in restaurants' he admits)
- spicy scrambled eggs
- omeletes
- savoury biscuits
- beans curry ("and why not?" he admits) - because that's not what it said on the tin, Mr Chapman!
- celery curry ("I confess, an invention of mine" he says)
etc, etc, etc

Even when you make curries claiming to be from a BIR, the results are rubbish.

Regards
George