Topic: One Big Pot

[Micky Tikka]

 Now and again I cook for my local Rugby/Cricket Club . 
Has anybody cooked a curry In a big pot  and been OK or do I have to make lots of little ones.
Any advice please ?

[Salvador Dhali]

Now and again I cook for my local Rugby/Cricket Club . 
Has anybody cooked a curry In a big pot  and been OK or do I have to make lots of little ones.
Any advice please ?

From experience I find it's much safer to cook standard (or better still, double) portions individually, and decant into a big pot. The reason for this is the cumulative effect that happens when you try and scale up a single portion curry. It's not a simple matter of multiplying the spices by 15 (or however many curries you're cooking).

I've just made 15 litres of base to cater for a party this weekend, and that's they way I'll be doing it.

Once you get everything set up it's a doddle, really (though quite intense!).

Working on 8 minutes per double portion (a 26cm pan is ideal for this), or 10 minutes to be on the safe side, you can knock out 12 portions an hour.

Not much really when you consider what the average BIR chef produces on a Saturday night...

[Unclefrank]

I have made this in a big pot http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=674.0
feed around 20-25 people.
Also this one as well http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1823.0
fed about 10-15 people.
 I made pre-cooked chicken and chicken tikka in advance then added when sauces were simmering away nicely.

[Micky Tikka]

Thanks SD thought there might be a lazy option .As you said it would soon add up and  for the sake of a good curry not worth the risk . Could you do the sauce in small portions then add the chicken once you thought youve made enough ?

[Micky Tikka]

Thanks also Unclefrank. Would I be right in saying I could make a big pot of CTM  because theres not a big singe in this dish you get the balance from sugar and the almonds  !         

[Unclefrank]

There's no sugar used in the CTM only honey and the coconut plus the almond powder that gives the sweetness.

Been using both these recipes for a long time and they both produce great tasting curries every time, well for me they do  .

If i am cooking for say 25-30 people the madras  (8-10 servings) uses 1.5 litres of base, the CTM (4-5 servings) uses 1 pint of base, so i use 2 pots for the madras, that's (16-20 servings) CTM 3 pots that's (12-15 servings). These are approximate servings by the way but you get the idea.

Then i heat the sauces until they are simmering then add pre-cooked chicken and chicken tikka heat through and serve.
Any more questions please feel free to ask away.

[Micky Tikka]

Thanks more than helpfull apart from finding out my Restaurant scored a O in the Hygiene rating

[beachbum]

Great thread, I'll be revisiting it in July when I'll be cooking for my Home Brew Club's "Christmas in July" shindig. In Queensland there are a lot of migrant tragics who still can't get get used to Christmas Day usually being 32
degrees, so a tradition of having a second celebration in the middle of our winter has grown up 

There should be about 30 attending, however I'm not the only chef so my offerings will be entree-sized in little picnic bowls with Basmatti rice. I've been thinking of bringing along my portable gas stove, my mate's identical one and two woks.

I reckon each wok will handle 4 entree sized portions without skewing the recipe, so 8 on the go x 4 sessions should cover it, and maybe bring along a 10L pot of precooked fairly thick and spicy dahl as well and whack in a tarka before serving. I've got a slave lined up 

I'm considering Chicken Madras and Chicken Korma- add yogurt, cream etc just before serving.

[Masala Mark]

Hi BeachBum, in the April courses you will learn the pastes that you use and can then create big quantities from without having to make one portion, add to a pot, then another portion and add to a pot etc.

For example here in Aus it is comon to have a buffet in the restaurant where there will be 3 veg dishes, 3 non-veg dishes and all the other side dishes. Meat is pre-cooked, paste is added to a pot with perhaps a couple of other spices ie mustard seeds spluttered in oil with curry leaves, then in goes the onion paste, add the meat and some stock, add some boiling water then add coconut milk powder bring to boil simmer, adjust seasoning and pour into the bain-marie for service.

People will pay $20 for all you can eat etc.

I'm sure the restaurants in the UK must offer a similar thing, perhaps someone could ask Az how to do it if you were having 10 people around and wanted to make a big batch. I'm sure he wouldn't say make one portion, then another and another...

Cheers,
Mark

[beachbum]

Good point about the buffet, I'd never thought about that. Indian Brothers up the street about 200 metres from where I live does the all you can eat buffet Friday and Saturday nights.

So armed with my training at the April courses I can bring a couple of big pots of almost completed curries, but still do my impressive Iron Chef wok-waving performance by just finishing off batches at a time by adding the yogurt and cream and garam masala, or maybe bring a dopiaza and add the precooked second batch of onions accompanied by lots of stirring and flames etc  ;D

Maybe I should bring some Bollywood music as well.