Curry? On a menu in the South of France? Moule Curry et Frites? Oh yes please! I never imagined to find curry on a menu during a recent trip to the Continent, I simply had to order it, unsurprisingly it was not BIR, maybe FIR, I shall leave you to make your own acronym!



The mussels were fantastic, fresh, huge and cooked perfectly. The curry, well as you may see from the picture, a considerable amount of cream with some coconut; not too much though.



Perhaps you are thinking this isn

The chicken tikka, made mostly to Blade's recipe, I included onion seeds because I like them



http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6053/1338322574551.jpg



In the pan, looking very appetising being such a lovely deep, rich red colour. Differently to previous curries I've made, the base sauce wasn't added until after the pre-cooked chicken. This had a bit of a detrimental effect to the finished dish as the chicken seemed then overcooked. I think that next time I'll under cook the chicken before adding to the pan.




http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/7501/1338322810050.jpg




The finished dish, photo taken inside (for colour difference). We love chips, yes perhaps it should have been rice, but given the choice we always choose chips!



http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9928/1338323130887.jpg



This photo taken outside. Really pleased with the look of this vindaloo (first one I've cooked!)



http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/2737/1338323308105.jpg



Importantly though, flavour and taste. Well interestingly for us, the heat strength seemed more like Jahlfrezi. Depth of flavour was great. Salt was the baddie though. Far too salty, the chicken breasts were brined for a few hours initially, but not with 60g salt per litre of water, two good pinches of salt in one litre. The tikka had salt, of course the recipe had some salt too.




This was cooked for two though, and we've found before that doubling up on amounts can be too much. Has anyone else found this?




I'd certainly make this again, slight misnomer on the recipe though, in the ingredients tomato paste was listed and omitted in the method. I added it after the spice had singed.




Comparison to my local BIR's, close, very close in terms of look, smell, nearly there with taste, BIR sauce seemed to be more smooth and have a better consistency. I shall continue with the quest though!




Note to self, under cook the chicken, add less salt, add lots and lots more chillies!




Finally the curry assault on the cooker!



http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/7383/1338323737966.jpg



it was tempting to leave the cooker like this, but seeing as I'm not at home it was only polite to clean up really well!


Apologies for the images having to be clicked on, damn iPad, stupid Apple products not being compatible with the image server, grrrr! Rant over, sorry!

All the best Colette.

Hurray, I have found Asian Bay Leaves in my local shop! As you may see there is a whopping amount of them, if anyone would like some posted, send me your address via PM. It would take me far too long to use these up, do get in touch if you would like some



I was not aware of these Asian Bay Leaves until https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7996.msg70540#msg70540 thanks for the tip CurryHell!

Garam Masala recipe - https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7864.0

There is an obvious difference in size, the fragrance has a more pronounced note of clove, well to my olfactory nerve anyway!



All the best  ;D

With huge interest and inspiration I was ready to singe the spices. WOW! This curry (take one) was probably, no definetly the best curry I have ever made, because the taste, colour, depth of flavour were all there. It was not as good as my local TA, but I was happy.

Lessons learnt from earlier attempts, ingredients in order.



And rice remembered.



Then it all starts to go mad as the aromas of a great curry emerge in front of me. Spatters (Artistry!) of sauce dapple everywhere, I think I could have singed the spices for longer but I was a bit scared of over doing it. I followed Chewy Tikkas tip of using the spoon around the edge of the pan to bring in the caramalisation of the sauce into the dish.

Waiting for the oil to rise.



I had already grilled the naan bread, as in an earlier curry, so carried away with the cooking of the curry, alarmed by the definite burning smell, decided to grill naan beforehand. Always learning. No, what I need is a commis chef!

Take one results, the rice looks plain and boring, but I guess that is rice. Although a few days ago the local TA gave me plain rice instead of vegetable, there was something so delicious about this rice that went so very well with my Vindaloo that I am now a fan. The naan bread, having been grilled some time before is cold, but edible, the home made chutney is fab, the home made raita is good, the beer, is well good beer.
The curry, wow, yes I am blowing my own trumpet here, but it was amazing, tasty, savoury, had that deep rich red colour I am after, I really felt I was getting close to the BIR taste.
Roll on Take Two!

Take Two was tonight, hopeful of re-creating last weeks dish I get all my prep nicely organised.

Naan cooked beforehand



Rice on the go



Singe those spices, scary!!!



Are they too dark? I thought so, but no taste of bitterness in the final dish.



Followed the recipe https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5699.0 Chewys video recipe  ;D



Alarm bells are ringing, the curry is not the same colour as Take One, I did add more veg, trying to make it healthy, would that really have made such a difference? Waiting for the oil to rise.



Final dish, used Tilda Basmati, never bought before as shop brand is cheaper, but wow, quite a difference, naan gone a bit cold, but not burnt! Shop bought poppadoms, ok but not as good as freshly fried, all my chutneys are excellent, the raita was a bit hot as I shook the chilli powder in, instead of using a spoon. The curry itself was a bit disappointing after Take One being so good. At this point I got curry sauce on my camera lens, doh!!!  :



The colour is the first thing I noticed that was different, taste was ok, BUT I will keep calm, drink more beer, and curry on!



I do like the proper curry serving dishes, after seeing some great looking curries on here served in these I thought they might improve things for me, sadly I was wrong.

Strikes me I have still got a lot of work to do, but I will get there.

My new Ali pan is great, thanks for the tip

Quote from: DalPuri on January 29, 2012, 04:44 PM
Try here Terramamba 

http://www.dadibhais.com/index.php/kitchen/cookware/frying-omelette-pans.html

6.50p for postage upto 20kg

Frank 


https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5632.0

All the best curry lovers
;D

I followed this recipe https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7864.0 and I am totally impressed, did not have Indian Bay Leaves though, will try to source some.

What I found particularly satisfying about this mix is the amazing fragrance, it gave so much promise of a great curry later on.  ;D

Spices all ready to go into the oven at 200C



Spices out after 3 minutes



Grind in the blender and I have the best Garam Masala ever! I threw out a full jar of bought mix, it did not compare well.

All the best
Colette. 

After following Heston Blumenthal's recipe we found the the chicken to be succulent, tender and quite delicious. 

As you may see from the picture, the chicken was not fully cooked, we only used the breasts, which were ok; after watching the tv program again I realised  I had not followed it properly, after resting the chicken for 45 minutes, put it back in the oven for 10 minutes on a high heat to brown the skin, although I think the extra time wouldn't have cooked the meat through, just browned the skin. 

Wanting to keep the succulence in the meat I poached the remainder, with reasonable results.  

I would definitely use the brining technique again as I really enjoyed how moist the meat was. I usually prefer my chicken tikka but I would forgo that for the succulent taste.

Heston's recipe is
60g salt per 1 litre water 
To cover chicken and leave overnight
Roast at 90c for 1.5 hours
Leave to rest for 45 minutes
Roast on high for 10 minutes to brown the skin

Next time I shall leave the chicken in for two hours, although at first attempt I did use a meat thermometer and that registered meat cooked, but the unclear juices that were very evident showed that the meat needed more time. I expected the meat to have a salty taste, but it did not. 

I guess you have noticed the lack of picture, unfortunately my iPad seems incompatible with the image hosting program. I shall have to wipe the dust off the PC tomorrow and sort that. Although a bloody chicken is not very appetising!

Lesson for me here is do not trust the meat thermometer!

All the best
Colette. 

Base sauce through to Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi!

The base recipe I followed (mostly) is from the link below.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7621.0

I really like cabbage so was inspired to try this base gravy. Also I like the idea of leaving it to stand overnight, something I always do with dishes like Cottage Pie, Stews even Lasagne, seems to improve the flavours.

The onions I deliberately left whole, being told that they?re often sweeter this way.



Too many ingredients for one big pan, although when cooked and reduced it did all fit into one.



I did not follow the recipe faithfully though ? as follows
I omitted the coconut as I like to cook Jalfrezi's & Vindaloo's, personally I don't like coconut in those dishes.
?1/2 CHEF SPOON OF COCONUT MILK POWDER OR 1/4  BLOCK OF COCONUT CREAM / COCONUT MILK POWDER PREFERED?



All cooked and now left overnight, with a lid on!



I now fully understand why chef's have long sleeves, it hurts when the oil splashes onto skin. Also it made a hell of a mess around the cooker, on the floor and up the walls. Lol!
?FRY FOR ABOUT 5 MINS NOW ADD GINGER /GARLIC PASTE HALF CHEF SPOON/ RATIO 2 TIMES GINGER TO 1 GARLIC?



A hand liquidiser is on my shopping list, currently using a food processor's liquidiser attachment. Not sure if this makes a difference to the final result.
?USE A HAND LIQIDIZER AND BLEND ?



Certainly after 30 minutes the oil had risen.Looking a very promising colour.
?REDUCE HEAT FOR ABOUT HALF HOUR AND THE OIL SHOULD RAISE TO THE SURFACE NOW YOU GOT YOUR GURAVY?



I added a little salt and some goor to taste.
ADD A LITTLE SALT/COCONUT MILK POWDER  SUGAR OR PREFERABLE GOOR TO YOUR TASTE.



The halogen cooker is, I find, easier to use than the grill, being on the counter top, it's plain to see when I've burnt the chicken!

Didn't have any cream, also for my favourite dishes, personally I don't believe cream is necessary. Also the colour looked fine to me!
ALSO ADD SOME SINGLE CREAM FOR YOUR RIGHT COLOUR AND TASTE



It certainly was quite thick, so I did add some water.
IF YOU FEEL IT IS TO THICK  MAKE IT THIN BY ADDING WATER SO THAT IT CAN BE FRIED DOWN IN THE FINAL DISH ( I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE SOME CREDIT TO CHEWY TIKKA AFTER SEEING HIS BASE,OF THE ADDING CABBAGE/GOOD ON YOU/ IVE TASTED THE GURAVY EHERE I WORK AND NEW THERE WAS SOMTHING MISSING  IT WAS WHITE CABBAGE ALL THE TIME  .
The cabbage flavour really worked for me, I could have eaten bowlfuls as soup!



The mixed powder I used is:
8 tbsp Tumeric
6 tbsp Curry Powder
4 tbsp Coriander
4 tbsp Cumin
2 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Ginger
2 tbsp Garam Masala
The recipe is on the forum somewhere, had a quick look but it seemed quicker to type it out.

The Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi recipe is from  ChewyTikka?s video recipe.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5699.0



Chewy Tikka?s excellent Jalfrezi video. Clear, precise and it made me want to try it. Unfortunately my curry tasted creamy. Odd I thought as I added no cream. I did try frying the hell out of my curry to get the spice flavour going through, that made it thicker so I added more water.  I really wanted my dish to be like the Jalfrezi I order from my local curry house, it fell short by quite a long way. It was ok, but lacked the savoury taste and the colour was not a deep rich red.

Never mind I?ll try again tomorrow!



Despite managing to cook enough for two I managed to clear my plate, lol!

All the best!

Warning! This game is HIGHLY addictive, but don't let that put you off as it's great fun playing opponents from all over the world. The game play is realistic, but the rules aren't what I'm used to, (British Pub Rules)!

http://www.miniclip.com/games/8-ball-pool-multiplayer/en/

I happily admit to needing a fix, nearly every night!

Good luck  ;D

Viewing chefs on you-tube cooking their curries, the heat from the burner looks to be very high.

Flames abound!

Does anyone here on the forum use an intense amount of heat when cooking?

Thanks 

A Jalfrezi to my own recipe, but can't wait until curry night (Thursday!) going to try Cory Ander's Jalfrezi recipe.

I love curry  ;D

Joined the forum a while ago, and have taken a time to do two posts now! Helpful recipes here. Jalfrezi to cook next!

This is the first time I?ve used Taz?s base sauce recipe, before I cooked it I wrote it down and took it to my favourite BIR for their input. Raj suggested using fresh tomatoes too, for more flavour, also ground coriander and cumin. I asked about using saffron and was told some at the end along with fresh coriander. So I added these suggestions and started cooking. A flavoursome result! 

Raj also went on to say all the ingredients were right, it's just about the cooking becoming second nature, timing important too.

Earlier this evening going to my favourite BIR I took a small sample for Raj and his wife, who is the brilliant chef, for them to critique. ?Tasty?, she said ?You could be an Indian chef!? Then after talking in her own language to Raj, went on to say ?The spice would be better to be cooked in the oil first, carefully to avoid being burnt; or simmer for longer?. Raj said ?It?s a good base sauce!?

I was really chuffed at the BIR for their input and critique.
Will definitely be using this recipe again. Thanks!  :