Yes well spotted. I did change my mind on that after consulting Mrs Coogan she reckons that I cook it on a gentle boil rather a rapid. Im not so sure sort of in between the two really - you just want to get the water back to boiling ASAP and keep it there without boiling over. I normally do not worry about using a lid or exact measurements of water either - to much rather than to little.

Hope you have good results I do.

bon luck

Phil, I would say that the basmati rice ends up perfect - solid yet individually and fully formed without being under or over cooked. The same shape as the grains that came out of the jar but swollen and pure white.

The three crucial stages being. Soak for 30 mins in cold water. Boil gently for 4 mins only. Immediately rinse in a colander with cold water to prevent further cooking and to let the rice relax.

I then reheat when required in microwave or by pour boiling water through. If I was to say make mushroom rice I would fry onions, g/g, spice mix and the mushrooms and then combine with the already cooked rice and serve.

Bon pulao

Good post Phil, I do not think it is necessary step to fry the basmati rice or whole spices at all - I cannot see this process happening in BIR's. I just crucially soak the rice for 30 mins and then rapid boil for 4 mins with the spices. When making a normal curry i.e. Not with Tikka I do not pre-cook the chicken but always marinate it for at least 6 hours first. With beef or lamb I do slowly pre-cook it in a spiced liquor to impart flavor and induce tenderness.

Bon curry

Brilliant stuff Chewy!

I am definitely going to make this one just need some special puree, special masala, special sauce, special gravy, special chicken and Voila! Special jalfrezi.

bon vid

Looks a lovely rice Matt. Great pics.

Cooked in 4 mins - I agree. I cook my pilau rice with similar ingredients just differently and with less hassle. In short 125g basmati rice soaked in cold water for 30 mins. Boil about a pint of water throw in a few cloves and green cardamoms, tbs fennel seeds and a cinnamon stick. Drain the soaked rice, chuck into boiling pan and cook for 4 mins. Rinse immediately in cold water to stop any further cooking. Add a sprinkle of saffron strands. Then when required re-heat in microwave for 90 secs. Stir and serve. Perfect tasty results every time.

bon pilau

Yep! That will work.

bon hell

QuoteThat looks absolutely stunning mate, really got my mouth watering. I notice that you cook this in your Nipoori, so, may I ask, how would you recommend that those who don't own the Nipoori, cook the shashlik? 400c for 3-4 minutes is very quick and I should imagine it makes for nice, tender, juicy chicken.  My worry would be trying to grille or BBQ the shashlik and drying out the chicken too much. Ray

Cheers Ray, They tasted stunning as well. Sorry I should have included times for conventional cooking. Just do them in the same way as you do your tikka I would say 15-20 mins grilled or BBQ'd turning the skewers once or twice - you could probably get away with interspacing the veg with the chicken. They will still taste great but yes they will obviously be drier but still very nice.

bon jovi

Phil, Paul I have found that if you have marinated the food correctly with the right ingredients for long enough the flavour would have fully penetrated and the excess marinade becomes redundant - if it is left on it just impedes the cooking process and will actually burn marring the true flavour that you are after. The whole ethos of extreme high temperature cooking in a tandoor is that the outer food surface is immediately exposed to the ambient heat to seal the taste and moisture in whilst equally important the heat rapidly conducts up the skewer to do the same from within. This causes the skewed food to cook in at least half the time and retain its moistness and fully impregnated flavour along with the additional unique 'smoky' taste that the charcoal burning at high temperature imparts.


Bon taste

George. You could place an old Rovers biscuit tin on top and then have a double oven. Or puncture some holes in the tin, put in some hickory wood chippings, utilise the grill rack from the lower oven and then you could slowly smoke slices of beef whilst your Yorkshire pudding cooks beneath. Or buy a Nipoori oven, discard the bottom halve, locate the top cone on to your unit and then you would have an electric tandoor to tikka your chicken whilst cooking naan breads in the lower oven at the same time - I can just see the patent office rubbing their hands already.

Bon idea.

Sorry Phil If it was not quite clear - I meant rinse the excess marinade from the chicken with running water then dry with kitchen towel. Thank you for spotting the error.

bon point