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Messages - natterjak

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#1071
Lets Talk Curry / Re: What Pan
March 20, 2011, 09:31 PM
Quote from: solarsplace on March 17, 2011, 11:36 AM
Hi

Here you go: Meyer Commercialware Aluminium HT+ Open French Skillet Frying Pan, 26 cm

Re: What Pan

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meyer-Commercialware-Aluminium-French-Skillet/dp/B001L1RGM2/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1FI1DC93XQBR2&colid=2LJ8E417JXPPL

All the best

I decided to get one of these as my current pan is so big I end up chasing the curry around it.  2 questions - how to condition the pan?  (I read you put some oil in and leave it on the heat for hours).  2nd, can you stick them in the dishwasher or does this corrode Aluminium?
#1072
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Ready made ginger & garlic paste?
March 20, 2011, 09:29 PM
I'm sure BIRs must use ready made pastes - would they really have time to peel and puree all the garlic cloves they need for each night's trade?
#1073
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 20, 2011, 09:22 PM
I cooked it again tonight, much the same result - very tasty curry but excess oil and water "leaks" out of it (filtered through the rice) when plated up.  It was made from the same base sauce so understandable that the result would be the same.  Next time I'll try a thicker base sauce but after the same curry 3 days on the trot it's time for a brief interlude.

One thing I did include for the first time in tonight's version was the teaspoon of MSG which features in Chinois's recipe.  Does it make a difference?  Oh yeah!  Hard to explain the difference but it was like it amplified all my tastebuds.  As I was eating it I had forgotten the MSG was in and was wondering to myself why it tasted so yummy and satisfying.  I know it's controversial and some people hate the idea of cooking with MSG but I'm a convert and will include it from now on.

Oh and Axe,  thanks for the suggestion but I'm really loving the moist and tender chicken in my dishes at present - way better than the dried out chicken I've always found in BIR dishes so I'd prefer not to go the pre-cooked meat route at present.
#1074
Talk About Anything Other Than Curry / Re: Food of the gods!
March 20, 2011, 09:15 PM
Looks great Axe, how do you cook your chips? 
#1075
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 20, 2011, 10:17 AM
Quote from: Axe on March 19, 2011, 09:25 PM
Quote from: natterjak on March 19, 2011, 08:18 PMwater separated out of the curry and gathered amongst the rice.   I spooned off about 5 or 6 tbs from the plate.  What would cause this?

It's hard to say without knowing exactly what you cooked and how. Did you use pre-cooked chicken? Did you use pre-cooked peppers? Chicken from supermarks is generally pumped full of water (and other various cocktails) to make it look plump. When cooked in a pan, the water releases from the meat. Peppers also contain quite alot of moisture.


Hi, chicken, onions and green chillis were all cooked from raw within the pan.  I didn't have any green sweet peppers so left them out.  My base sauce was thinned with water to the consistency of milk as per the directions in Chinois's video.

Not sure how I can end up with too much oil floating on the top and also too much water in it, surely as the water boils off the oil comes through.  I'm just going to have to try this a few more times and see what effect varying the oil and water content has.
#1076
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 19, 2011, 08:18 PM
Ok, someone said persevere (or was it that I was perverse?), so anyway tonight I had another crack at it.  Same recipe, same ingredients except I reduced the oil at the start of the dish to 2 tbs and made sure the pan was very hot before I started frying garlic. 

I should have listened to Axe and solarspace amongst others because I over did it with the heat and as soon as the garlic hit the pan I knew I had to act fast to stop things burning.  I really could have done with using 3 tbs of oil as the recipe says because by the time the curry and chilli powders hit the pan things were looking very dry.  BUT... by whipping through my cue sheet ignoring the timings just adding ingredients as required to keep the action in the pan going and to stop anything burning I managed to achieve an end result much better than before.  It even looked like a curry!

At the end of the recipe I still had a bit too much oil on the surface of the dish so I may reduce the amount of oil-rich bunjara I add next time.  The taste was pretty good, maybe 7 out of 10 but one thing I noticed was that on the plate water separated out of the curry and gathered amongst the rice.   I spooned off about 5 or 6 tbs from the plate.  What would cause this?

All in all a big improvement and definately a curry I wouldn't have been disappointed with if served at a restaurant, so very pleasing progress.  :)

Loving close up photo follows.
#1077
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 19, 2011, 10:14 AM
Quote from: Razor on March 19, 2011, 09:56 AM
Hi NJ,

Well done mate for posting a "failure", many wouldn't.  Very refreshing to see an honest account.  We always see the success stories but rarely see the "cock up's" much kudos!

Hi Ray.  Well one of the benefits of being a self-declared beginner is I have no ego about these things and feel no need to compete.  I'd rather admit to the mistakes and learn from others.  Mind you, the first time I cook a stonking curry I guess I will be on here bragging about it, so cancel the ego comment.

Quote from: Razor on March 19, 2011, 09:56 AM
A tip for rice, cook it up in large batches, then portion out into the plastic takeaway tubs.  Cool it down as quick as you can, then freeze.

When you need rice, simply place frozen rice into the microwave (900w) cook on high for one minute, stir and cook again for two further minutes.  The rice should be absolutely steaming when served.  For me, this method produces better results, than fresh rice straight from the pan, invaluable when you have a few dishes on the go.

Interesting, I didn't know you could safely store and reheat cooked rice, something about food poisoning which doesn't get killed by reheating?  Can't remember the details but if you've been doing this a while and haven't died yet maybe I should give it a go.

Quote from: Razor on March 19, 2011, 09:56 AM
Another tip, if I may?  why not try one of the little camping stoves like this one http://www.stephensandbower.com/2010/12/choosing-the-right-camping-stove/

You can pick these up for about a fiver. It will give you a little more control  than you have with your electric hob!  I think the canisters are about a quid?

Ray :)

I actually have one of those camping stoves, if only I can find it.  I wouldn't have thought it would give enough gas flow for a truly sizzling hot frying pan though as they always seem a bit weedy.  Maybe that's just because they're used outdoors and the heat blows away.
#1078
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 19, 2011, 10:07 AM
Quote from: peterandjen on March 19, 2011, 09:24 AM
Hi natterjack, persevere, at least you know things cant go much worse next time.

Oh I'm sure they can and I might even prove it.  :D

Quote from: peterandjen on March 19, 2011, 09:24 AM
You have more patience than me, i have been looking at the bunjarra recipes for ages here but never can seem to find the get up and go to have a bash at it, so well done for that :)
How did the post it notes taste? ive never tried them curried, do they dissolve as a thinckening agent or add texture to the sauce?


Bunjara wasn't too hard to make actually.  I used the slow cooker so just left the onions to do their stuff for 8 or 9 hours, following which they're caramelised nicely.  It's the low stress option rather than taking the risk of burning them in a frying pan.

I found the Post It(tm) notes a good source of fibre, but the colouring is made with Sudan 1 and hence can't really be considered up to BIR standard.
#1079
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 19, 2011, 10:04 AM
Quote from: martinvic on March 19, 2011, 12:39 AM
Hi natterjack

Don't know the base and recipe you were using, but as for the excess oil, how much oil did you put into the pan to start with?

Is the base an oily one?

Were the onions/peppers pre-cooked/fried?

Were any other oily ingredients like the Bunjara/onion paste added?

I've found all these add oil to the curry, so I think sometimes you have to compensate for these when cooking.

If it's an oily base I don't put too much oil into the pan to start with - 1 to 1 1/2 Tblsp.
Normally I only use about 2 Tblsp of oil max, with a low oil base.

If you pre-cook/fry veg don't use too much oil, or remove as much as possible before use.


Thanks Martin.  Yep all the base preparations have oil in, the garlic / ginger paste and bunjara had extra oil added for storage as Chinois advices a layer of oil on top helps preserve them.  Also the oil from the top of the bunjara is used to start the jalrezi off, so the bunjara taste infuses the whole dish.

This is probably why I suffered excess oil and can be adjusted next time.  In particular I found adding oil to the bunjara didn't so much form a layer on top as just dilute and mix in with the rest of the bunjara, so it was especially oily.

I didn't prefry the chiilies and onion, just added them 2nd (after garlic) and gave them a min before carrying on with the rest of the recipe as per Chinois's madras video.
#1080
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Making Chinois's Jalfrezi
March 19, 2011, 09:59 AM
Quote from: Axe on March 18, 2011, 10:53 PM
Quote from: emin-j on March 18, 2011, 09:19 PM
Next time just concentrate on 1 dish at a time and reheat it all when all the dishes are finished.

It's hard to tell form the pic but the base should be watered down quite a bit. Having a thicker base like the Kushi, can lave you caking up your curry if you add and too much and reduce the volume down. This I learnt the hard way.

Chin up natterjak, if I had a pound for every blunder I have made in the kitchen, I wouldn't have to be cooking my own curries, i'd already have bought my own BIR!  ;)

Yep, base sauce was thinned before being used in the curry.  I think the main reason for the poor result was lack of temperature, meaning I was more boiling than frying the bunjara and base sauce.  I'm not really discouraged, I'll have another crack and as suggested will get the rice done and in a warm oven so I can fully focus on the curry.
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