Keep in mind that Ceylon is of a vintage when CA was insisting that base gravy should only be cooked at a "low simmer for one hour" and that cooking faster or longer was pointless and "made no difference". So the amount of sugar was probably to balance out the inevitable harshness of flavour coming from the bad base recipe.   These days it seems like 90 minutes in a pressure cooker is just the ticket according to him...

They look great Naga. You've inspired me to get my pans out...

So Wifey mcWife-face put herself on a low carb diet again but as usual it seems it's up to me to find meals to cook each night and I got to wondering whether BIR curry might be ok. Onions, which make up the bulk of our curry sauces, seem neither very high or particularly low carb:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables

Veg oil is fine, as fat seems to be positively encouraged on a low carb diet and I can always omit the already tiny proportion of peppers and potato from the base gravy I cook, so what do you reckon? Spices and coriander I'm assuming don't have carbs.  If the finished curry doesn't have any sugar or coconut flour, etc added I reckon it could be a viable low-ish carb option, served up with cauliflower rice, because for sure white rice is out of the question.

Just wondering if anyone is well up on diet and nutrition questions...?

It's definitely the case that takeaways use beef mince instead of lamb? Or that donners are definitely made with mutton instead of lamb?

I like the look of this, but is it really lamb mince in most doner kebabs?  Or more likely mutton I suppose.

Reason I ask is my local takeaway has a sign up saying our doner kebabs are made with 100% beef mince, and they taste just like any other kebab I've had. So either they are full of BS (likely) or there is a mix of lamb and beef doner recipes about, which is a surprise.

Despite the generous seasoning, I imagine the meat flavour is still the predominant one in doner, so can there really be variation in the meat the shops are using, or do they in fact use a blend of mutton, beef, dog, etc..?

Yep that was what did it for me too. Plus the recent mention of dip has reminded me of his easy mint sauce which never fails.

Onion bhaji for lunch today with some dipu mint sauce. The bhajis were CBM ebook vol 1 recipe but only 100g gram flour. Probably needed some water to bind into a more cohesive bhaji but with the fairly open texture they fried up nice and crispy which is how I like them. 

Probably a reflection on the recipe chosen, maybe a more sensible choice would have elicited better compliance among those who participated.

The easiest curry I know:

Buy a 100g block of "Golden Curry"  http://www.sbfoods-worldwide.com/products/curry/retail/america_page.html in the supermarket. Chop up an onion and some raw chicken and fry them. Peel & Cut up 1 large carrots and 1 medium potato and add along with 650ml water. Break up your golden curry block into the water, stir and bring it to a low simmer for 15 mins. Boom! tasty curry in about 25 mins total.

More of less any of the recipes on this site are not quick or easy as they are restaurant recipes which take a long prep and cook of a base sauce before you can do anything. Everything is easy when you know how of course, but there's a learning curve and commitment required.

Quote from: chriswg on November 06, 2009, 01:55 PM

I'm always pleased to see new ideas for Onion Bhajis. They just seem to be impossible to get as good as at the takeaway where they are light golden in colour, crispy on the outside but soft and thoroughly cooked inside

I think like with many deep fried foods, the reason the home cooked doesn't match the restaurant version is you need to double or triple fry foods to get them the same as the pros results. Next time you do bhajis, cook them most of the way then let cool and leave them hanging around in the fridge for a day, then refry them a shorter time just to crisp up.  That's the only way you get the right moisture level throughout as it takes time for the middle bits to dry out a little bit and this moisture softens the outer layer, which is fixed with the second fry.

Same principle for many other deep fried goodies such as fried chicken, even chips in a chipshop. Chinese chicken balls too. Fry, cool, dry and fry again.