Quote from: curryhell on October 31, 2013, 08:59 PM
Nice one there Bob.  Great team effort.  I take it there'll be something "pumpkin" on the menu tomorrow then  ;D

I am sick of the sight of pumpkin now, we've had it for a week now. Something Pumpkin on the menu every bloody day!!! Pumpkin soup, Spicy Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Bake, Spicy Pumpkin Wraps etc etc etc.... lol

It'll be Christmas next and 100 ways with bloody Turkey.... :/

We had great fun again this year for Halloween Curries at the UNI

Garlic Chilli Chicken Masala
Chicken Tikka Masala
Veggie Ceylon

All served out of Giant Pumpkins

Along with a homemade Mulligatawny Soup, various chutneys, poppadaoms, naan breads etc etc...

We had great fun carving the pumpkins too over the past 2 days

One of the advantages of living with the Head Chef is that she is also a Master Pastry Chef, which ranges anything from a Victoria Sponge cake, through some of the best Pastries I have ever tasted plus puddings, deserts and just about anything else I can cram into my mouth once out of the oven or fridge......

The other day, she taught me how to make a Sticky Toffee Pudding, something I have salivated over ever since. If any of you have a sweet tooth, you may want to try this recipe







Just to give you some idea of her skills, this is a Halloween Pumpkin Cake she made today which will be raffled on Thursday. All proceeds go to the Anthony Nolan Cancer Trust.... we are talking a 5 layer Chocolate Cake with delights in between under that Icing...

Where do you live Fried?

It's 06:29 and am just about to go to the UNI,so will come back to everyone later on today...

Happy Friday All!!

I've been talking with an Indian porter from our kitchen quite a lot lately. He is from Kerala (South India) and did quite a bit of cooking back home albeit traditional Indian food. He taught me how to make a Kerala'n Chicken Biriyani the other week which was fabulous and nowhere near a BIR.

It was when we were making this that he produced a packet (made from newspaper) which contained Garam masala. I inquired about this and he said that this is the one he makes himself (not shop bought). I was really impressed with this as it was nothing like the Garam Masala we normally buy in shops, like the TRS and Natco brands, which for me I don't really like or use as they contain too much cloves and cinnamon, which I personally find too overpowering for curries.

Yesterday, he came in with some packets of spices and we set about to make the one he uses at home.

Here are the results.

One packet contained just Mace, the other packet contained:

Whole Coriander
Whole Cumin
Dalchini (Cloves)
Whole Black Pepper
Elcho (Black Cardamom)
Bay Leaves
Cloves

We emptied both packets into a frying pan and also added 5 more Bay Leaves and 2 tsp ground Nutmeg. He said that they normally use whole nutmeg, but we didn't have any in the kitchen only ground Nutmeg.

We roasted the spices until the Coriander seeds turned slightly brown, then withdrew from the heat and then ground to a fine powder.

The aroma is stunning. A bit like spices freshly toasted and ground with a hint of what I can only describe as freshly ground coffee. This stuff is wonderful and I then went on to make a single Madras which several staff tried and then I added a sprinkle of this new Garam masala and cooked in for 2-3 minutes. The depth of flavour increased the Madras and I now want to try it with other dishes that specifically use Garam Masala. Unfortunately due to lack of time, will not be till next week, but will post the results.

Mace Packet


Whole Spice Packet


Whole Spice Packet Ingredients


Whole Spices In Pan


Whole Spices Roasted


Finished Garam Masala. Note the Commercial one on the right (Lighter Brown) compared to the one we made.

Nice looking spread

Quote from: Garp on October 18, 2013, 07:49 PM
How does one enrol in your Uni, Bob?

Do they do courses for adult students?

lol, Private lessons can be arranged.....

Quote from: DalPuri on October 18, 2013, 07:34 PM
It all looks fantastic Bob! AND onion salad too!, thats the sort of touch that gets you noticed.

Hi Dalpuri,

The spiced onions actually go into the North Indian Special, but we do make Raita's and Chutneys to go with our poppdaoms, which include Cucumber Raita, Yogurt mint sauce including now, Stephen Lindsey's yellow mint sauce, Coriander Chutney, Mango Chutney and an Indian Salad, comprising of equal parts, finely chopped tomato (seeds and inners removed), Red onion, Cucumber (inners removed) and freshly chopped Coriander. Sometimes we add some toasted cumin seeds too

This is the first attempt at a bulk version of the above, which I let one of the trainee chef's have a go at last night.

Too many onions were used and not enough red food colouring, but all in all, a great tasting dish.

I've amended the quantities in the ingredients below to what I think should be used next time round. It's all a process of adding or eliminating when cooking bulk until one thinks they have it about right.

Pre-Cooked Onions

Ingredients:
8 onions, roughly diced
15 green peppers, roughly diced
oil

Method:
fry the onions and pepper in some oil till lightly softened and set aside

Spicy Onions

Ingredients:
8 onions
400ml tomato ketchup
5 tsp salt
2 tbsp chilli powder, to taste
8 tbsp of mint sauce
Juice of 2 lemons
4 tbsp of vinegar
16 tsp caster sugar
Red food colouring (optional)
Water (optional)

Method:

Peel and very finely dice the onion
Place in a bowl and add the ketchup, salt, chilli powder, mint sauce, lemon juice, vinegar and sugar
Add red food colouring if you wish
Mix and add water if you wish to thin it slightly

Main Dish

Ingredients:

15kg of chicken tikka
4 Litres Taz base
50 tsp fresh garlic / ginger paste
30 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
10 fresh chillies, finely chopped
12 tbsp tomato puree diluted with 6 tbsp water
30 tsp mix powder
6 tsp chilli powder (or more or less to taste)
12 tsp tandoori masala
pre-cooked onions and peppers (see separate recipe)
10 additional whole chillies to taste (Cut lengthways and then quartered)
12 tsp mango chutney
10 tsp lemon juice
15 tomato