Quote from: h4ppy-chris on March 28, 2013, 02:44 PMThanks for that mate, i thought a fan was just to keep things cool. Now i know better i will get a fan asap 

It's also helps to re-circulate the air around the plants.

As I'm sure you know, plants intake CO2 and expire Oxygen, it's handy that humans do that in reverse! The fan simply helps circulate air containing CO2 around their leaves so they have a constant fresh supply to help continue healthy growth. If the air around the plants and leaves remains static over time the CO2 will become depleted and growth will slow as a result.

Quote from: chewytikka on March 27, 2013, 01:24 PMThe other point is the control of the heat, some people are saying you need constant heat, I don't quite get this, apart from the obvious.

Given that I've mentioned this a couple of times in this thread, allow me to clarify what I mean by constant heat.

The lower the output of your burner, the lower the heat will be. When adding cold ingredients the temperature will drop in the pan and the lower the heat source the longer it will take for the pan contents to return to the original temperature. The higher the output of your burner, the higher the heat and the shorter the time it will take for the contents of the pan to come back to the original temperature.

Thus, by having higher output burners, and therefore higher heat output the less temperature drops the pan will suffer when adding cold ingredients therefore producing a more constant cooking temperature.

That's what I mean by constant heat.

Quote from: h4ppy-chris on March 24, 2013, 01:03 PMSorry re-read my notes its 2 Tbsp coconut powder. :
Fresh but if you can't get hold of fresh, use dried 1/4 cup and soak for 5 minutes in warm water then drain well.

Okay, that sounds more like it!

And thanks for the comment on the fresh v dried. I've used fresh before and I think it does give a better flavour and texture, but I've also had quite good results with using dried, soaked as you mention.

Have you cooked this yourself? If so what did you think of it?

And, probably the most interesting part of that recipe is Stage 4 and the addition of spiced oil at the end of cooking.

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on March 24, 2013, 11:05 AM
Looks a good starting point...

It does indeed look a good starting point. I'll be interested to hear back from the OP as to how he gets on with this. My only doubt (like you) is the 4 tablespoons of coconut powder, which seems like a lot, but I'll reserve judgement on that when/until I've cooked it.

Chris

Thanks for posting this, it looks good.

Do the BIR's generally used fresh methi for this and if so do they chop it first? Do they ever used dried? If so what proportions of dried to fresh would they use?

I don't know why she's getting Ajowan and Aniseed confused either, they're clearly two quite different spices with two different flavours.

However, there's nothing wrong with her taste buds as I've found her recipes on the whole to be pretty darned good. The simple Chicken Masala on page 75 is a particular favourite of mine and the dry fried minced lamb on page 106 also pretty good.

They're well worth trying.

Quote from: Axe on March 23, 2013, 07:21 PMAt least they look quite good, I could definitely chow down on one.

You and your visual appearance! You mean you fancy one of those a bit more than green tandoori?

Quote from: DalPuri on March 23, 2013, 06:20 PMThey look similar to Tahini swirls i used to buy in the Turkish supermarket, Whetstone. Delicious!! 

Ensamaida's are quite similar to danish pastries dusted with icing sugar. I had some the last time I was in Spain and I liked them so much I decided to find a recipe to make some over here. The lard stains the paper bags they put them in, bit like samosas and onion bhaji's do!

Delicious with a morning cuppucino

Quote from: goncalo on March 23, 2013, 06:27 PM
1. Use of par-boiled potatoes as a starting point

I would say that's a pretty good place to start.

I've been twiddling with a traditional Aloo Methi recipe recently, turning it into BIR style. You might like to try a similar technique for your bombay potatoes.

Par boil the potatoes in boiling water with a pinch or so of turmeric and salt. I usually use maris piper potatoes as I find they have the right texture for this and go tender without falling apart. To boil these to done, I'd usually give them 10 mins in boiling water, for a par boil, I usually do them to about 6/7 minutes. The timings are from when the water is boiling, I boil the water, add the potatoes and start timing once they start boiling again. Strain these.

I then start as I would do normally when cooking BIR, heat the oil, heaped tsp of g/g, spices (1/2 tsp mix, 1/2 tsp chilli, 1/4 tsp salt) fry the spices, in go the potatoes and mix with the spices and paste, 1 chef spoon of base or reduced cooking liquid from boiled potatoes or a combination of both and reduce the liquid in the pan to half or until it just thickens and clings to the potatoes.

The key here are timings. Par boiling the potatoes initially to about 1/3rd to 3/4 done and finishing them off whilst reducing the liquid in the pan to a thickish sauce without them disintegrating and falling apart.

You can try popping mustard seeds first, you can try adding some chopped green chilli's towards the end of frying the g/g paste or towards the end of cooking, you can try adding some methi leaves towards the end of spice frying or adding panch phoran to the spice mix until you arrive at works for you.

Experiment, taste, experiment, taste etc. until you arrive at what you feel is the right taste and texture.

And enjoy eating the experiments

Quote from: DalPuri on March 23, 2013, 02:30 PM
Just googled Superfish and they're still going strong in and around surrey and they still fry in beef dripping. well, well well.  ;D

Yep, I've got one near me and I've had fish and chips from them - pretty good.

I'm not really a fish and chips person to be honest, although I do enjoy them now and again, I'm not that passionate about them so wouldn't know good chips from bad!  :

As far as I understand it, dripping comes from beef and lard from rendered pork fat, yes?

I've just recently bought some lard strangely enough, for some Majorca Ensamaida's I'm going to be making, they're just divine!

Quote from: manhead3 on March 23, 2013, 03:20 PMIf anyone could help on this I would be so gratified and would be happy to help anyone who has any questions in return.

Can you expand a little on exactly what it is you're looking for here? Because Methi BIR recipe doesn't really say.

I've recently been experimenting with an Aloo Methi recipe which I've modified to BIR style with some good results, which is basically just potatoes with fenugreek. I've been using dried methi leaves even though I think you get better results with fresh, but unless you grow them yourself, fresh aren't exactly easy to get hold of.

I suspect you're after an established BIR Methi Murgh or Methi Gosht recipe which I don't have, but I don't see why one can't be reconstructed.