Hi All,

Mumtaz Karahi Chicken

A few years ago I watched a B.B.C. Food and Drink program that went to the famous Mumtaz Restaurant in Bradford.

The chef was filmed showing how to make a simple Chicken Karahi, which I have made on a number of occasions with a great deal of success.
I now realise he was not necessarily giving the restaurant secret away as base sauce was never mentioned.
It was not a B.I.R. style curry as such yet in taste it was very similar to what we would expect from a restaurant type curry.
It doesn?t have that smokey taste yet receives favourable ?which take-away was this from? comments from those that try it.
I would assume this isn't seen on the Mumtaz menu as it takes a bit long to cook from scratch for a busy restaurant unless perhaps they pre-cook it ahead of time.

Just as a bit of interest the Mumtaz sells? it's currys by weight! You order either 1/2 lb or a 1 lb portion. Bet you can't guess what weight I go for!?

The odd thing about this Karahi dish is it?s made in a large wok and all the ingredients are put in uncooked at the start. This very uninteresting ?soup? is simply boiled until the liquid reduces to a thick sauce???voila!
It doesn?t look as if it will produce a restaurant style curry but strangely it does. In about 45 minutes you are ready to serve. That?s all there is to it.

The only powdered spices used were Curry Powder which I assume now is ?restaurant spice? such as Bruce Edwards and some Garam Masala.

Nowadays, for convienience I tend to cheat a little and use a third of a jar of Patak?s Madras Curry Paste instead of powdered spices. It really does make a great tasting curry and also works well with Lamb.

This is how the chef did it.

Serves 3-4

1 lb Chicken Breast, diced into large chunks
1 large Tin Chopped Tomatoes
1 Large Onion (or two small ), finely sliced
1? Cube Fresh Ginger, Grated
2 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
200 mls Water
4 Fresh Tomatoes, quartered
Either 2 tsp Curry Powder and 1 tsp garam Masala
or 1/3 rd Jar Patak?s Madras Paste
4 Tbsps Chopped Coriander
50 mls Veg Oil ( you could use re-claimed )

Method.Put all the ingredients in a wok except fresh tomatoes and coriander. There is NO pre-cooking of anything.
Bring to the boil. Reduce heat but let it bubble and leave it uncovered, it has to evaporate
It looks like an unappetising mess and you will wonder what you have let yourself in for. But have faith.
After about 30-40 minutes it will have reduced and the onions, chicken etc will be cooked. Make sure the sauce is thickish, if not reduce a bit further.
At this point add the fresh Tomatoes and Coriander. Cook for a further 5 minutes and serve.

Regards

Ray

Madhur Jaffrey Naans,

I have made this recipe for years and find it makes good quality fluffy Naan's in an oven.

They are better if you use a bread maker to knead the dough first, they seem to have more air in them and become much lighter.
The other secret to a good Naan is to pre-heat the oven to full whack so it is practically throbbing! :

75 mls warm Milk
1 tsp Castor Sugar
1 tsp Dried Yeast

Add yeast and castor sugar to the warm milk and set aside for a while to become frothy.

Then:-

225 gms Plain flour, sifted
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Veg Oil
75 mls Plain Yoghurt
1 lge Egg, Beaten

Sift flour together with Baking Powder and Salt.

Whilst stirring add frothy Yeast Mixture, Yoghurt, Veg Oil and Egg, mix well into a ball.

Knead by hand for ten minutes or use your bread maker to do it for you.
It should be pliable but not sticky.
Leave covered in a large bowl in a warm place until it doubles in size.

Heat oven on full for at least 20 mins and place a lightly oiled baking tray on the top shelf to get hot.

Divide the dough into 3 and roll out to about 10" x 5" each.

Slap them one at a time onto the hot baking sheet and cook for approximately 3 minutes or until they puff up and the top starts to go slightly brown.

If you like, brush one side with melted ghee and serve.

Garlic Naan can be made by infusing a large crushed clove of garlic into the veg oil before it is mixed into the flourand also adding a crushed clove into the melted ghee before brushing on.
Similarly a Peshwari Naan can be made with a handful of flaked almonds and a handful of Dessicated Coconut added to the flour first. In fact any flavour/combo you fancy can be simply added to the mix at the start for quite an effective flavour change.


Ray

Hi all,

The standard onions in the local asian shops round here are the red net bag variety and are plentiful and cheap as chips. The locals buy them by the sackful, more for the price than their properties.
They do also sell spanish onions which are a lot bigger, you can only pick up one at a time. :
It is obvious by whats on display the red net bag type are the popular ones.
It is interesting that the Natco Base recipe uses red onions which seems a little odd.

I have never used any other alternative to the standard onion and assume this is what you get in a shop if no other variety is offered as an option.

Ray

Forgot to say, use the up, down, left, right keys on your keyboard to move him around!

Ray

Hi all,

Couldn't resist this. Nothing to do with Curry but a laugh just the same!
Get Santa drunk but mind he doesn't step on the electric railway line!

It's one for the kids............................big kids too!!

http://www.banditos.info/speles/sobersanta2.swf

Ray

Hi All,

I have used a Tava for years and it's made of cast iron.

I haven't made Naan's on it but for Chappatti's it is superb. Heat it dry on very high , slap on the Chappatti and it cooks on one side in about a minute. I then part cook the other side then plonk it on an open gas flame for a few seconds. It puffs up straight away and makes the texture lighter. You use an open mesh round spautula to hold it on the flame.
Tava's are quite good for frying eggs on too!

I have a good Naan recipe from a Madhur Jaffrey book which I have used a lot. It produces nice fluffy bread in an ordinary oven. I will dig it out and post it.
Ray

Hi Darth,

Now that sounds like a good idea. A direct comparison of two identical dishes with only one change should prove the point I think.

I also believe if we make a few in-roads with the professionals so to speak and get a real restaurant chef on board it could help us along no end.

At the moment the Kushi Restaurant folk seem to be willing to share their knowledge and are grateful for the comments and feedback to their new book. I sent them a photo and some positive comments which I felt they deserved and it has given us a bit more insight into the mysteries of the BIR.
With luck and a bit more effort we can learn even more!

Keep us posted with your trial's.

Ray

Maybe it needs a smack with a hammer, sometimes works for me!

Ray

Hi Payal,

Nice to hear you had some success with your first attempt at a CTM.

As you have just made a base and final dish from this video would you say it has been a useful experience as many newcomers to this site might be interested in your comments?
I personnally found it a good starter for me as it shows you the whole process which you can replicate and can actually "see" what the result should look like.

The addition of the Mint Sauce I think is essential to it so don't miss that out if you can. The pre-prepared Chicken also has Mint mixed in the marinade so will also add to the taste although I appreciate you don't eat much meat yourself.

Try the addition of some block Coconut as well, it gives it a nice lift.
I noted you added Fenugreek and might try this myself, but I do find it quite powerful so caution is needed here!

This re-used oil seems to be coming up again and again and I think definately takes the finished result up to a different level.

Ray

Hi Pete,

So, perhaps what we now have is essentially THREE styles of cooking. BIR, Balti and Homestyle, each with it's own methods, ingredients and techniques. this might even be sub-divided into regional depending on where they originated from...........gets complicated doesn't it!

I know of many Asian's who love BIR curries and have their favourite eateries around town yet at home cook very simple dishes and almost soley use Basaar Mix ( which I had never heard of until recently! ) for the spicing. Plain, simple and quick but everything tastes about the same.The food is good but miles apart from the BIR taste we love.

One Asian family I know who live in Lancashire regularly drive 30 miles up the M62 to get a take-away from a Bradford Restaurant as they think it is the "best for mile's"!
I have been there myself and it is very good but not the best to me!
However, I do think as a rough guide where you see Asian's eating the food can usually be recommended and is a good sign to us as a place to try.

For instance Akhbar's on Leeds Road in Bradford is literally queued out at the weekend's many being Asian families out for their tea. Every seat is occupied all night long until 3.00 a.m. and it seats 120 or so.

Ray