The green raisins (out of date) were 20 p. These are for a walnut paneer sandwich filling. The other things are for biryani. No luck sourcing some nice clay pots yet though. A local shop does them, but everyone they had was badly chipped, really not-fit-for-sale badly chipped. Saw some that would be ideal on Amazon, but just shy of 60 quid, each.

The pistachios were expensive, but will probably work out cheaper in the end. When taking the shells off I just eat then straight away. Can't help it.

Rob

Update with some good news. Shababs will reopen:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3ljw3wjylo

Rob

It's remarkable how the YouTube curry folk come up with such original ideas:

https://youtu.be/IXbiGHNnHrQ?si=MeBTR7A4dOwTXAHu

Just saying.

Rob

Not quite as obvious compared to what I have seen at the TP itself. But the technique is also in use here.

Also nice to see a single portion clay pot biryani again. This time with regular bottled rose water.

https://youtu.be/f19WnlUPp8w?si=cGWo7g_ZKCZr2fQ8

Rob

Not good.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3r0zzjzeno

Thankfully there were no serious injuries.

Rob

Made with Shan brand packet spice. Really good. Tastes just like Laziza. Deep fried after steaming for this one, as it should be. I don't think this step is necessary. Certainly one way of reheating it though.

With lime pickle. The accompanying mint dip is quite obviously a work in progress.



Rob

Quote from: curryhell on June 14, 2025, 02:55 PM
Nice work Rob.  Glad the gadget worked well for you.  Was it better than the paneer you can buy?  I too remember the days of cream at the top of the milk bottle    Been doing a bit of basic traditional indian cooking recently.  It's prompting a  few questions on how the traditional process transposes to BIR practices and the pitfall we sometimes have.  Food for thought 

Yes, I won't be buying supermarket paneer again. I suppose part of this will be the satisfaction of making it from scratch. Although it does seem identical to typical desi sweet/vegetarian places, as I recall, which is presumably also homemade, and really good. Forgot to mention I did add salt when making it. Next will be the paneer sandwiches with a walnut filling. The recipe indicates mixed pickle so will go with this. Am thinking about trying a lime pickle instead at some point.

Tell us more about your transpositions Dave.

Rob

Made some paneer. Lovely stuff. 360g block from 2l milk, a slosh of single cream and fresh lemon juice.  I think next time may add some more cream. The chef in the video recommends that the milk should be at least 5% fat. I had no idea whole milk is only about 3.5 - 3.8 % fat nowadays. I bet this is another idea from the EU. I remember the cream on the top of bottled whole milk from times gone by.

Press gadget worked well. Next time I will use the middle "setting," as under full tension it was starting to squeeze the cheese through the drainage holes.

Put half of the block in the freezer. Toasted the rest to make garlic chilli paneer. Had some with a shami kebab and tandoori chicken bites. Made a nice little starter.













Rob

Quote from: curryhell on June 05, 2025, 07:25 PM
Those pics are making me hungry Rob.  The penetration of that marinade (and colouring) is quite stark.  Often herd and use the adjective "jank", but not the Americanism "janky" 

Love the taste and texture of tandoori done this way Dave. I suppose back then this method (cooking chargha style) was a nifty solution to them not yet having a tandoor oven. You also get a lovely tandoori stock left over. Perfect for adding to the Manchester tandoori masala curry. No waste, no paste. I always wondered how they got it so red.

It's good to see the art of the janky salad has not been lost. Still used in a lot in restaurants. The problem nowadays though is the increased likelihood of a janky curry as well.

Rob

Actually I think the third photo may be tandoori chicken bites, which are grilled. I can't remember. I often make too much marinade for the tandoori chicken and use it for these. More Preema red and, in this case, dark soy.

Paneer planed for this weekend. Wish me luck!

The video mentions paneer sandwiches (triangles) with a walnut filling. Would liked to have seen these being made. Whoever filmed this seemed most interested in what was coming out of the tandoor. Anyway, found a rather interesting recipe for a filling. It's actually part of a curry recipe, which looks nice, but I think the sandwiches themselves might be quite tasty, as a starter dish. I had some paneer sandwiches from a local place fairly recently. They had a really thin green filling. No idea what it was, as it didn't really taste of anything. Wasn't cheap either.

https://californiawalnuts.in/walnut-paneer-pasanda/

Rob