I know Cory Ander lists it as part of his mix powder. I bought some when I tried some of his recipes. I imagine it is a spice that would go stale quite quickly once it has been ground to a powder.
Paul
Paul
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#152
Traditional Indian Recipes / Re: Simple Massur Dhal
June 27, 2012, 08:38 PM
I also bought a packet of Rajah bay leaves and they were unfortunately European bay leaves.
Paul
Paul
#153
Just Joined? Introduce Yourself / Re: Hi from a primary school teacher
June 26, 2012, 08:56 PM
Hi George, my curries usually contain about a quarter of a teaspoon of salt per person which is about 1.5 grams.
You'll find a tin of soup from any supermarket can be upto 2.4 grams!
The other thing is the oil. Recently I've switched from rice bran oil to Filippo Berio Mild & Light Olive oil as sold by Sainsburys for about 5 quid a litre. You really can't taste the olives in this stuff, I'm well impressed and use it for nearly all frying duties. Apart from the salt and oil curry is good for you
Cheers,
Paul
You'll find a tin of soup from any supermarket can be upto 2.4 grams!
The other thing is the oil. Recently I've switched from rice bran oil to Filippo Berio Mild & Light Olive oil as sold by Sainsburys for about 5 quid a litre. You really can't taste the olives in this stuff, I'm well impressed and use it for nearly all frying duties. Apart from the salt and oil curry is good for you
Cheers,
Paul
#154
Trainee Chefs / Beginners Questions / Re: Problems - tomatoes or old spices?
June 26, 2012, 08:50 PM
Hi Warren, I can just imagine 2 tins of tomatoes killing your curry.
Here at cr0 we are mainly trying to cook curries like you get in a British Indian Restaurant (hence the term BIR).
The main ingredient of the sauce is undoubtedly onions, not tomatoes.
I agree with Phil about the beef but I'd buy something like a silverside joint, cut it up and slow cook it like the lamb recipes on this site.
You could do a lot worse than starting with the excellent recipes from Cory Ander. We can post links if you can't find them.
Paul
Here at cr0 we are mainly trying to cook curries like you get in a British Indian Restaurant (hence the term BIR).
The main ingredient of the sauce is undoubtedly onions, not tomatoes.
I agree with Phil about the beef but I'd buy something like a silverside joint, cut it up and slow cook it like the lamb recipes on this site.
You could do a lot worse than starting with the excellent recipes from Cory Ander. We can post links if you can't find them.
Paul
#155
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Seafood curry - Dried Curry Leaves or Fresh Curry Leaves?
June 26, 2012, 11:22 AM
I've never tasted fresh curry leaves but I'm not too impressed with dried ones.
The food we love on this forum is more influenced by north Indian, Bangladesh, Punjab and Pakistan influences.
I associate curry leaves and coconut flavours with south Indian cuisine and it is not to my liking much.
A good example is the Sainsbury's chicken madras which uses curry leaves and coconut and which is nothing like a BIR style madras.
Cheers,
Paul
The food we love on this forum is more influenced by north Indian, Bangladesh, Punjab and Pakistan influences.
I associate curry leaves and coconut flavours with south Indian cuisine and it is not to my liking much.
A good example is the Sainsbury's chicken madras which uses curry leaves and coconut and which is nothing like a BIR style madras.
Cheers,
Paul
#156
Lets Talk Curry / Re: What do we know about oil in BIR's
June 22, 2012, 03:33 PM
One thing I discovered last night: I was cooking my usual korai style curry as I lke some peppers and onions and a few bits of tomato in my curries, usually. I took my normal approach of slowly "sweating" the chopped onions and green peppers in some oil for about 20 minutes.
Then I carefully drained the oil from this pan and used it to start the curry cooking proper. The cooked peppers and onions get added back to the curry later.
As usual I wasn't 100% happy with my curry. It was so BIR in some ways but it had another flavour I couldn't quite identify. Now I believe that the act of sweating the onions and particularly the green peppers imparted a very green peppery flavour into the oil I then used to finish the curry. The flavour is quite strong and just isn't BIR. My wife enjoyed the curry very much but next time I'll discard the oil I use to cook the peppers and onions. So I think I've been accidently producing a spiced oil (or pepper/onion oil) that just doesn't complement the curry as a whole.
Hopefully this will be some progress for me.
Cheers,
Paul
Then I carefully drained the oil from this pan and used it to start the curry cooking proper. The cooked peppers and onions get added back to the curry later.
As usual I wasn't 100% happy with my curry. It was so BIR in some ways but it had another flavour I couldn't quite identify. Now I believe that the act of sweating the onions and particularly the green peppers imparted a very green peppery flavour into the oil I then used to finish the curry. The flavour is quite strong and just isn't BIR. My wife enjoyed the curry very much but next time I'll discard the oil I use to cook the peppers and onions. So I think I've been accidently producing a spiced oil (or pepper/onion oil) that just doesn't complement the curry as a whole.
Hopefully this will be some progress for me.
Cheers,
Paul
#157
Lets Talk Curry / Re: What's best for bulk
June 14, 2012, 10:05 PM
Hi TT, the usual advice is to not cook too much at a time and then transfer to a larger pan.
If it was a chicken curry I would be tempted to just cook the sauce, maybe a double portion maximum as many times as you need to, and only add the meat to the larger pan when you've made all the multiple sauce portions.
I did this for a curry competion at work and made 4 x 500 ml of base portions of sauce. I didn't win the competition but I was pleased with the results.
Cheers,
Paul
If it was a chicken curry I would be tempted to just cook the sauce, maybe a double portion maximum as many times as you need to, and only add the meat to the larger pan when you've made all the multiple sauce portions.
I did this for a curry competion at work and made 4 x 500 ml of base portions of sauce. I didn't win the competition but I was pleased with the results.
Cheers,
Paul
#158
Pictures of Your Curries / Re: Sous vide lamb tikka and chewy base
June 14, 2012, 09:57 PM
Hi Malc,
Personally I wouldn't like to try to use cling film as there are potential risks with some plastic chemicals leaching into the meat. You can use ziplok bags though, without a vacuum sealer.
I'm only really scratching the surface and will be trying more tikka/tandoori dishes using home made marinades rather than the Mr Huda paste I used as a test. Lots of existing sous vide recipes use powdered rather than fresh garlic because apparently fresh garlic can taste really bad after being in a plastic bag at about 60 degrees for a couple of hours. I need to find this out for myself and learn what needs to be adjusted.
Steak for me tonight but not sous vide, I'll just cook it in a pan.
Cheers,
Paul
Personally I wouldn't like to try to use cling film as there are potential risks with some plastic chemicals leaching into the meat. You can use ziplok bags though, without a vacuum sealer.
I'm only really scratching the surface and will be trying more tikka/tandoori dishes using home made marinades rather than the Mr Huda paste I used as a test. Lots of existing sous vide recipes use powdered rather than fresh garlic because apparently fresh garlic can taste really bad after being in a plastic bag at about 60 degrees for a couple of hours. I need to find this out for myself and learn what needs to be adjusted.
Steak for me tonight but not sous vide, I'll just cook it in a pan.
Cheers,
Paul
#159
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Common ingredients
June 13, 2012, 03:08 PM
That's long enough to put anybody off getting started
I think you could cut down on the number of types of coconut product. I've managed fine with coconut milk powder and coconut block.
Also I'm not aware of 3 different types of cardamom in popular use, I just know of the small green and larger brown ones.
If you're going to include nutmeg you might want to add mace to the list although they are probably some of my least favourite spices. You do find them included in more traditional recipes.
I've used dry curry leaves only once and I probably won't bother again.
Cheers,
Paul
I think you could cut down on the number of types of coconut product. I've managed fine with coconut milk powder and coconut block.
Also I'm not aware of 3 different types of cardamom in popular use, I just know of the small green and larger brown ones.
If you're going to include nutmeg you might want to add mace to the list although they are probably some of my least favourite spices. You do find them included in more traditional recipes.
I've used dry curry leaves only once and I probably won't bother again.
Cheers,
Paul
#160
Pictures of Your Curries / Re: Sous Vide chicken tikka
June 12, 2012, 08:04 PMQuote from: michael.t on June 12, 2012, 06:30 PM
This is gonna be my next toy
would you recommend one PP
Hi Michael,
There are basically 2 choices for the equipment. There are 2 ready built water bath ovens: The Sous Vide Supreme and The Sous Vide Demi. The first one holds about 10 litres of water and the second one about 8 litres.
I think John Lewis stock these from about