Quote from: Graeme on March 20, 2013, 11:11 PMThank you for this post it makes sense to me !

Indeed.

I think this is someone honing his WUM skills.

He's doing a very good job.

Quite how anyone can take this clown seriously is quite beyond my comprehension.

Now give detailed instructions on how you make your spiced oil Chris, otherwise how can anyone on this forum take you seriously when you start threads like this and don't follow through?

Unless you are in fact a WUM?

Over to you...

Quote from: Axe on March 20, 2013, 09:03 PMDidn't they just, even spicey's peculiar green tikka looked once cooked in the tandoor!

Go on Malc, get stuck into one, you know you want to! You may even be pleasantly surprised!

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on March 20, 2013, 01:13 PM...know it will come accompanied by a bland, boring vegetable curry, and (b) that I have absolutely no intentions of eating any part of the latter no matter how hungry I may be ?

Whenever I order a byriani, I always ask if they would swop the yucky vegetable curry for an aloo methi which is one of my favourite vegetable dishes and I've never had anyone say no so far. If they know the dish and know how to cook it (which most decent BIR's should) they swop it.

If you don't ask, you don't get

Quote from: StoneCut on March 20, 2013, 12:42 PM
One problem could be frying saffron or using too much of it. If you actually fry saffron and/or use too much of it, it will make a dish bitter.

Yes, I agree. Mine usually gets sprinkled on the rice before the salt and water go in.

I cook my pilau rice in a big old Le Creuset cast iron pan with an enameled inside coating, I don't know if that makes any difference but I've never noticed any nasty smells frying off the spices.

And I agree with what you say regards whole spices, at the end of the day we tend to settle on what flavours we like best and tweak the quantities accordingly. That's the beauty of home cooking, you can do that.

With regards to saffron, I cheat a little and use a small pinch of what is essentially a pre-made Spanish Paella seasoning mix the primary ingredients of which are ground saffron, ground cloves, salt and paprika. I do have the whole saffron as well, but I find the ground powder easier and more convenient to use and find it colours nicely and adds a nice aroma. I prefer that to turmeric.

You can add saffron at the start of cooking in ground from as I generally do which colours everything pale yellow or you can soak whole strands in warm milk for 10 mins or so and sprinkle it in at the end of cooking before resting for a more mottled, random colouring, so you get white and yellow rice.

BIR's won't generally use saffron due to the expense of it and will use turmeric instead, but I find it adds lovely flavour and aroma to pilau rice.

I agree also on biting into whole spices, which is why I tend to sift out all the whole spices and decant everything into a container to keep in the fridge.

I also add 3 or 4 whole black peppercorns sometimes too.

But at the end of the day, as I said, we tend to adopt and use recipes and techniques we are happy with, suit our taste and produce the right flavours and results. Quite often there isn't any one right way of doing something, only the way that works best for you.

Quote from: Gav Iscon on March 20, 2013, 11:22 AMAnd is thigh not part of the leg along with the drumstick?

It is, but in terms of colour it's kind of beige! A half way house between the dark of leg and the white of breast, but as I said, if it aint breast it's dark!

Personally I prefer thigh to breast, specially if it's on the bone as I find breast can be too dry sometimes.

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on March 20, 2013, 11:03 AMDo people really use "dark meat" rather than "leg", "thigh" or whatever ?

Hmm...I see a definition coming of what dark meat is.

I've always considered anything that isn't breast, to be dark meat, although technically you could argue that thigh isn't. Leg is definitely dark meat. But that's essentially my definition, if it isn't breast it's dark.

Interesting, it's very close to what I do except the cooking sequence and quantity of ingredients is slightly different. I use more cloves and cardamons and no cumin. 300g of rice to 400ml of water.

I rinse and soak my rice first, fry the whole spices in the butter ghee for a couple of minutes, add the drained rice and stir fry for a couple of minutes coating the grains in the ghee, add some whole or powdered saffron or turmeric, salt, boiled water, bring to the boil and turn to the lowest heat with a cover on for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and rest for 15 minutes.

Fluff and serve.

Quote from: goncalo on March 20, 2013, 10:20 AMI wonder if kashmiri chillies are smokeable?

I would think so yes, but I'd question why you'd want to. Just get some smoked paprika, it will do essentially the same thing.

Chipotle is basically just smoked dried jalapeno's.

I find cassia has a slightly more earthy flavour to it and cinnamon a much sweeter more fragrant flavour.

I don't use cinnamon in any BIR Cookery it's too sweet and overpowering, I only only cassia bark.

You also need to be careful when using cassia bark and Indian tej pata bay leaves together as the Indian bay leaf (which is the leaf of the cinnamon/cassia related tree) has a cassia flavour to it which European laurel bay leaves don't have.