Hi Jerry,

Nice to meet you too.  I have never tried either of the two you first mentioned.  Think I must try the Lakila sometime ... How is it connected to the Hilal?  If their Chicken Madras is anything like the ?hilal's  I will be very happy.  It's a shame hilal stockton Heath closed.. The only one left is in Timperley, but at least my girlfriend lives there.

Feel a little guilty about using TAs considering I can cook my own.  Haven't had one for a long time. 

Are you an experienced BIR cook?  I've been doing it for just under a year.

Richard

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on July 26, 2013, 10:27 PM
Newly cooked Bhuna or "second day" Bhuna? I love second day curries.

They just work don't they.  I wish I knew the science behind that.

Hi all,

Thought I'd start a thread for those in or near the North West area.  I've had food from a lot of different BIR places here over the years (shame the Hilal here has closed down).

Although I've not bought a curry here for a year (since cooking own), let's discuss various ones.

From memory I've been to...

Tayef Balti (Warrington) TA
British Raj (Warrington) TA
Jihan Restaurant (Walton)
Jihan TA (Grapenhall)
Bilash TA (Latchford)
Hilal Restaurant (Stockton Heath - now closed)
The Cottage Restaurant (Warrington)

Mixed results, and differing experiences based on which dish / staff etc

Would be very interested to hear opinions on these or any others around.

Interesting talk about the Hilal.  My love for curry started with takeaways from the Hilal (Timperley) from a very early age.

I have to say the most incredible dish they do is the Chicken Madras.  If you try it you won't be disappointed IMO.

I moved to the South Warrington area 20 years ago, where there is another Hilal (exact same menu/recipes).
There was a third one near Wilmslow but I never went to that. 
Sadly the Stockton Heath one closed a couple of years ago, now it is another Indian called Indish (not tried yet).

I'll start another thread to talk about Warrington TA/Restaurants.

Richard

Useful info.

When I make double portions in my 26" aluminium frying pan, there's a lot of spluttering and spillage.

So, my question is...can you get away with using an aluminium pressure cooker (obviously without lid) for 2 or more portions?

Cooking technique different ? Perhaps add the base gravy in more, but smaller quantities to allow the base/spice mix roasting etc ??

What is the maximum number of curries portions made in one go using this method, without having to resort to a slow cook method?

TIA,

Richard

Hi 976bar,

Wow, what a challenge.  What type of cookware is that you are using to make the base gravy ?

Despite being round, those containers look the business. Ideal ml size.  Haven't seen them in my local Asda will shop around.

Small TA foil containers are ok, but difficult to stack in the freezer as you can imagine.

Hello Naga,

That looks great.. A nice dry one with boiled rice... Must make some...

Do you have a recipe?

Richard

Munchiez... good idea about the kitchen paper to keep the bags separate.  I presume the shoe box is a normal cardboard one ?

Quote from: chewytikka on July 24, 2013, 08:27 PM
Crikey "Gordon Ramsey" - Curry _ Carton _ In  ;D

Any Poundland, Aka.Pound Shop sell a good selection of Micro curry cartons.

I must admit I can rarely be bothered to wash and reuse them, but they do
wash up easy with a bit Deepio.

cheers Chewy

Cheers Chewy, I have many of the ones you speak of, but for the 300ml portion size I'm freezing there is extra space wasted. I think this is a dilemma that can only be solved by using the (approx) 300ml lock'n'lock type containers, or for somebody to start making disposable cheap 300ml (approx) takeaway containers, or indeed someone invents a completely new solution to this problem. 

All said, it's not exactly the end of the world whatever happens.. so what if a freezer bag leaks, or slightly less freezer space available.... unless one wants to store half a sheep in the freezer  (or freezers) leaving minimal room for base gravy.