Quote from: loveitspicy on January 10, 2013, 11:53 AM

Quote from: getonthegarabi on January 10, 2013, 11:31 AM

Quote from: gagomes on January 10, 2013, 01:27 AM
Would anyone have a review on the quality of the pans/chef spoon/tawa that julian/curry2go store is selling?

Do you have a gas or halogen hob gagomes?  I can't remember. The reason I ask is I have managed to bend the bases of 2 good quality (I think) aluminium pans on my halogen.  They now wobble about on the hob surface, and are effectively useless (hot spots etc.).  A new stainless pan I got recently seems up to the job, so far.

Rob 

Rob get a rubber hammer and give the pan base a smack - it will go back level again and will cook just fine. Ours have bowed at the bottom as well due to high heat and lots of use -it will sort it just fine

best, Rich

the c2go one i bought was slightly bowed when i bought it, never thought of beating it back into shape, thanks for the tip 

Quote from: stevejet66 on January 04, 2013, 09:59 AM
After watching the video as ive watched a few times julian tells you only what he wants you to know, One example was when he was adding the spices to the base mixture he say's there are 18 different spices, he names a few then says every chef has his own secret, well if he's going to tell everyone the true secret why not name the rest of the spice's!

From my reading of the c2go book, as with the UC book, it reads to me as 18 different ingredients, which include the water, the onions, the carrots etc as well as the half-dozen or so different spices.

I'm sure I recall this from before on here but had it confirmed from the owner of a local long-established BIR - to quote "there's no secret but the key is the gravy, if your gravy is not good then your curries will not be either"

thanks, not feeling awkward at all, just putting a recipe out there that suits my particular tastebuds and possibly someone elses?  With the risk of eliciting hostile response the phrase (moderated filth) or, to be more polite, "naval-gazing" springs immediately to mind... fwiw i think some folks are reading too much into this cooking malarky with talk of spoon volumetric capacity and such like... but all discussion is healthy and thought provoking, so feel free to carry on as you were

personally when I say heaped teaspoon I mean slightly more than a teaspoon (5ml) but not as much as a dessertspoon (10ml) - it's not that precise as i don't weigh the ingredients out or level the spoons, if you want to say rounded teaspoon feel free - i'm just using a basic set of measuring spoons (1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, 1 dsp, 1 tbsp).  I don't think it has to be that precise, as alluded to above, your heaped/rounded spoons by eye may be different to mine.  As long as the ratio is the same I can't see it being that critical to the overall result, at least in this recipe.

The two times I've made banjarra onion paste (following different recipes from the UC book and the CBM book) they've both come out the same after blending - a bright orange very smooth liquid which looks like angel delight, tastes of onions and is very oily.  I froze this in tablespoon portions in a series of ice cube trays.  As it's just blended caramelised onions with oil I find this is interchangeable with a fresh diced onion fried until soft and translucent.  Following some rave reviews of banjarra on here I'm either doing it completely wrong or it's just not got the wow factor I was anticipating.  I won't bother again with it, for my recipe above stick to the fresh onion to give a closer result to what I made if that helps.

Some possible amendments:

I've never been too convinced about the banjarra onion paste but just using it up since there's so many ice cube trays full of the damn stuff in my freezer and i didn't have any fresh onions to hand.

I'm going to try leaving out the pataks balti paste next time to see if it makes any difference to the final dish, the only paste I use on a regular basis is the kashmiri masala by rajah for my pilau rice.

Following my ranting about mr naga chilli pickle i'm just using it up (to my taste it works better as an accompaniment to pakoras etc when mixed with lidls "tamango" sauce with a dash of lemon juice rather than in curries)

I think the star anise and (suprisingly) the jaggery gives it that real aniseed/licqourice type taste I was after so they're definately keepers.

The ifindforu mix powder i refer to is just his ratios of turmeric/curry powder/cumin/paprika/coriander/chilli powder/garam masala and not his specific mix powder with the jalpur gm.

Hi George, sorry should have stated that they're all heaped, apart from the oil as you rightly point out

Quote from: RubyDoo on December 30, 2012, 09:35 PM
Are you adding all the 650 ml of base? If so would I be right in assuming this is a 2 x portion recipe? Sounds nice.

yes, sorry I should have made that clearer - this is for one portion of curry using half a 650ml tub of base.  The rest of the ingredients are in the quantities listed.

To start with take...


• 4x cherry tomatoes
• 1x tbsp tomato puree
• 2x tsp garlic & ginger puree
• 2x tbsp banjarra onion paste (or 1x small finely diced onion)
• 0.5x tsp methi leaves

Add a 30ml chefs spoon (or 2x tablespoons) worth of "seasoned" oil to a pan, and fry all of the above ingredients for a minute or two under a medium-high heat (number 6 on my halogen hob - maximum is 9).  I prepare my tomato and garlic/ginger puree ahead of time and freeze it in ice cube trays, by the time these ice cubes have melted I continue with the next stage.

Then, I add the following:

• 1x tbsp "ifindforu" mix powder (but using unbranded garam masala from the spiceworks on ebay, and rajah hot madras curry powder
• 2x ground-up star anise
• 1x tbsp hot chilli powder
• 0.25x tsp smoked paprika

Mix all these together in the pan to make a thick paste and continue to fry for a minute or so, adding a little bit of base gravy to stop the mixture sticking too much to the bottom of the aluminium pan.  Then, add the following:

• 1x tbsp jaggery goor
• 1x tsp mr naga chilli pickle
• 1x tsp mango chutney
• 1x tsp pataks balti paste

Add the pre-cooked meat or vegetables (beef in my case), and the rest of the base gravy (I freeze my base in 650ml tubs, using the c2go bangladeshi base for this - you may not need the star anise or jaggery in this recipe if you're using a base which already includes those two ingredients such as the c2go indian base)

I then let it fry (still under the same heat) until it reduces and thickens, small crater like holes appearing all over the gravy.  Then it's off with the heat, leave for a minute while organising other items like naan and pakora, then serve.

It should taste quite sweet, with a strong hint of licqourice and a nice warming glow as an aftertaste.

Best I've made so far anyway, very pleased

 

writ large and in red.... 'tis the season of goodwill  :

fwiw i haven't seen any readily available alternatives to gram flour (the local tesco have really cut back on their range and seem to only stock the small bags of their own brand now - quite a bit dearer), but there may be some mileage in these alternatives:

http://www.foodsubs.com/Flournw.html

chickpea flour = besan (flour) = gram flour = cici flour = chana flour = garbanzo bean flour   Shopping hints:   Look for this in Indian markets or health food stores.  To make your own:  Lightly roast dried garbanzo beans, then grind them in a blender until mixture has the consistency of flour. Substitutes:  lightly roast dried yellow split peas, then grind them in a blender until mixture has the consistency of flour OR all-purpose flour (different flavor and consistency)