Hi Phil/Malc
I'll quickly get the new pan knocked into shape ;D
The old one, probably semi retirement only ;D lol

Quote from: madstwatter on April 28, 2011, 05:20 PM
Hi Chewy,

I made a Madras with your 3 Hour base and was very impressed. In fact, it was probably the best I have ever made. I think the sieving of the base, Kashmiri Chilli Powder and cooking on a high temperature with the lid on for the last 30 seconds until the oil separates made the most difference from my previous efforts.

I still think there is a slight taste difference to my favourite BIR but the more I think about it the more I think that the missing taste may be down to the cooking of chicken bones in the base. I'll add some homemade chicken stock to my next batch as I am sure it will give me an indication whether this is worth pursuing.

Many thanks for the recipes, btw do you have a particular precooked chicken method?

Hi Mads
Glad you gave the recipes a try, I think if you keep at it, you should produce better than your favourite BIR.
The thing is about Madras and BIR cooking in general, if you went to ten restaurants in your area and ordered Madras, they would all probably be similar, but no two would be identical, in taste or even Chilli strength. Unlike if you opened a tin of Heinz tomato soup or a can of Coca-Cola, you would be confident to get the same taste every time.
There simply is no "absolute" recipe in BIR cooking.

The curry base is easily flavoured and changed with any kind of stock or flavour enhancer, after all it is only "onion water"
e.g. put a couple of Indian bay leaves and a cinnamon stick in it, on the final boil/simmer, say 20 minutes and those two Indian
flavours will shine through, in the finished sauce.

On precooking Chicken
I prefer Roast Chicken most of the time or Breast baked in foil
just seasoned with salt and pepper

Cheers and have fun

Hi All
I too am a happy man with a new pan! ;D

Walked past a new asian corner shop yesterday, had to check it out, and sure enough
there was an exact replacement for my battered old favourite curry pan.
In my element last night, knocking up a Naga Chingri.

Funny thing about the sticker describing it as a 9" - 23cm!
Didn't realize they took the measurement from the top of the inner rim
I always thought my old pan was a 24cm, just shows to go you!

It cost 14.99 and worth every penny.
cheers chewy ;D

Hi Phil
Just curious to know what the onions are like in Thailand?
My Bangladeshi friends, keep telling me how much better the onions
taste, that they grow in India. Is there a difference in Thailand?
Do you have a full BIR menu, or just a few curry dishes?
cheers

Quote from: Razor on April 23, 2011, 10:07 AM
Hi Chewy,

Loving your work my friend, and as Jal Frezi is my favourite, this is certainly going to get a go.

Very interested in the chilli/coriander paste.  What kind of quantities would you suggest and how long would the paste keep, in the fridge?

Thanks in advance,

Ray

Hi Ray
I've never really measured it, just a handful of green chillies and probably 3 inch of stalks
off the bottom of a bunch or a good handful of chopped coriander, 2 or 3 tbs of veg oil and a pinch of salt,
blitz to form a paste, put in a airtight container it will last at least a week in the fridge.
cheers

Welcome to the forum j0s
Have a look at my Jhal Frezi Video Recipe, might help.
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5699.0
cheers

Axe's is description, is on the money, in my experience!
The sizzler dish, put directly on the hob (High Heat)
raw onions placed on top, Chicken Tikka placed on top of onions
blasted with heat then a couple of squirts of lemon dressing, to get it
sizzling and smoking.
In this restaurant, no additional spices are used with the onion.
Here's a similar example, but for mixed kebab and in this one the big chunky onions and capsicum are deep fried till almost cooked, then arranged on the
sizzler before being blasted.

http://www.southtyneside.com/sizzler/sizzler.html

MMMMMMM! feeling hungry now! ;D

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on April 17, 2011, 06:54 PM

Quote from: chewytikka on April 17, 2011, 06:31 PM
The problem you have is, there are at least 3 kinds of butter chicken sold in British Indian Restaurants.
It depends which Restaurant and what the chef thinks, is "Butter Chicken"
Both Chicken Makhani and Butter Chicken are the same and have similar
ingredients, involving a tomato base, which is derived from a traditional Indian recipe.
Another is Chicken Makoni which is a rich creamy curry and looks like a Korma.
But is not to sweet, has no tomato and is flavoured with Animal Ghee, Double
Cream, Almond powder and a touch of yoghurt.

I hate to cast doubt on this, particularly as I have eaten neither, but from a linguistic point of view I would expect Chicken Makhani and Chicken Makoni to be two variant spellings of the same thing.  If you throw the two search terms into Google, there is exactly one hit, in which the author reports "Jillian was particularly fond of her Chicken Makoni (she was skeptical as to whether or not it was the same as her favorite dish, Chicken Makhani, but it was)."

"Chicken Makhani" throws up lots of hits in isolation (46 400 from the U.K alone), whilst "Chicken Makoni" throws up barely 430 worldwide (415 from the U.K.).  On that basis, I do not think there is a lot of evidence to suggest that there really is a separate dish called "Chicken Makoni", despite Chewy's belief that there is.

** Phil.

For goodness sake, the forum Troll strikes again, you really are an annoying
clueless old fart Phil, your probably the reason new members don't post here,
because your always there with some, rubbish comment and conclusion
you've gleaned from search engines.

Tikka Makhoni has been on some BIR's menus for 30+ years
and is how I described it, a rich butter chicken dish without tomatoes.

So arixjjb, like I said, it may have been this dish you tasted in the restaurant!
Makhoni is usually yellow in colour

Quote from: arixjjb on April 17, 2011, 04:57 PM
I am English not good
I love butter chicken.I've made too many
Here again, I've made by getting the information in the forum
Did in the past made ​​similar tastes.
I wonder
I made a butter chicken was a little too rich for me Or a little too sour
I ate butter chicken in a restaurant is different

I live in South Korea
What about the taste of butter chicken in the UK?

Hi arixjjb
The problem you have is, there are at least 3 kinds of butter chicken sold in British Indian Restaurants.
It depends which Restaurant and what the chef thinks, is "Butter Chicken"
Both Chicken Makhani and Butter Chicken are the same and have similar
ingredients, involving a tomato base, which is derived from a traditional Indian recipe.
Another is Chicken Makhoni which is a rich creamy curry and looks like a Korma.
But is not too sweet, has no tomato and is flavoured with Animal Ghee, Double
Cream, Almond powder and a touch of yoghurt.

Maybe the dish you had in a restaurant was the Makoni version of butter chicken.
Hope this helps

Quote from: solarsplace on April 15, 2011, 12:40 PM
Hi chewytikka

Great videos you make, thank you for taking the effort to do these and share.

I notice you have a shiny new curry pan too - very nice

Just 2 questions if I may please?

1) How do you pre-cook your split red lentils, can you please tell us the method and timing you use?

2) Tarka Dhal is one of my favourites, but I have never recieved one that was / is as runny as yours appears to be in the video. If one likes theirs thicker should one add a little less than 250ml or just reduce further?

Thanks again

Hi Solarsplace
Thanks for the kind words.
The pans the 20cm version. I bought through your recommendation on the "What Pan" thread. Ideal for doing Tarka, Eggs etc...
1. Just wash the lentils and check for stones, cover with water and boil until the water has absorbed, leaving a mushy paste, about 20mins "I guess" as I've never really timed them.

2. Just add more lentils or reduce a bit further, to have it thicker, as you like it
cheers