Quote from: Salvador Dhali on December 04, 2012, 09:28 AM

Quote from: getonthegarabi on December 03, 2012, 09:26 PM
OMG!  Lamb Saag this weekend for sure.  Had a go several times in the past.  Fresh spinach or frozen block.  Just chucked it in the pan; never worked out.  This is totally new info for me.  Ali is the man!

Rob 

Rob, if you're into your saag do have a good read of this thread: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7892.0 

I'm not mentioning it because I started it, but because of the subsequent development work from other forum contributors. For instance, although the Viceroy prepares their saag with no spicing (fine for adding to other dishes, such as saag aloo, lamb saag, etc), if you're wanting a saag bhaji as a standalone side dish, then it really does benefit from the addition of some subtle spices. Even just a touch of turmeric gives it a lovely lift into BIR heaven, but as CH and others have found, a little mix powder takes it a stage further.

Thanks Salvador.  Great reading.  I havent had proper saag in years.  It seems to have disappeared from many TA menus here, and where available served as a watery gloop.  I will be squeezing my defrosted blocks like a good un later on today. Also slicing lots of garlic in readiness for UBs naan recipe.

Rob 

OMG!  Lamb Saag this weekend for sure.  Had a go several times in the past.  Fresh spinach or frozen block.  Just chucked it in the pan; never worked out.  This is totally new info for me.  Ali is the man!

Rob 

Good advice on the ingredients. I am relatively new myself.  Best advice I can offer is to invest in Mick Crawfords book.  Info on everything needed to get you started, including the essential spices, a quality base gravy, mix powders, starter recipes, main courses, rice, tips, videos, the lot.  No clutter or waffle.  Go from there.

http://www.indiancurryrecipes-cbm.com/

Rob 

Saturday nights dinner consisted of a kushi kebab followed by c2go chicken tikka vindaloo.

kushi kebab



Recipe followed pretty much to spec including shah jerra.  Added 3 finely chopped green chillies as fairly certain they were in the restaurant version I had recently.  Easy to make and draining off the excess oil/water as suggested in the recipe resulted in a nice moist kebab, without being at all greasy.  Four kebabs from the best part of half a kilo of lamb mince, so one was quite a meat feast for a starter (for me anyway).  To serve, I transferred the kebab/lemon wedge to a white porcelain plate, and added a little of my own yogurt mint dip, also shown in the pic.  The crystal clear pickle pot is one I saved from the kushi, for that added touch of TA authenticity, and sophistication.  The kebab did, however, look a tad lonely by itself.  You get two slightly flatter ones at the restaurant. The taste?  Oh my goodness!  Absolutely out of this world; incredible flavours and just the right amount of heat. The only obvious difference from the restaurant version was the texture.  The restaurant meat was much more finely minced than mine.  Not to a smooth paste, but a lot finer than I achieved mixing the ingredients by hand.  Also, the coriander seeds (and quite possible the other whole spices) in the restaurant kebabs had been cracked, or ground, resulting in a more blended and delicate spiciness throughout the food.  Mine was delicious though.  No doubt about it. Well happy with my first attempt.  I bet the kushi baltis wont be as straightforward to reproduce though!

chicken tikka vindaloo.



This sauce for this dish was basically c2go bangladeshi base with g/g and tomato paste. Added 6 tsps of a c2go curry spice kit (vindaloo), a bit of fresh coriander, and fresh lime juice.  Blades tikka.  Taste was pretty good.  Better then some of my earlier attempts at creating a vinders from scratch, and vastly superior to the few supermarket spice kits I have tried.  Quite fiery as well.  I added a tbsp of chalice chilli oil to finish, for a little extra kick, and a splash of colour. Served with 2 sounas ready made methi rotis.  Curry in a hurry!  Washed down with a 330 ml bottle of ice cold Cobra.

Rob 

Quote from: jalfreziT on November 30, 2012, 06:23 PM
Sorry if I was unclear....

Quote from: jalfreziT on November 30, 2012, 03:21 PMbut all you have in the cupboard is a jar of curry sauce.

..meant I had run out of base sauce...

In my experience Sharwoods jars are pretty much beyond repair.  Other than adding 2 tbsp of Mr. Naga pickle, divine intervention would be needed to make a decent curry with them. If I am out of base, I usually make my version of a home style on-the-bone Pakistani curry, with lots of whole spices.  Really easy to make.  Basically a few chopped onions, g/g paste, mix power, a can of tomatoes, whole spices, some veg, and away you go. Made some really good curry this way, often better than my efforts with base gravy.

Rob 

Quote from: shockuk on November 30, 2012, 02:09 PM
Hello Guys,

I'm wondering if anyone has every baked a samosa instead of deep fat frying them? Thought I would see if anyone has had any good or bad... results doing so?

Also if anyone has a guide, IE 20 minutes on 200c?

Thanks

I have tried brushing a little oil/butter on ready made frozen samosas and baking them.  Results have not been good as the pastry seems to cook unevenly and also goes rock hard.  However, I believe samosas made with filo pastry are spot on for oven baking.  You can also butter and sprinkle with seeds, for example, cumin, poppy or sesame, if you wish.  There are a couple of recipes in Reza Mahammads latest book; he suggests 10-12 mins at 200 degrees C. But this is for crab or beetroot samosas.  Not sure about other fillings.

Rob     

Aye. It was grim.  I should have known better really.  After ordering I also noticed an apron hung up in the corner that was absolutely filthy.  Havent watched all of Madur Jaffreys Curry Nation series yet, but expect these lot wont be on it.

Rob 

Whilst visiting Leicester last weekend I also had my first McIndians.  They have a large restaurant/cafe in the heart of the city center, but I thought to try one of their prestigious (and rather quaint) mobile outlets.



It was nice to to see the chef at work behind the service hatch, and he was able to give me details of their menu.  Piri-piri chicken was recommended.  I gathered the dish consisted of, chicken strip.  There were also some unspecified lamb and chicken curries available. It was lunchtime and I was feeling peckish so decided to have a starter. I settled on a portion of meat samosas (3).  Chef proudly hoisted up a bag of 50 of the delicacies in frozen form.  Not a brand I recognized.  Excellent, I thought, local produce!  It wasn?t long before my deep fried savories were ready.  The presentation was simple, on a small white polystyrene tray, the type used for chips.  No side salad, so I requested some chilli sauce, and was handed a rather worn (red) chefs sauce bottle.  I gave the samosas several good splurts, but unfortunately (due to the large hole burned in the bottom of my tray) much of the sauce ended up on the floor, narrowly missing my shoes.  Undeterred, I tucked in to this classic Indian dish.  Nice and crispy and I was pleased to note that only one of my samosas was still completely frozen in the middle.  Three was too much for me to be honest, so I carefully deposited the leftovers in the rubbish bin provided, and returned to my daily activities, wondering what the next few hours might bring.

The cost of my meal was one pound and fifty pence.

Rob                 

Not made the South Indian Garlic dish yet Chris.  Major king prawn issues last night.  I thought to pre-cook them after a short marinade and then have a go at the SIG.  Had some pasco marinade (comes in a small sachet, quite pricey).  Result tasted absolutely terrible and the prawns went straight in the bin.   Prepping some blades tikka and pre-cooked chicken tonight, so will be back on track.

Rob   

Quote from: Unclefrank on November 28, 2012, 12:34 PM
Getonthegarabi i have PM'd you, check your messages at the top right of the page.

Received. Many thanks.

Rob