Looks a very simple recipe. I love a lamb curry.  Picked up some ground lamb this week to make keema pilau and maybe some nice kebabs.

Robbo

This year has been a good one for growing here in the Chicago suburbs.  Tons of fresh veg and herbs in our raised bed planters.  As for chillies, we have a bumper crop of habaneros, Thai, Serrano, jalapeños and shishitos.  Two species of jalapeños, regular and enormous.



Some of the habaneros were 25g.  Way too much for me.



So into the dehydrator. (Yes I chose to run that in the garage for safety)



And now have a good amount of pure evil habanero chilli powder that smells wonderful and threateningly ominous at the same time.

Robbo

Experiment part 2.  I saved a good amount for my elevenses in the morning. I'm sure it will improve overnight.


Robbo

Tonight's dinner was a wing-it curry using Mickdabass' balti base. A little experimental.
To a cold pan, (yes all the ingredients in the pan before heating) add;
1 chef spoon veg oil
75g chopped onion
1 TBSP ginger garlic paste
1 tsp green chilli paste (bought this with no idea what it was)
5 Thai chillies





Put on the heat and fry till onions are translucent.
Add spices:
Pinch kasuri methi, rubbed
1 tsp extra hot chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder

Fry 30 secs to bloom spices then add 1 TBSP tomato purée mixed with 3 TBSP water.
Fry 1 minute then add raw chicken.
Stir to coat.
Fry a minute or so then the usual ladle / reduce / ladle reduce etc with base gravy until you get the desired consistency.

One thing to note. When I made the base, I didn't dilute it with water at all, so it's fairly thick. Didn't matter. Also, I didn't warm the base up, just ladled in from the container. The pan was good and hot and really I could discern any difference from the times I've ladled in from a pan of warmed base in the past.

Very good curry. Very BIR.  Thank you Mick.
Enjoyed in front of a timely re-run of Fistful Of Dollars.  Thank you Sergio & Clint.

Robbo

Agreed Livo. And now we need a few more folks to step up to the pan and give Mick's recipe a bash.  This weekend I will be using it as a base to try my beloved vindaloo and will report back with pics.

Robbo

I would also recommend more people try Mick's recipe and give some feedback. Balti or not, the results for me so far have been great curries and that's what we're here for, right?
On a NEC related note, I also used to go there for exhibitions when I lived in the UK. I used to stay in a little hotel in Sutton Coldfield. There was an Indian restaurant just around the corner.
Still there too!  Funny how you remember some things.  Must be 25 years since I visited that restaurant.

https://www.bashundora.com/

I remember fondly picking up a bottle of red from a nearby offy, a nice vindaloo and keema pilau and just relaxing in my hotel room alone, watching Newcastle United get trounced in some match.
Happy days.

Robbo

I remember looking up cassia v cinnamon and I thought I understood it once but now I'm not so sure. Either way, that base of mick's is very good and I'll certainly be repeating it.  I'm definitely going to try with much less of that ingredient though, it just seems overkill, putting all that into 1 pint of stock. But it passed the taste test for me, hands down.

Robbo

Well, it took a little longer than I planned but yesterday I got around to trying this.
That HUGE amount of cassia required wiped out my stock but I did weight it up.  And to my total surprise, it didn't overpower the finished curry at all.  But next time I'm going to try with a more typical couple of sticks and see if there's a difference.



Rather than the boil for an hour method, I went with my trusted Instant Pot pressure cook for 45 mins.  I had no red pepper and just one carrot that I didn't bother weighing. Other than that, followed the recipe exactly.  I added 1 tsp regular chilli powder listed as optional.
I cooked one dish first, for me to try and the resulting curry was good.  Got the approval of Mrs Robbo, so that was her dinner.  It needed more heat for me though, so the 2nd dish got a fresh habanero I'd just picked from the garden. No other spices added.



I served with naan and rice (I know, I know) and it was delicious.  Last night, I gave it a solid 8/10, but this morning, on the key "reheat for breakfast" it was up to a more solid 9/10. Definitely improved overnight, or maybe it's that thing about sensory overload while you're cooking then eating.  Either way, a great start to my Sunday.

Thanks Mick. Really looking forward to turning this base into a vindaloo.

Robbo

We grow a lot of bayzil in our yard and it's delicious with a nice blue Roquefort (that my missis insists on pronouncing "ROKE-FORT". I love that woman but it's a struggle sometimes...
On our visit to the excellent Pete's Fresh Market today we picked up a couple of lamb chops that I will marinate for tandoori this week, some ground lamb for keema pilau, kebabs and maybe keema matar plus some nice looking aged basmati and enough onions to make some base.
I hear you on the less splatter Livo, but I do all my BIR outdoors on the grill side burner - in the summer at least.  Maybe this fall (sorry, AUTUMN) I'll get round to making that back yard tandoor I've been promising myself.  Looking forward to posting pics soon.

Robbo

Man, it hurts my heart to read of a poor curry experience. I look forward to a curry so much, especially with the lack of availability of BIR here in the US, that the experience of a bad dish is exponentially multiplied in my mind.  Off to buy a big sack of aged basmati and some fresh onions. Been too long since I made base. Been relying too much on Instant Pot but how's the time to get my ALOOMINUM pan out.

Robbo