Quote from: Mikka on October 11, 2009, 05:07 PM
I was told by someone that its easy to precook Lamb for instance in a pressure cooker. Fact is I'm scared of blowing the house/kitchen up with it.  :

You can use a pressure cooker for loads of different types of foods.

When you purchase a pressure cooker you normally get a small recipe book with it, but I also purchased a book for about ?5 on-line, it has loads of recipes in it.

 
They also reckon that the foods are better for you as they hold in more of the nutrients, etc, I don't know how true that is, but they definitely save loads of time on cooking and the food tastes just as good as conventional cooking.

 
There are loads of horror stories about exploding pressure cookers but I think they are from many years ago when they weren't made to the same high quality as they are these days

I have found a very good alternative to a wok burner.
To make some curries you need to get a good high flame all around the wok and this is hard to achieve when using a conventional gas hob.


The Spanish use them to make their paellas, but I have found it is great for wok cooking.
There is a link to one here http://www.eatpaella.co.uk/350mm-gas-burner-12-p.asp

If you are considering purchasing one of these I would recommend trying them out first to ensure that your wok fits correctly as there are many different variations out there and some of them don't support a wok very well.

The one that I use has two rings which can be separately controlled so the heat can be turned up really high when you need it.


They are supposed to be used for outdoor use, but a friend of mine has set his up in the kitchen. If you do use one indoors I would recommend placing them on a fire resistant surface as they do through a lot of heat out from below.

Hi gajman
I have been using a pressure cooker to make my base sauce for the last few years and the results are perfect.

I would highly recommend a pressure cooker as part of any curry kitchen

Here are the instructions for making a base sauce using a pressure cooker.
1. Heat oil in pressure cooker.
2. Add garlic and fry until creamy white.
3. Add ginger and fry for 30 seconds (keep stirring so that the garlic doesn't burn)
4. Add chopped onions and stir until onions are coated in oil.
5. Fry for about 5 minutes until onions change colour and start to caramelize.
(You don't need to add any water to the onions)
6. Place lid on pressure cooker and cook on high heat for about 5 minutes.
7. Lower heat and cook for around 30 minutes.
8. Turn off the heat and release pressure.
9. Once the onion mixture has cooled blend with tomatoes.
10. Quick fry the spices that you use for your base sauce for about 1 minute.
11. Add the blended onion mixture
12. Add salt.
13. Cook on a low heat for around 20 minutes.

Note: Depending on the water content of the onions there may be too much water left when the onions have finished cooking. Drain any excess onion/water liquid off before blending and add a little bit at a time to get the curry sauce to the correct consistency.

Quote from: emin-j on October 10, 2009, 11:51 AM
I am very happy with my Curries ( sNs base & Madras recipe ) easily as good if not better than the few T/A's we use so no intention on using old oil but good luck to the ones who feel this is ' The Way ' 

My curries turn out perfect every time, exactly like a takeaway curry and I would never consider using old oil. For health reasons it is very bad for you. I think that some people may have seen chefs using it in takeaway's because it is easy to use, rather than having seperate containers for keeping the oil in, they can just skim some of the top of the fryer each time and then top that up each day.

Not all curries that you can get from takeaways are healthy for you and they are not all made with the exact same ingredients. You can go in to two different takeaway's a couple of doors away from each other and order the same meal and they won't both taste exactly the same but they both may taste fantastic.

Once you have mastered how to make BIR curries you are going to be eating them for many years to come, so you may as well try to make them as healthy as you can and then you can eat them for a few years more.

Hi JerryM
All of the expats that have tasted my curries have said that they are as good if not better as a UK curry. I struggled at first to get hold of the right ingredients and had to get them shipped from the UK, but I have now managed to find a supplier in Valencia that can get me just about everything I need.

Hi Chris
I have been cooking curries close to you since moving to Spain 4 years ago. Because of the lack of expats in the area that I live in I have not opened a takeaway, we used to rent out the kitchens of a few local bars and run curry nights once a month where we had turnouts of around 60 people. We now supply curries to the locals in the town that we live in (L'Olleria) but we are looking to branch out and supply bars/restaurants in other areas, so that they can run their own curry nights and bring in extra business for them. I have recently created a website to advertise our curries to bar owners http://www.mrcurrylover.com If you know of any bars that would like to run curry nights please let me know and I will contact them or you could let them know about the website.

Hello everyone
My name is Mark (Mr Curry Lover) I have been making curries for as many years as I can remember. Everyone that has tasted my curries has said that curries are as good and most of the time better than most of the restaurant/takeaway curries that they have tasted. I love talking about curry, making curry and anything else related to curry.
Since moving to Spain 4 years ago I have been making curries for the local expats (and some of the Spanish) in the area where I live.