http://www.pakirecipes.com/recipes/portal.php

That's what they call it. It would be culturally inappropriate for me to comment.
It would get my daughter suspended from year 1 for a start.

But she made great yorkshire puddings today, so tomorrow we make a pakirecipe and have fun with her pc teachers with the show and tell on Monday. Hope to be called off work in the afternoon!!!

That is what the site is called, what am I to do but laugh?

Some nice simple homestyle dishes at this site. The lamb jalfrezi reads and looks great -

http://www.pakirecipes.com/recipes/recipes.php?rid=37

Mike

A couple of observations:

First: I can only assume that ASDA source their chilled / fresh curries locally. Mine I know are made in Bradford (I live in Leeds) and the place they are made could not supply the whole country, simply isn't big enough. The ones available in my local ASDA are a terrific standby if frozen on the day of purchase. Not as good as my home style, better than the majority of BIRs (which are mostly Pakistani, not Bangladeshi as the majority of what the rest of you eat are - the Bangladeshi BIRs in Leeds are particulary average, the Pakistani / Punjabi style goes down better here).

Secondly: the gay spat between Cory Ander and Domi is becoming hilarious. Like an episode of Will and Grace. Just with no grace.

Keep chirping chaps!

Mike

Axe

Your way is my way, 150 oven for longer than you might think. Leaving the meat out and adding it later as some advocated on the bhaji thread will surely lose the marinading process that would enhance the final flavour. Heated properly, next day curries are ALWAYS better.

My real issue would be dodgy buffets.

Mike

Further to my initial post, the chef that told me about the temperatures in the first place called me back to ask why I had asked in the first place. When I told her she said "The meat is the least of your worries, sauces and especially rice are the biggest causes of food poisoning in my trade".

Kitchen probe thermometer and 75c it is from now on for me.

Mike

On the bhaji thread it wandered in to a discussion on re-heating food, with people saying that they wouldn't re-heat meat. I did a bit of digging and found the health and hygiene rules.

To serve in a pub or restaurant a meal has to be raised to a temperature of 75c, as proven with a calibrated probe (thermometer) entered into the thickest part of the meat. That is true for England, in Scotland for some reason it must be 83c. At this point all potentially harmful bacteria are dead. (Source: my local food pub chefess).

For keeping food warm (think buffet or carvery) the rule is that that temperature must be maintained until consumption.

So no more all you can eat buffets for me. I don't think weedy meths lamps under a pot of Chicken Bhuna are likely to be up to the job.

Mike

I don't think re-heating meat is a problem, the problem is inadequately heating it so that bacteria are able to multiply. If you invest in a kitchen thermometer there is a formula (something like heating above 60c for 5 minutes - someone must know), and providing the meat / curry has been adequately refigerated there will not be a problem.

Re-heating rice is a different proposition altogether. I read once that the majority of food poisoning cases in the UK were down either to cold or re-heated rice or lettuce (bizarrely). Left over rice gets binned in my house.

Perhaps we need a food hygiene thread at some point??

Mike

Will you two quit bitchin? I realise that freezing coriander is a vital topic, and that peace in the free world may rest finally on the green pepper content of a curry base, but I rather think plurality and decorum are required.

Now if Nick Clegg and David Cameron were to make a curry, THAT would be interesting

Onions vary massively in flavour and behavior as well as size. So recipes that advocate as their first ingredient "2-3 medium onions" are prone to massive variation - especially in taste. Water content, pungency and size all count as to the amount of spice added surely? It should taste of onion, so the spice is there to augment the onion, therefore the spicing depends on the onion itself.

Mike

Being brought up a good Methodist boy we always bought a joint for the week, not for a meal only. With beef it would be roast on sunday, cold cut monday (while it was still moist), cottage pie tuesday (shepherd's pie by another name), something like spaghetti bolognese or savory mince on wednesday (made from the left over mince from tuesday). Thursday I think we had Findus frozen chicken pie with peas and chips. Friday, fish and chips. Saturday was dad's pick and it could be anything. (Anything you could cook with a cow thigh bone in it, it would still be in the fridge).

Sunday was an over-sized joint again.

Gammon weeks were less fruitful. By Wednesday we were packed up and packed off to school with sandwiches of bread from the bakery up the road, butter and homemade piccalilli. Of course with the ham.

Pea and ham soup is a no brainer, though your gammon joint is best bought on the the bone. Some butchers will give you a joint or a rolled joint and chuck the bone in for free if you ask nicely.

Finally (I suddenly felt I was writing an autobiography for a minute - not good) a link

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/list?food=61-gammon

Good luck. I've got a kid that will only eat spaghetti bolognese. What do you do with that but wait? (Love her to bits). Sorry for the essay. Just love my food.

Mike

Hi jph

I too have a large bag of curry leaves bought - I think - for a Madhur Jaffrey experiment. Once it occurs to you that they smell faintly of wee the dish is hard to eat! My bag will be in the bin too, the next time I need shelf space for something useful.