Looks gorgeous Phil.

I like the no faffing-around approach too  ;D

Nice to know I'm not alone - was annoyed it took me so long to realise what it was lol

I had a couple of days holiday this week so decided to do a wee bit curry prep. I got six chicken breasts from local butcher, marinated for 36 hours, then tikka'd them yesterday. Turned out very nice (more tandoori than tikka, but you know what I mean).

Anyway, was thinking this morning what I could make. I usually cook for three, but Mrs G didn't fancy curry tonight, so it was just me and my stepson (I promised Mrs G a Korma tomorrow)

I'd been thinking about Punjabi Masala for a while (I think it was SL's recipe I saved) so decided to give it a go. So this morning I went into the freezer to get the base sauce out. I usually freeze them in foil containers (holds about 400-450ml). There was only one in there, and, as I like it saucy, I wanted a wee bit more. But I spied a plastic tub - a bit bigger than foiled one - which had base sauce in. I thought "must have run out of tubs and put some in that". So took both out of the freezer to defrost.

Later, having made rotis then egg-fried them, it was time to get thing together for the curry. The chicken tikka had been in the fridge so took half out and cut into bite-sized pieces (always like to cook them larger to retain moisture) and put them in the oven at a very low temperature to soften and heat them up before adding to curry.

Also decided to put base in a pot to heat up prior to adding to curry. I thought I would use the big plastic tub for tonight and the smaller one would do tomorrow. So I cracked open the plastic tub and put it in the pot - still mostly frozen. Turned the gas on low to melt it for 5 or 10 minutes and had a fag and messed around.

Went back to give it a stir and half a smell - hmmmmm, that doesn't smell very Indian. Stick your nose in a bit further.....nope......that is definitely some kind of soup, probably lentil 

So here, for all to see is the base on the left and the soup on the right 



There are still lumps in the soup as I terminated the de-frosting process in disgust.

Anyway - despite that - the curry was lovely. I'm really happy with my chicken process now - nice and tender and tasty



And the final dish



Lovely - but please label your freezer contents

Oops, I wasn't finished yet.

Chewy's Madras has become the standard madras round here. I've made it just once (albeit with a different base) and there's not much I could complain about. Very nice indeed.

Maybe try a different base if that one isn't to your liking. The madras is suited to a lot of bases. I'm lazy so use the same base all the time - so it's a neutral one.

Good luck and have fun

Hi Pete.

I would say that if the first curry you made from this site was your best ever, that's a great start

Hmmm...............

Now that's what I call a recipe posting. Tremendous CH.

Never tried to make samosas and am grappling with a Chinese dish at the moment, but I will definitely give these a try.

Mrs G doesn't eat lamb, would beef work?

Quote from: chewytikka on November 14, 2013, 12:08 AM
Hope you don't mind, but I felt the urge to adjust one of your pics.



curry on

Welcome Pete.

There is a huge amount of information on here - most of it good:)

I am a relative newcomer and have found some really good stuff.

Hope you enjoy it and make some cracking curries

Welcome Fowsky - South West Scotland here.

I'm sure you will find the information and ideas on here a real treasure trove - I certainly have.

Look forward to seeing some of your creations