I genuinely think that I (a life-long carnivore) could live on masala dosa if required, T63 ...
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** Phil.

Ah ...  Sadly the post would appear to have become truncated (bit-rot ?) as there is no mention of what I did to achieve this aim, and there is no final period after "aroma" ...

Quote
Once I started making pulao rice using a microwave oven, I never looked back, and my pulao is in most respects as good as I have eaten.  But when Ganesha opened in Bodmin, and I compared their pulao rice with mine, I was sure that theirs was better and I began to wonder why ...  I finally reached the conclusion that while the taste and appearance of mine was as good as Ganesha's, theirs was better in terms of aroma
« Last Edit: 30 March 2020, 12:27:10 by Peripatetic Phil »

Quote from: mickdabass on May 15, 2023, 09:44 AM
Wasn't it you that had a Eureka moment a year or two ago, and used akhni stock to enhance the flavour of pilau rice ?

I don't remember doing so, Mick, but these days I can barely remember what I did yesterday, so it is not beyond the realms of possibility.  For some time now my preferred (indeed, sole) method of making pulao rice has been to bhoon the whole spices in ghee, bhoon the basmati rice in the ghee/spice mix, add boiling water and a little salt, then cook using the evaporation method (originally in a microwave oven, now in an "Instant Pot" clone).  Would this count as "us[ing] akhni stock to enhance the flavour" ?

P.S.  A site search for "akhni" + "pilau" shews two users who have reported on that combination — Cory Ander and Jerry M.
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** Phil.

I don't think that I was really aware of akhni stock until the recent discussion about "++++MDB's Birmingham Balti Gravy 100% Clone Al Frash Balti Restaurant ++++", but I just happened to be looking at the menu from one of my local T/A BIRs ("Victoria Indian To Go") and noticed that under "Rice" it offered "Yakhni Pilau", described as "Basmati rice cooked in home-made stock and peppercorns".  Now I think it is pretty clear that MDB's "akhni" and VITG's "yakhni" are one and the same thing, so I wonder whether anyone else has encountered "akhni pilau" or "yakhni pilau" on a BIR menu ?
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** Phil.

Some tasked with marking student/undergraduate essays are punctilious in their marking, and they may well spot one or more errors that will lead them to conclude that the essay was written, in part or in whole, by a generative AI system.  But others, perhaps because of pressure of workload, perhaps because of lack of motivation, will be less punctilious, and as generative AI improves it will be easier and easier for a student or undergraduate to pass off an essay written by generative AI as his or her own, particularly if he or she knows with some certainty that the person tasked with marking their work is less than punctilious ...

Given Bard's use of "cilantro", I would very much suspect that its putative recipe is derived from American sources.  Try a more focussed prompt, such as "Using only information gleaned from British sources, and ideally from contributors to those sources with a name indicating an Indian, Bangladeshi  or similar ethnicity, create for me the best possible recipe for BIR-style chicken dhansak".  But don't hold your breath ...

Monday 8th May.  I made this dish again tonight, using the remains of the pre-cooked lamb from the last batch, which I have been marinading in a rather more flavoursome curry sauce for the last 24 hours.  No other significant changes, although I did add some mixed masala to the spicing for the pulao (and one black cardamom).  The results were absolutely superb — as good a lamb pulao as I have ever eaten, and better than most.  No need even for my usual lime or mixed pickle — I just ate it as it came out of the Instant Pot, with no condiments whatsoever.  This one I shall make again !
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** Phil.

Quote from: livo on May 05, 2023, 12:19 AM
Phil, if you haven't yet tried it, I highly rate Misty Ricardo's pre-cooked lamb method.  The flavour and texture is wonderful and it will lift any lamb dish.  I recently used the same method for beef (slow cook short rib beef taken off the bone) and it was just as good.  Give it a try next time and you won't be disappointed.  The leftover liquid from the cook is a delicious stock and adds wonderful flavour when added to the dishes.

https://mistyricardo.com/pre-cooked-lamb-recipe/

Not yet tried it, Livo — I knew that there was a recipe here for pre-cooked lamb which was highly recommended, but I could not remember which, so I opted for Rob's (976bar's), whose judgement I trust; I will try MR's next time ...

Incidentally, I see that Pavani Gunikuntla has a recipe for "Instant pot" lamb biryani, so I may also give that a go ...
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A few nights ago my wife brought home the remains of a portion of lamb dhansak from the Himalayan Spice in Liskeard.  Unfortunately she had eaten all but one piece of the lamb, so using 976bar's methdology for pre-cooking lamb, I cut up and pre-cooked a whole shoulder.  My wife was apprehensive, believing that the volume of bone would make the £7/kilo price uneconomic, but of a whole shoulder weighing 1,28kg the scapula weighed in at just over 90gm and and the shoulder joint at even less, so a very good price indeed IMHO. 

Unfortunately Rob's spicing didn't seem to complement the flavour of the dhansak, so I decided instead to turn it into a lamb biryani.  Now, ever since I acquired a Silvercrest "Instant pot" clone I have used it for cooking rice, no matter whether steamed, fried or pulao, and it does a first-class job, so this evening I used my "Perfect pulao" recipe (with added saffron) to make pulao rice in the Instant Pot, sautéeing the spices with the lid off before putting the lid on and switching to "Rice" mode ("less" setting, just six minutes, plus 10 or so to allow the safety interlock to release).  I then added the diced lamb (cut to roughly 3/4" pieces from Rob's initial 2" cubes), mixed it all together, put the lid back on and left it on its tickover/keep warm setting for maybe a further 30 minutes.  Overall the dish was very successful, with beautifully tender lamb pieces in a fragrant pulao, but the flavour was not as intense as I would have wished.  Next time I will use my MDH Bombay biryani mix and see how that works ...
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** Phil.

Quote from: Kashmiri Bob on May 02, 2023, 11:04 AM
I see a lot of (not exactly flashy) restaurants charging for the pickle tray items now.   The days of free pickles with your poppadums look numbered.

Worse, many of said "(not exactly flashy) restaurants" a) present the pickle tray automatically, even one has not been ordered; and b) then put it on the bill, even though it has clearly not been touched.  I am afraid that I can be quite assertive in such circumstances ...
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** Phil.