Had two bottles of Duvel Blond last night Phil and misread antithesis as aesthetically pleasing

Onions, cabbage, chilli sauce and garlic mayo is the absolute minimum for a doner, imo.  Otherwise one may as well have bread & dripping. Garlic naan is a well-established upgrade.

Many moons ago, in Manchester, a friend suggested we get a doner kebab from a place he knew. It was a stingy little thing in pitta. We had been to the gym and would have had to go in to buy another, however I suggested a visit instead to Abdul's in Rusholme, for a proper kebab. Doner was available, but we went with lamb tikka kebabs on garlic naan, with all the trimmings. All my friend could say was that he was coming here from now on.

For this one I used a Leicester Bakery plain naan, trimmed to fit my tawa. Lashed with garlic butter. Still, a miserable excuse for a naan, albeit a ready-made. Got a few reduced price (20 p) from a local shop though. Made me smile that these naans are exactly what we got from most of the Rusholme curry houses back in the day. Pre-tandoor oven times and, on reflection, they were quite awful. When a garlic naan was ordered it was still one of these dire efforts, but with garlic salt sprinkled on top. The mains were often magnificent, so it didn't matter so much. Later learned that Abdul's was one of the first places to get a tandoor.

Rob

Quote from: Robbo141 on January 25, 2025, 11:38 PM
Even now, British restaurant curry is better than home cooked of course but it's a bit expensive to fly across the Atlantic for that vindaloo hit I crave....
Robbo

This comment is debatable Robbo. It seems the vast majority of BIR establishments here now are, at best, producing very average dishes, countrywide. Old school curry is a rarity.

Rob

Farm foods LA Diner meat pimped with random Blue Dragon stir fry sauces. Home made garlic butter and cayenne pepper sauce. Pickled chillies to serve. Very comforting.



Rob

 

Quote from: Robbo141 on February 06, 2025, 02:08 PM
Lovely. 8am and now I'm craving my favorite dish.
Recipe please?

Robbo

Yes, a recipe.  It's coming.  Ever so simple. Erm, some balti juice will come in handy.

Rob

Sounds familiar in a way Phil. In the past I found that coconut block, powder, etc., was often hard to notice in a hot curry, unless lots was used.  The milk flour works a treat. Makes a lovely smooth paste bursting with flavour. I do like coconut though. The paste tastes like the inside of a Bounty, but a lot sweeter and creamy. Yummy!

Rob

Last night's delights.  Apols for poor presentation and photos.

Balti chicken (Aphrodisiac)



Leftovers. Only a little. Sublime. Lime pickle accompaniament. This was my starter.


Balti chicken & mushroom (Rogan Vitalion)



Mind boggling.  Mango chutney accompaniament.  Main. Definitely a keeper. Possibly crinkle cuts next time.

Rob

Coming along nicely. It will be ready soon. A 30 min BIR curry.



Rob

Chicken Ceylon. Very hot. Coconut milk powder (976bar) is best, imo. I use the Grace brand (Asda). 2 tbsp mixed with 1 tbsp white sugar and fresh single cream. A little water. Epic. Rik's base.





A much less hot version with MDB base and chopped pistachio nuts gives a sublimely aromatic Balti chicken (Aphrodisiac).

Rob

Hake



Chips



Salty, which is good because I like plenty of salt.

Rob

A few more observations/thoughts based on another (not that recent) trip to the TP.  This time they had moved the tables around and I was able to see some things better. Same set-up for making the curry. Pan wedged and tilted. Was able to get an idea of the amount of heat (burner) used. It's got to be full on or close to it. An inferno. Also saw the chef spooning off excess oil this time. 3 CS. Guessing around 80 ml. This oil is put in a container on a wall shelf behind the burners. Minimal stirring again. 20 mins plus to complete the curry.

Have found reference to not stirring being critical for the formation of Maillard reactions products (MRPs) when cooking (in general). I guess we've all seen and remarked on how chefs just "leave" the curry alone for a while. But the amount of time here is on a completely different level. This is no rush-job curry. I suggest this is the old school method and what I am seeing is a masterclass demonstration of it in use. I suspect most of the TAs etc dropped this method many years ago, the contemporary approaches prioritising speed over quality.

Here are some photos of a TA dish I ordered and posted on here over 10 years ago. Old school?  I think so.







Rob