I stand by my opinion that Romain's dhansak recipe is poor. It's not in the same league as the dhansak dishes produced by many, if not most, BIRs.

The BBC say: "Hotels, hostels, campsites and caravan parks must also close unless key workers need to stay there, or if other people staying there cannot return to their primary residence." But will Phil still argue it doesn't apply to their hotel?

I now gather that you may be right to the extent that the 'advice' to close restaurants does not yet have the full force of the law. But it soon will, when a bill is passed by Parliament, as expected. In the meantime, it must make sense to follow the spirit of the advice and either keep tables at least 2 metres apart or move to serving meals only in rooms. A similar approach didn't stop people getting infected on cruise ships, though.

When I went to a supermarket yesterday, nobody seemed to be acting any different to normal. It seems unlikely anyone would leave a 2m gap in between everyone in a queue for a till, or moving around the shop. Shopping for food and other essentials must be the greatest risk any of us take at the present time, and I guess it's going to get much, much worse in terms of the risk of contracting the virus.

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on March 22, 2020, 09:14 AM
The police officer is there to enforce the law

Quote from: Donald Brasco on March 22, 2020, 07:54 AM
...the issue of whether the government has the necessary paperwork fully and correctly completed before taking measures in a desperate attempt to save lives and mitigate some of the disastrous effects unfolding, does not rank at all highly.  Nor should it for you. Get some perspective!

I agree. Phil must be able to seek official clarification as to whether hotel restaurants are able to continue serving residents. To challenge the legality of the Prime Minister's instructions would not be helpful at all - even worse than Gina Miller's attempts to thwart Brexit. I doubt if a Police Officer would be very tolerant if one comes knocking on the hotel's door.

Quote from: Secret Santa on March 20, 2020, 10:57 PM

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on March 20, 2020, 03:45 PM
"Kosher salt" really is a mis-nomer; it is salt intended for koshering (the process of removing blood), not salt that has been certified as kosher by an approved authority.

Quite. But the truth is that any old salt will do in this recipe; maybe even road salt.

I agree, so the requirement to use Kosher salt is pretentious nonsense. There are other aspects of the recipe which I find highly irritating, too, like saying to use a 'little bit' of lentils.

Quote from: Secret Santa on March 20, 2020, 01:25 AM
Looking at the dhansak recipe, I was trying to figure out where the sweetness comes from as we all know BIR dhansak is sweet and sour in flavour and he clearly states just tamarind (or, actually, tamarind sauce). It's only when I read the addendum that I see he means a sweet and sour tamarind based sauce such as Maggi's Tamarina. If people make this with just tamarind sauce they're going to get a sharp surprise.

The main ingredient in Tamarind Sauce is sugar. The tamarind is only 15%. They also add chilli and a few other things to give it more flavour.

When I looked at the Glebe Kitchen dhansak recipe, I was trying to figure out why Kosher Salt is specified. Absurd, if you ask me. I may try the recipe this evening but, to be honest, I don't have high expectations. It's missing ingredients which I firmly believe need to be in a half-decent dhansak. [moderated, unnecessary personal comment concerning the author]

Quote from: JonG on March 17, 2020, 04:55 PM
One tip I got was to wipe down your groceries with soapy water when you get them home after a shopping trip. 

I do that, except I use Dettol disinfectant. I also wash my hands after discarding the envelopes of letters and the wrapping of packages delivered. For all I know, the postman or a courier might have contracted the virus.

Unlike in Yousef's advice, I think it's wise to cover your mouth and nose with something like a scarf, if not a surgical mask, as a preventive measure, to guard against the occasional situation where a disgusting individual coughs or sneezes in close proximity without covering up.

I do hope we don't follow other countries in banning nearly all trips away from home. Where's the risk if one goes out for a walk, cycle ride or drive in the car and avoid other people?

Quote from: Geo65 on March 14, 2020, 05:17 PM
I remember it being a reddish colour not spicy but very flavoursome.

I guess the meat was probably lamb and, if so, it may been similar to the slow-cooked buffet dishes which I described on another recent thread called 'Lamb Bhuna'.

You could do worse than find the Aldi bhuna sauce and use lamb, slow cooked for at least twice as long as they recommend on the jar. Whilst this sauce is not as good as a restaurant dish, it's in the same ball park, so might give you an idea.

Quote from: curryhell on March 13, 2020, 09:37 PM
But as has often happened here,due to the comments of the "experts", he decided to depart and set up his own site. 

I disagree. It's completely unreasonable to make such a statement, blaming various people on here for him setting up his own site. We can't know what his motivations were. What about all the people selling publications of their recipes on amazon for a few quid, rather than posting them all here, free?

Another example is the tragedy of some people who take their own life, followed by the people left behind blaming others.