Hi Currynoob,

It's not necessary to soak tamarind block overnight.
Break off a lump, roughly about 1 inch x 3 inch.
Place in a mug and pour 1/5 mug of boiling water over it. Break it all up and stir with a spoon.
Leave to soak for 10-15 mins and strain through a tea strainer into a clean bowl pushing as much of the pulp through as you can.
This should make roughly 3 tablespoons which i think would be the equivalent to 3 teaspoons of concentrate.
(if thats what the recipe calls for?)
You may also need to cut back a little on the 100ml of water in the recipe.


As for the pathia mix, you should have no problem freezing whats leftover into an ice cube tray.


Cheers, Frank. 

Made these the other night. I did a side by side with CBM's version from vol1 (which included Pataks kashmiri paste) and thought the ones with the paste were quite poor in comparison.
The Melksham bhajis were good, but still not my holy grail.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0--qenN8ySw


I have a few other recipes to try.

http://srefoodblog.blogspot.co.uk/2005/11/onion-bhaji-uk-style.html

http://kitchenexperiments.net/2013/03/ridiculously-good-onion-bhaji-recipe.html#.UoDh1HA-Qns

http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2012/02/10/how-to-make-british-indian-restaurant-bir-style-onion-bhajis/

After some light reading of the Rick Stein India book last night, i came across this kebab. It wasnt featured in the series, and i cant be sure if ive ever tasted one before. 
The recipe reminds me of a shami kebab,.delicate and melt in the mouth and made with a soft meat paste mixed with gram and spices but in the form of a seekh sausage shape.
Reading up on the history and origins, a true kakori should be made with a special masala blend called Lazzat-e-taam.

Here's some more info and links.

QuoteThe seekh kabab has long been considered a piece de resistance in the Awadhi dastarkhwan . The beautifully executed kabab is what every Lucknawi is proud of. The seekh kabab, introduced in this region by the Mughals, was originally prepared from beef mince on skewers and cooked on charcoal fire. But later influences and innovations led to the use of lamb mince, which was preferred for its soft texture. Besides, serving of it on the dastarkhwan did not offend the sensibilities of the Hindu guests. The immense popularity of this kabab led to further refinements and improvements and one bawarchi from Kakori found much acclaim for his efforts in this direction. Kakori is a small hamlet on the outskirts of Lucknow, in the Lucknow - Malihabad mango - belt. During the freedom struggle, it became well known for the famous 'Kakori Case' when a band of freedom fighters looted the train carrying the British Government Treasury money at this obscure place. In the same period, of British rule, it was also customary in this region for the rich Rajas and Nawabs, to entertain senior British Officers and ply them with the best hospitality they could offer. And if it was the mango season , a 'mango dinner' was very much in order (dinner in a mango orchard, was followed by a variety of chilled mangoes served in great style). At one such parties in Kakori, stung by the remark of a British Officer regarding the coarse texture of Seekh Kabab, the host, Nawab late Syed Mohammad Haider Kazmi summoned his rakabdars, hakims and attars the very next day and asked them to evolve a more refined variety of the Seekh Kabab. Ten days of incessant research and design efforts resulted in the now famous 'Kakori Kababs' which was as far as perfection could go. The mince for the kabab was to be obtained from no other part but the 'Raan ki Machhli' (Tendon of the leg of mutton) and Rawaz or animal fat was replaced by khoya, black pepper replaced by white pepper and a brand new mix of powdered spices which still remains a closely guarded secret added to the perfect blend. And of course, the Nawab invited the same officer again and presented the new version of the Seekh Kabab and needless to say it met with great applause. Since then the Seekh Kababs of Kakori became famous by word of mouth and even today, though cooked elsewhere, are known as 'Kakori Kababs'.

Taken from here: http://saxenark.tripod.com/kabab.htm

If you dont have the book, Rick Steins version can be found here: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=t0K7i75orTkC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=rick+stein+kakori&source=bl&ots=JfOntTMGCS&sig=dYp2BOi4qkpuMbsuNjA9VIF11Sc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JuqAUsK-AYyr0AWsn4Ao&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=rick%20stein%20kakori&f=false


A recipe for the masala
http://nazarabbas.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/lazzet-e-taam-where-to-get-it-and-how.html

This is quite a good food forum from India
http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/112-awadhi-lucknow-cuisine/


www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYjpiacgPQ8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-axMm3xDkho


And another variation here:
Galouti kebab
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hrJ6Sjhxk



Cheers, Frank. 

Quote from: Garabi Army on November 09, 2013, 03:33 PM

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on November 08, 2013, 08:39 PM
(I find it very depressing that I can't print selected pages, though ...).

Phil, if you have Calibre installed you can print separate pages that way.

Cheers, Ken

But how do you do that if the book is delivered via whispernet and you dont have a hard copy of the file?

Some info and suggestions here Fried.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98820

Quote from: curryhell on November 07, 2013, 08:23 PM

Quote from: john the man on November 06, 2013, 08:25 PM
I'm new to this forum

where will I find this recipe  Please

For the price of a pint each, get them both. 

You'll need them both if you wish to cook it to spec. 

Quote8-10 tablespoons of pre-cooked Dhal (see Volume 1)

Made the Nepalese potato dish earlier (aloo ko achar), tasted great! 
Not to spec as i didnt have any Timur or Szechuan pepper, so i used a pinch of ground black pepper and a pinch of ground fennel. I do have aniseed (as mentioned in the above video as a suitable replacement), but need to use up some fennel seed before i open a new packet.
I didnt have any fresh green chillies, so rather than just make a methi seed tarka, i added some whole dried kashmiri chillies.

What a revelation and a great snack! ;D

They puffed up in the hot mustard oil in seconds and remained like that.  Crisp and melt in the mouth.
I'll make the dish again to spec, but will definitely be making more of these crispy fried whole dried chillies!   

http://chowdersingh.com/indian-food-heritage/birthplace-of-the-indian-sizzler/

http://mumbaiboss.com/2012/01/02/because-we-invented-the-sizzler/

The Nepalese recipes look good. In particular, this one. 

Aloo Ko Achar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aVG-PNUgkA

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on November 03, 2013, 07:34 PM
In a word, yes.  It really is the base that differentiates BIR curries from traditional. Until I made my first base (KD1), I had never succeeded in making a  curry that was even vaguely BIR-like.  As soon as I adopted the idea of a base, all curries thereafter were (a) BIR-like, and (b) infinitely better than any curry I had cooked before.  After years of practice, I can now cook a BIR-like curry without a base, but (a) it takes much longer than with one, and (b) it still requires the knowledge that is most easily gained when cooking /with/ a base to inform the other steps involved.

** Phil.

Well said Phil. (apart from the first line)