Quote from: vin daloo on September 12, 2005, 06:39 PM
Personally id stay away from the pat chapman modified stuff cos judgin by his books he knows nothin.  probably the aromatic curry powder thing is something he invented.

I think you're probably right. With a slight (even retrograde) modification to the old recipes and a different title for a new book, he could be bringing in a steady stream of income for years.

Regards
George

blade - you said: "Consistency is what we need." You're right. It might not be sufficient, but it's certainly necessary. For example, I could never run a cafe turning out great capuccinos. Sometimes I can foam the milk perfectly and (separately) the whole cup tastes great; other times, well. A curry is more complex so even more of a challenge.

yellow fingers - I agree with you: my preference is for this forum to concentrate on discussions of British Indian restaurant (BIR) style curries, and that the acid test is whether anyone has achieved "the two golden principles of Britsh curries, the unique taste and the unmistakable aroma of the British restaurant curry". Can anyone put their hand on their heart and say they have?

Darth - you said one or more of your curries were "better than 99% take-aways" you've been in . I'm sure they are. And some take aways are not very good at all. But most have the taste and aroma. When you say "better" do you mean just like one of the best examples of a BIR curry. I suggest the acid test here is whether it has the character of a BIR curry, AS WELL AS being a good curry in absolute terms.

Regards
George

Quote from: raygraham on September 01, 2005, 06:57 PM
I shall stick my neck out here and say I reckon your problem is tough chicken of poorer quality and also due to the fact it was frozen and dare I say it.......cheap!!

Ray

I can honestly say the ?1.49 frozen chickens I buy from Lidl are not the slightest bit tough, whether for a Sunday roast, poached or whatever. They also have plenty of flavour. I bought a ?12 free-range chicken once, for a special occasion. I didn't notice a jot of difference. It was a waste of money. My philosophy is that you don't normally get what you pay for. If you spend less, you can often get more.

Regards
George

Quote from: paast10 on September 01, 2005, 04:54 PM
It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco.  Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane. 

I recommend removing the breasts from whole chickens. Even if you throw the rest of the chicken away, which isn't necessary, it will still be ?'s cheaper than buying breasts sold neatly packaged, or even frozen, probably.

I use 1.5Kg frozen chickens from Lidl which currently cost only ?1.49. So two chicken breasts cost me just ?1.49. They take only seconds to cut out once the chicken is defrosted. It would take me longer to cut open a supermarket pack of chicken breasts!

I can't belive the sky-high prices many people pay for some things, including chicken breasts.

Regards
George

>And now 30 years down the line and I still haven't found the flippin answer!!


Ray

I'm sorry to hear you feel you've still not found "the flippin answer". Does that mean all the little successes reported on this site count for nothing and, in summary, we've moved forward very little?

Even the apparent favourite base sauce is the quite old Bruce Edwards version.

So many people have said they've cracked it, they have the taste, quest over or apparent words to that effect. I'm confused.

In a nutshell, where does everyone feel they've got to, and how much further work is there to do?

Regards
George

Quote

Mark, Ray

Many thanks for pointing out and linking to the index. Wow! This book looks good but, such is the promise, that the fall from grace will be even greater that with Pat Chapman's books if it fails to deliver. I'm hopeful if will deliver. The philosophy stated, as well as positive comments from Blondie, etc, all look good.

Regards
George

I'm looking forward to this book as well. The only problem is that I'm not too keen on balti dishes. Does the book include recipes for traditional favourites like CTM, chicken korma and saag aloo? I hope so.

Regards
George

Quote from: woodpecker21 on August 29, 2005, 05:50 PM
i wasn't knocking the 70's man( after all i did grow up in them) i was merely recollecting that vesta curries then well tasted like the box they came in with curry powder sprinkled on..
but i have no recollection of any bir curry of any sort didn't know of any in our area 

It sounds like you missed out in your area. In Portsmouth and surrounding area, where I grew up, I'm sure there were almost as many curry houses in the 1970s as now - loads to choose from. I enjoyed Vesta Beef curries as a highlight of Inter-Rail trips around Europe. We took a few Vesta packs with us, to cook on a Calor gas stove on camp sites. For what they were, I always enjoyed them.

Regards
George

Gosh, Lidl seem to have a wide choice of manufacturers for their increasingly large range of both chilled and frozen curries. I was back at Lidl this morning and, by a spot of luck, found a pack of the Noon ?1.89 chilled Chicken Korma on special offer at 95p, so I will try it later.

Lidll must specify the packing since both are branded 'Kanpur Garden' with the same basic colour scheme for the cardboard cover.

The ingredients are quite different, though. The frozen one, which I already rate as 'excellent like a BIR' contains coconut cream as the second largest sauce ingredient after water. It also contains ground almonds and chicken stock amongst many other ingredients.

The chilled food version contains more single cream than coconut cream.

Some of Lidl's other curries are made by further manufacturers, besides Noon and County Foods.

Regards
George

Update: I have now tried the 450g chilled food version of Lidl's chicken korma made by Noon Products. Lilke most of the Noon output it's not bad, but nothing special. Compared to virtually the same thing in M&S and the like for around double the price, though, it's a bargain. But I'll stick to the 89p frozen one, which is better in absolute terms, regardless of price, quite apart from being very like many a BIR chicken korma.

Mr Noon has made millions serving up lackluste curries to supermarkets. If there is any fairness in the world, imagine how most people would probably prefer your curries and you too could make millions. But it's not about food quality, it's about being able to sell and get yourself listed as a preferred supplier.

Quote from: Nessa on August 26, 2005, 05:37 PM
Oh the horror of 'curries' from the 70's! ...It's a miracle we ever took to the stuff.

I remember the 1970s quite well and I'm sure the BIR curries were almost as good then, as now. I say 'almost' because I'm not sure that CTM had arrived. But most towns had several BIRs - it felt like almost as many as now -  and the 'taste' was most certainly there, with the same basic menu, except Balti items, which I have never liked anyway.

I love those British curries with apples and sultanas and things. They're a different animal, like BIR curries, authentic Indian curries, Thai curries, chinese curries, etc, etc.

Don't knock the 70s!

Regards
George