Thanks for everyone's feedback! I'll be taking a close look at recommendations and then try out some other recipes as soon as my belly has recovered

Thanks, that demo looks nice. In the recipe it says "Aniseed" - can you specify what you mean exactly ? Actual Aniseed or Star Anise ? I have a bit of an issue since I need to translate the stuff to German and search for that in the Asia store here instead.

Quote from: 976bar on June 18, 2012, 10:35 AM
Hi Stonecut,

It all looks very good, well done on your first attempt

How about posting your recipe for Onion Bhaji's?

My "old" onion bhaji recipe

This is a recipe I've used for years and I like the results. Since it's very basic I was hoping that C2G's recipe would be an improvement but, alas, it wasn't

Ingredients (approx. 2 starter portions):

• 3 tbsp gram flour
• 2 large onions
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp & 1/4 tsp cumin, ground (see method)
• 1/4 tsp ginger (ground)
• 1/2 tsp & 1/4 tsp coriander (ground) - see method
• Ghee or oil
• Water
• Pinch of salt

Method:

• Peel the onions and cut into rings. Heat the pan and gently fry the onions in the ghee or oil until soft.
• Add ginger powder, turmeric, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp cumin powder and the chili powder. Stir well and then put to the side.
• In a separate bowl, combine the gram flour with another 1/4 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp cumin powder and a pinch of salt.
• Now add the gram flour mix to the onion mass and mix well making sure all onions get a bit of gram flour.
• Add tiny amounts of cold water (with a spoon) until you get a very thick dough.
• Use wet hands to form little balls of the mass (about ping pong ball sized) and deep-fry until lightly brown.
• Give a minute to rest and then deep-fry again until golden brown.

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This weekend I put my newly discovered knowledge (thanks to this site) to the test. This was the first time in about a year that I ruled the kitchen ... well, apart from the Seekh Kebabs a couple of days ago.

I made a batch of CA's Mix Powder, CA's Tandoori Masala Spice Mix, CA's Chicken Tikka, C2G's Onion Bhajis, Dipuraja's Mint Raita and a generic chicken curry using CA's base, some Garlic/Ginger paste and some mix powder plus coconut and cream.

Making the base was quite fun but also a lot of work to get everything prepared. I initially thought it might have be a bit too "gingery" for my taste but it tasted pleasant when done. My wife said she'd eat it as soup anytime The house smelled great while cooking it (not sure if my neighbours agree, though

Making the Tikka was also a lot of fun and they smelled and tasted marvellous (thanks CA!). Getting that damn food colour off my fingers again is another story

Based on CA's gravy and spice Mix I came up with a chicken curry as outlined above. I didn't follow any particular recipe at all and it still turned out to really nice !!! It even looks the business (to me at least). I settled on calling it a "Korma", even if it isn't really

Curry2Go's Onion Bhajis were a bit of a disappointment, though. They tasted OK, just not as exceptionally good as I hoped they would. I've had an onion bhajis recipe for years that's much better than this one. Since I'll be inviting some guests over in a week's time I'll have to find a better one for sure. I think I'll try CA's next and if that one fails to impress me, too, then I'll try the Ashoka recipe.

Dipuraja's Mint Raita was also just "ok" - usually I lick the stuff off the plate but this time I didn't. I'll need to find a better one for sure. Any recommendations ?

Here are some pictures of the stuff I made. I didn't take enough pictures because I was quite knackered at the end.

CA's Spice Mix (Masala)


CA's Tandoori Masala Spice Mix


CA's Chicken Tikka/Tandoori


CA's Base Gravy - before cooking


CA's base gravy after cooking and blending


C2G's Onion Bhajis, Dipuraja's Mint Raita and some generic chicken curry:


Please let me know what you (honestly) think and if you have any recommendations for Onion Bhajis and Raita.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coloring#Natural_food_dyes:

Caramel coloring (E150), made from caramelized sugar
Annatto (E160b), a reddish-orange dye made from the seed of the achiote.
Chlorophyllin (E140), a green dye made from chlorella algae
Cochineal (E120), a red dye derived from the cochineal insect, Dactylopius coccus
Betanin (E162) extracted from beets
Turmeric (curcuminoids, E100)
Saffron (carotenoids, E160a)
Paprika (E160c)
Lycopene (E160d)
Elderberry juice
Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius), a green food coloring
Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), a blue food dye

Very valuable info, thanks.

Hhhm, good point. I guess I'll attempt to cook multiple single portions without meat until almost done, then later toss them all together and put in the pre-cooked meat with a final fry just to be safe.

Thanks for the tip Axe and your endorsement JerryM. That's some good advice for my next batch. Would I use the same amounts when substituting aniseed for ground star anise?

Phil, but what if you don't want to double but make tenfold portions ?