It's getting cold down south. Just cropped our scotch bonnets which have done extremely well this year. Used some fresh and strung the rest to hang up and dry

It is worth adding to a good curry library

I have a kilo of lamb shoulder but no yoghurt for the marinade. I do have 3 litres of Kefir though. Would the kefir work as good as yoghurt?
Has anyone tried Kefir in this way before?
T63

We ate in the Artillery Lane restaurant last night. It was as good as ever. We have never been let down in there.

Quote from: tempest63 on September 14, 2016, 04:52 AM
She produced a wonderful little book for Sainsburys about the cooking of Southern India back in the day.

Does anyone else recall the recipe books that Sainsbury commissioned back in the 80's? Ismail Merchant was another author the store used to write an Indian recipe book. These were great little books; I don't believe their current offerings are a patch on them.

Mudmee Thai Restaurant and Noodle House
12a Artillery Passage, Bishopsgate, London.

Small place off of Middlesex Street (Petticoat Lane). Can become very busy during the evening and there is no reservations.

Tapestry Dining: Witham, Essex
01376 519988

Me and herself  opted to try this new restaurant in Witham town centre rather than the more familiar Mudmee Thai near to London Liverpool Street station. We had chanced upon it on a rare excursion into town and given its claim to provide authentic Bangladeshi cuisine, we chose it for a Friday night, after work meal, close to home. We had seen no advertising or promotion of the restaurant prior to our first meal there.

The restaurant is housed in a former function room of the Spread Eagle public house. In former days the same location housed, what outwardly seemed a successful Greek restaurant; large portions and low prices drove that venture to extinction. Then followed a BBQ/smoke-pit style restaurant that disappeared before the coals had cooled down. Witham is a desert for decent restaurants so a  quality eatery serving well prepared food from that part of the world would be warmly welcomed.

Traditional heritage Bangladeshi food is far removed from the high street British Indian Restaurant (BIR). Tapestry Dining claims to provide genuine Patil cooking. Each individual dish is slow cooked with specific spices to impart their own unique and distinct flavours This is the authentic way of preparing curries as done over centuries in the Indian subcontinent, far removed from the standard one-pot fare churned out in most BIR's.

The chef, Abdul Barry, has a prestigious CV; he was once in charge of the state banqueting for visiting heads of state to Bangladesh. He has vast experience of presenting "Bangladesh on a plate" to such luminaries as former Prime Minister James Callaghan and Ex-President Bill Clinton. He believes that the restaurant menu provides the very best of recipes from different regions of Bangladesh.

We started our evening with a couple of fish starters, Pomfret fry for my wife, a highly prized Hilsa fish with ginger, garlic, onion juice and white-pepper  fried off in a thin batter. I chose Golda King Prawn; giant king prawns treated with Bangladeshi herbs made into crispy fried "snowballs" which are supposedly served on the shell. The shell was missing from the prawn but both dishes were full of flavour and very well presented. The accompanying sauces complimented the dishes.

For the mains we initially chose two beef dishes, but the knowledgeable waiter stated they were very similar and to get an idea of the diversity of flavours we may want to choose differing  curries. We opted for Lamb Kata Masla; Lamb in a rich flavoured sauce, slow cooked with fresh ginger, garlic, onion, sun-dried red chilies and spiced with cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and cassia leaves and  Beef Mezbani Mangsho, a dish where the meat is braised with cumin, black pepper, garam masala and other heritage Bangladeshi herbs. The chef claims a special secret mixture is used to give this particular dish the unique flavour of Chittagong.

Both of these dishes were excellent although the portion sizes were small. They both packed big punchy flavours and were very similar to the slow cooked traditional dishes that we prepare at home. The meats were cooked to perfection, soft but with a bite. Overall really, really good.

Two vegetable side dishes of asparagus bhaji and purple sprouting broccoli along with zafrani pilau completed the meal. Bright tasting, and well seasoned with a light hand. The individual flavours of the vegetables stood out well, very different from the heavily spiced and sometimes cloying side dishes encountered in a BIR. The rice was also lightly spiced and the taste of the grain really shone through.

We shared a bottle of some instantly forgettable red wine and declined tea and coffee. The bill was staggering; a shade under

Beef Baked with Yogurt and Black Pepper

This is one of the curries I used to cook for my kids when they were young as it is not heavily spiced. A dinner guest once mentioned it was very similar to a dish he ate regularly when growing up on Greece. Serve with rice, chapati, paratha or naan.

Madhur Jaffrey adds you can make this dish with stewing lamb from the shoulder as a change from beef. I say you could also use shin of beef, reduce the oven temperature and cook for longer to let all the gelatinous matter break down and add greater depth of flavour.

100 ml vegetable oil (I use ghee)
1kg boneless stewing beef from the neck and shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
250g onions, very finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp salt (I use 1tsp and then taste and add as needed)
1/2 tsp very coarsely ground black pepper (1/2 tsp is really never enough. Experiment!)
1 1/4 cups natural yogurt, lightly beaten (use the thick Greek stuff)
Preheat oven to 180c. 

Put the oil in a wide, flame-proof casserole and set over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, put in as many meat pieces as the pan will hold easily in a single layer. Brown the meat pieces on all sides, then set them aside in a deep plate. Brown all the meat this way.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Stir-fry for about 10 minutes or until browned. Add the browned meat and any juices. Also add the ginger, cayenne, paprika, salt and black pepper and stir for a minute.

Add the yogurt to the pan and bring to a simmer.

Cover tightly with foil and then with a lid, and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

If the meat is not tender after this time, gradually add about 150ml boiling water, cover tightly and bake for a further 20 to 30 minutes or until the meat is tender.

Stir gently before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

Oh! And another one

I have just started work on the demolition of the old Odean at Marble Arch. The rebuild will take me up to 2020; and all that time next to my favourite Indian, albeit French influenced, restaurant.

I could be a real fat b*****d by 2020!

http://www.laportedesindes.com/london/