Nihari. Slow cooked Pakistani lamb stew.

This is beautiful, a rich spicy curry topped with bright coriander leaves, a squeeze of citrus, and thin-sliced hot chiles, nihari is the ultimate comfort food. The dish

Sorry to hear of your good lady's trouble Geoff, as someone who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease over forty years ago I can sympathise. I am currently on infliximab to help me over two very bad years but the drugs stop early next year so I am looking for diet to prevent a recurrence. To that end I am trying a primal diet with a nod towards improving my microbiome. The science behind this is relatively new and is quite exciting for someone who has lived with IBD for as long as I have.
If you are interested try a book called The Diet Myth as a starter. The author is a medical researcher working out of a major London hospital.

Has anyone here tried to use apple dictation to record a recipe to notes?
The results can be quite hilarious.

Lahori murgh cholay (thanks to Sumayya Usmani)
Chickpea and chicken curry

I cooked this last night for my daughters who were round for a Curryfest and it went down really well. The recipe is from summers under the tamarind tree, recipes and memoirs from Pakistan. It is a book I have had and perused for a while now but this is the first recipe I have cooked from it. There is a cooking method involved requiring the cook to fry off all the liquid that is released from the chicken so I would suggest that rather than using a saucepan with a lid you use a wide deep frying pan or similar with a lid.
I cheated and used two tins of chickpeas for convenience; not too sure if that is more or less than 500g of dried cooked peas, the small amount of masoor went in with water and was cooked to the point of disintegration. I also used a little over 1kg of bone in thighs which I believe holds up better to the long frying off process. I used the full 500ml of water as it was needed to cover the contents of the pan, but reduced it during the last 5 or 10 minutes. But this is the recipe as it appears.

500 g of dried chickpeas
1 tablespoon masoor dal
Half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50 ml vegetable oil (I used 3 tablespoons of ghee)
1 heaped teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 inch piece of cinnamon
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
1 kg chicken, Skinned and cut into four pieces.
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
Half a teaspoon of turmeric
Salt to taste (I use 1 teaspoon of Malden sea salt) 1 teaspoon garam masala
500 ml water

To garnish
Ginger matchsticks
Chopped coriander leaves
2 hard boiled eggs (optional)

Soak the chickpeas overnight in a bowl of water. The next day, put the chickpeas, masoor dal and Bicarbonate  of soda into a large saucepan with enough water to cover and bring to the boil. Cook until the chickpeas are soft then drain and set aside.

Heat your oil in a saucepan with a lid over a medium heat. When hot, add the cumin, coriander and cinnamon and fry until the spices splutter. Add the onions, ginger and garlic and fry for 8 to 10 minutes until golden. Add the chicken and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken is brown and all the liquid dries up. Add the chilli powder, turmeric, salt and garam masala and  continue frying until the spices begin to stick to the base of the pan.

Add the water, bring to the boil, then add the chickpeas and masoor dal stir. Cover the pan with the lid, turn the heat to medium low and cook for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. You may need to add more water as it cooks to ensure that you are left with a substantial curry. Once the oil rises to the top, turn off the heat, garnish with ginger julienne,  coriander and eggs and serve hot with naan.

I must admit that I gave up trying to replicate BIR many years ago; I'm recalling Kris Dillon and Pat Chapman in sepia toned memories. I think if it could be converted it would be one of the clever guys here. I believe it could be translated given how easy you make it sound.

This from the 1973 edition of Madhur Jaffrey's An invitation to Indian cooking and it is still one of my favourite dishes from the MJ repertoire. For health reasons I cook it with 5 or 6 tablespoons of ghee in place of the oil. I think this gives it a better flavour. Instead of fannying around with ground mace, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, you could replace with a teaspoon of good Garam masala. I grind most of my spices fresh which I believe gives a better end result. I only ever add about two-thirds of the water as I like a thicker sauce. If it is too dry I will stir in the remainder as I need it. I also reduce the salt, using about a teaspoon for this recipe and will taste and add later if necessary.

Chana dal Cooked with Lamb

1.25k boned lamb shoulder
1 medium onion chopped
4 medium onion halved and sliced into half-rings
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1inch cube of ginger, peeled and chopped
10 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon tomato pur

I fully agree with Phil. I first sampled BIR in the late seventies and the dishes served up were banging with flavour, and heat if you wanted it. Over the years the dishes have mellowed, I believe, to become more palatable to a greater number of people.
Every restaurant seems to serve up the same old gloop with no individuality.

And what is this with the same orange coloured chicken in every dish and in every TA?

An interesting review of Dishoom, Kings Cross, by Giles Coren in today's Times Magazine. It was not very flattering and didn't reflect my experience at Dishoom in Shoreditch. But then the whole article seemed a promotion for the book Indian Made Easy by Amandip Uppal.

My kids got me the super-g after I saw it on the Rick Stein series. I use it all the time and it copes perfectly with everything asked of it. Makes the best garlic/ginger paste of all the gadgets I own

Quote from: chewytikka on August 22, 2016, 03:29 PM
Yes, very handy  ;D ;D  16 quid for a bowl that leaks

But you have got to hand it to them...it is designed to leak.

The holes at one end are higher than the rim at the other so rinse your dal, cover with water to soak, then drain from the leaky end. Simples!