Interestingly, the owner of Pataks often eats at my favourite Nepalese restaurant here in south Manchester - the Jai Kathmandu, Platine Rd Northenden.  Waiter who is son of Jais owner tells me Patak guy is always trying to get hold of their meal recipes.
Jai sadly is boarded up at the moment re covid lockdown. They were doing takeaways a few weeks back - but now nothing.  Hope it isn't permanent closure

Hilal original owner now retired and one of his old staff has bought the place and renamed Zafraan.  The last tripadvisor reviews on Hilal in 2019 were pitiful. Hopefully the new owner was not responsible for the poor quality. I won?t be rushing to try.

Quote from: joshallen2k on December 10, 2020, 05:16 PM
Hi Iain and welcome!

I too am from Toronto. I learned to love BIR food when I lived in the UK for about 10 years.

And you're right, curries here are completely different. Mostly the same names, but very different ingredients and taste. Here a Madras has curry leaves and coconut. CTMs have green peppers and completely different sauce. Its goes on from there.

I have not yet found a BIR style restaurant in the greater GTA area. And I've probably tried most of them!

However, if you venture up to Peterborough, there's a Bangladeshi restaurant there called Shafiqs. Very close to BIR standard. Highly recommend it.

I shy away from curries with coconut mentioned in the make up - find them too sweet for my palate.
2 years ago, we took a holiday on a posh houseboat ?hotel? in Kerala run by Oberoi. Brilliant experience. 2 chefs greet you & offer the normal menu fare or ask if they can surprise you - having ascertained your likes/ dislikes. We opted for the latter. I mentioned coconut as a no-no as too sweet. The chef took great delight in including coconut in several of his dishes that weren?t remotely sweet - just to prove to me coconut was not always what I perceived it to be in Indian dishes. Fantastic experience on the Oberoi MV Vrinda - https://www.oberoihotels.com/kerala-backwaters/

Quote from: Garp on December 05, 2020, 08:08 PM

Quote from: Ghoulie on December 05, 2020, 04:55 PM
I have mentioned on here before that Blumenthal did an mri scan to check the effect of spices in yoghurt marinade & found the penetration was much deeper
https://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/spicy-marinade-for-infusing-chicken-spices-heston-blumenthal.html

I recall that Gooly; and I recall that there was no comparison made between using yogurt and using lemon juice with regard to 'penetration'.

The Guardian link mentioned is also worth a read - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/may/27/best-barbecue-bbq-marinade-recipe

Quote from: Gaspodia on December 05, 2020, 01:00 PM
I'm going to give the yoghurt thing a go next time I cook a chicken curry too - it wasn't in my handed down family recipe, but it might be a change to my version if it works out well!

The only dish I currently use yoghurt for is Kadhi, which I've always made with plain potato slices that are cooked in the sauce but I see the internet disagrees with my recipe and most people seem to make it with pakora that are added at a late stage of cooking.

I have mentioned on here before that Blumenthal did an mri scan to check the effect of spices in yoghurt marinade & found the penetration was much deeper
https://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/spicy-marinade-for-infusing-chicken-spices-heston-blumenthal.html

Tandoori chicken

Tandoori prawns sprinkled with chilli flakes

Tandoori chicken

From 2014 post


Chicken version -Marinate boneless chick thighs in a creamy yogurt mixed with a dash of cinnamon, black lime powder, olive oil and salt to taste. Grill till crispy brown. Wrap in warmed pitta bread with fresh tomatoes, onion and a swish of garlic mayo


Lamb version ( my preference)....marinated and cooked the same....Wrap in warmed pitta bread with fresh tomatoes, onion , mint, garlic except a swish of Tahine sauce....Yeeeeaaahhh. The tahine sauce makes all the difference with the lamb version.

To make the Tahine sauce :-

Tahini sauce for shawarmas

Try this method, 150 ml tahini paste. 150ml water. 80ml lemon juice. 2 crushed garlic cloves. 1/2 tsp. salt. 30gm flat leaf parsley, finely chopped. Whisk tahini, water,lemon juice,garlic & salt until creamy & smooth. If it's too thick add more water. Stir in the parsley. Whisk again.

black lime powder = dried limes which are then grated to a powder

All the best

Ghoulie

nil carborundum illegitimi

Jamie & Jimmy Friday night food prog last week Channel 4 - Jamie did an unbelievably tasty looking mushroom shawarma - ideal for veggies and well worth a go - looked superb.  Get it on catchup tv - or look here - https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/mushroom-recipes/crispy-mushroom-shawarma/