I think most bags of frozen chicken breasts have water and various chemicals added 'for succulence'.  Check the labels carefully!

George I certainly wasn't knocking the 70's, I remember them too!  ;D  I should have said homemade curries from the 70's. Luckily my mum did a passable authentic style curry - complete with onion salad - but I remember the horrors produced at other people's tables..

I usually go for chicken when it comes to indian or chinese food as I've encountered too many gristly, fatty bits of meat for my liking, a shame because chicken is quite boring!

There was an indian takeaway shop near me that had duck, beef and several types of fish on the menu but they closed after a short time before I could try some.

Quote from: paast10 on August 31, 2005, 10:35 AM
Thank you for posting that Ray....now I feel silly saying this but this site has the Jamie Oliver e-book!? I just found it and went through the file and this recipe is there too.? Sorry to have you spend so much time writing it in when I should? have looked properly for it first?
But I am having an awful time finding fresh curry leaves!? We dont have any indian stores near us and even though Asda's website says they have it, I called a few of them and they dont have it.

Payal

Hi Payal, Asda in Leicester (Oadby) have fresh curry leaves, that's where I do all my shopping. They usually have a fairly good selection of specialist Indian ingredients in this store due to the strong asian community in Leicester. They do big bags of dhal, atta, besan etc, as well as huge cans of vegetable ghee, large bags of spices etc.  (I noticed in another post you said you visited Leicester!).

This sauce sounds really yummy, I shall give it a go next week I think.  Thanks!  ;D

Oh the horror of 'curries' from the 70's!? ? I have quite a large collection of cookbooks and the curry recipes in the older ones (50's -late 70's) are usually chopped apple and sultanas, teaspoon of Branston Pickle and half teaspoon of curry powder!? It's a miracle we ever took to the stuff.

Thanks Ray, I think we have the solution! I've bought some sunflower oil to use instead and will save the olive oil for other cooking.

Many thanks for your help and advice Payal.   I think the problem may have been because I used olive oil, which has a lower burning temperature than vegetable oil, I think.

I've been going wrong here too, so this thread has been really helpful.   I spoilt a potato and veg dish the other day by overcooking the mustard and cumin seeds, this wouldn't have happened if I had cooked the garlic, ginger and onion first. So many recipes start off by 'popping' the seeds and cooking the dry spices first, though. I'm going to try the other way next time!

Payal, I  look forward to trying your recipes, they sound very good. Thanks!    (They seem like the sort of thing my children will enjoy too - yes my kids are also curry freaks!).