Hi Folks,

After a superb Raan of Turkey at Christmas and some inspiration from Curryqueen I finally got round to making it for myself.

So here's a photo of the full spread I made.

The Raan was made to the Pat Chapman recipe and although a few of us don't have too much faith in his general recipes I can thoroughly reccomend this one. It is superb! He gives the recipe for Lamb but also says it adapts to Chicken or Turkey which it certainly does.
I marinated it for the full 60 hours and cooked it uncovered and breast side down for the prescribed time. It needed covering with foil about half way through as otherwise I feel it might have burned. The skin is removed at the start so I think it more important to protect the meat from drying out.
However, the resulting meat was beautifully moist and so flavorful I can't praise this dish enough.

Clockwise from the left is:- Raan of Turkey, Chicken Patia, Bombay Potatoes, Tandoori Chicken drumsticks, Pakora's and vegetable Samosa's. The dish at the back which is harder to see was Tikka chicken wings. Apart from the Samosa's and Pakora's which I bought ( cheat ) the rest was home made.
The two curry dishes were made using the "100 Best Balti" base which is quite superb.

Hope this gives you some inspiration to get cooking and for you George this photo was taken on the new camera, and for you Darth it's time to put your hand in your pocket and get your missus one, after all you can always borrow it for your galactic missions!

Regards

Ray

Now then Darth,

Stop making excuses about the quality of the wife's phone and get the girl a nice digital camera. After all you must have a few bob in the galactic bank from all your plundering and pillaging around the universe over the years!

Besides you can always nick it from time to time to get some cracking phot'os you can show of your spectacular base!

Ray

Yep,

I have got to agree with everyone else. Star Anise is like rocket fuel so beware!! and Lovage is just the same!
I tried and better tried to give the Kushi Book and it's recipes a chance but have now sadly come to the conclusion it is NOT what we are all looking for.

I made one or two curries which were quite nice and fairly tasty but as for the answer to the BIR taste it is sadly lacking. I tend to gravitate back to the base sauce from the "100 Best" book and for a simple and effective CTM use the "Balti Kitchen" base which for me is easy and a quick sauce to make and impresses everyone.

Ray

Hi,

Here is a foolproof rice with spices that gets great comments every time.

3 Cups Basmati Rice, washed a few times until water runs clear then drained
1 pint Water
1 oz Butter
4 green Cardamoms, Whole
4 Cloves, Whole
3 x 1" pieces Cinnamon Bark
4 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Salt.

Once the rice is washed and drained put everything into a fairly large saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and cover the pan.
Cook on low for exactly 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave for 10 mins.

At this point you can make up a small seperate amount ( about 2 Tbsps ) of Yellow Food colouring and Red Food colouring. Add this to the rice in a cross like pattern. gently fork the rice to fluff up and mix in the colours. Remove the whole spices if you prefer.

If you are not keen on food colouring then add 1 tsp Turmeric powder at the start.

Regards and good luck,

Ray

Hi Cash and Curry,

Great photo's. The Red Curry's look fantastic. can you give us an idea of the recipes and techniques.
Do you have a means to make JPeg files as these can simply be uploaded through the Cr0 website.
Although as George recently showed me they may need to be reduced in size first to fit the screen.

Regards

Ray

You know, it's just great to have photo's to back up the posting. It gives an idea if we are on the right track or not and a chance to appreciate other folks efforts. nice photo's and looks very appetising. The base sauce looks just like I get using either Darth's base or the 100 Best Base. What was your opinion of the final taste? Near to the BIR or not? do you use any spicing in your rice?

Regards

Ray

Then treat yourself to a good set of cast iron pans. It might add to the weight of your death star at take off but at least your curries won't burn!!

Ray

Hi Nige,

There are a few places over here that sell fresh Coriander which is minced in jars which is at least an alternative to fresh. Perhaps you might know a few people back here in the U.K. that can get a few jars in their suitcase next time they come over to see you.

Regards

Ray

Hello,

And welcome to the site.

If you don't get the answers you want from here I shall be very surprised............this place has it all!!

Get stuck in and enjoy your curry experience.

Ray

Hi All,

Thanks for the links which were interesting.

I seem to find very few clues to sites selling traditional Cast Iron Balti Pans. Most sell pretty shiny stainless steel pans as do a lot of the larger stores we have over here such as Asda, John Lewis etc, etc. These are mainly used for presentation and can't be used to cook in as they are too thin and burn easily. Most of the restaurants I have near me never use stainless steel but only use cast iron balti pans.

The pans I bought came from a large asian outlet near me which ( if big enough ) can be used to cook the final dish which a lot of BIR's near me do.

They are heavy and can be used like a proper saucepan to completely cook a dish if that's what you want to do.
They are then used to serve the dish to the table hot and sizzling which obviously adds to the effect.

The trouble is these pans seem to frequently go out of stock yet to me they are superb to cook in and are a great dish to present a curry in so why are they not available everywhere all of the time??

Ashes,
If you can get an address to contact in Handsworth that would be great.

Regards

Ray