THis seems to be a simpler recipe than the others I have come across.

When ever I cook onion bhajis they come out 'floury' on this inside.

I am guess that I am under cooking them.

It will have been 14-years (on Christmas Day) since I left England, but I am beginning to think that they should be cooked more (almost slightly burnt, in taste) with a darker golden colour and a crunchier taste.

Any feedback appreciated.

I do not believe that I have eaten a dansak before (I'm a vindaloo man).  But this was DAMN good!

I was cautious about using the sugar and lemon (the first time I made your pilau rice I added the sugar, that was given in the recipe, and it made it WAY too sweet.  So, I alternated adding small amounts of sugar and lemon juice until I had added the amount given in the recipe. 

It was SO good that I'm having the second half for dinner this evening.

Since I have never eaten a dansak before I have no idea how close it is to a true dansak, but I'll be making it again real soon (maybe tomorrow) as I have some green lentils left over from this morning.

Nope, the photos are correct...I made them a few days apart, so I know they are right.

It tasted DAMN good!!!

I have found that just using this ingredients list:

500g basmati rice
6 tbsp butter ghee
12 whole green cardamom pods
1 inch long stick cassia bark (or cinnamon stick)
2? liters water
1 tsp fresh garlic puree (or bottled)
? tsp fresh ginger puree (or bottled)
1 tsp cumin seeds
? tsp black (brown) mustard seeds
4 fresh curry leaves (or dried)
? tsp salt
Red food coloring (liquid)
Yellow food coloring (liquid)
Green food coloring (liquid)

gives me a better tasting rice (for my palette).

This is last weekend's prawn jalfrezi, using Cory Andre's recipe.  I also used Cory Ander's spicy oil and curry base recipes.



The tomatoes had just gone in, when I took this picture, so they had not had a chance to cook.
I'm a vindaloo man, but I'll be cooking this again.

Here's a chicken madras I made, last week, using this recipe:



I used Cory Ander's spicy oil and curry base, for this recipe.

I'll be making this again.

I cooked this for lunch today, using Cory Ander's recipe.  I do not believe that I have ever eaten a dansak before (I'm a vindaloo man) so I don't know how accurate it is.  HOWEVER I'll be cooking this regularly and I'll be ordering it when I am next in an Indian restaurant.  Sadly, even though we have amazing restaurants in Las Vegas (off the Strip, as well as on the Strip) there are no decent Indian restaurants here.  The closest is in San Francisco.  The best I found in San Francisco is Pakwan (it looks disgusting, from the outside, but the food gets an 11 out of 10 - it's BIR good).  You'll find it on the corner of O'Farrell and Jones.

Since I already had multiple batches of Cory Ander's spicy oil and curry base, these are what I used today.  The only variant I used was instead of chicken breasts I used chicken thighs (I removed the skins and bones, and cut the meat into 1-inch pieces).

I was skeptical about adding the 2 tsp of lemon juice and 2 tsp of sugar, so I added each in small quantities and tasted it as I went along. The 2 tsps of each was exactly right (for my tastes).

Luckily, here in Las Vegas (where I live) I have a PHENOMENAL Indian store and he sells EVERYTHING I need.  When my Indian friends in the San Francisco/Bay Area send me recipes they will often mention a specific brand of spices.  The New India Market ALWAYS has exactly what I am looking for and ALWAYS even has the brand I am looking for!  When I lived in England, I lived in Bethnal Green (within walking distance of Brick Lane) and yet here in Las Vegas it is easier to get all the spices I need!

I've made this 4 times now and have found that if I add the sugar it just doesn't taste right for my palette, so I do not add that, anymore.

The key (I believe) is NOT to overcook it, as you so rightly emphasize.

Also, I have been tending to add too much food coloring (it doesn't take a lot) so that's also something I need to be careful off.

It's an OUTSTANDING recipe.  I'd been trying to get rice right for over twenty years, and it seemed that no matter what I did I ended up with a bowl of stodgy, sticky rice.

Thanks for sharing.

It will be 13 years (on Christmas Day) since I left England, and so it's at least 13 years since I last had a good Mulligatawny.  Here in the USA you can not even buy tinned Mulligatawny, because (allegedly) it had beef in it and the Americans are petrified that they will get mad cow disease from any beef imported from England...

My recollection of it is as a spicy, curried barley soup, so start with this recipe (and see how far off my memory is):

Ingredients
4 cups chicken stock
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions
Melt the ghee and fry the ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper and garam masala, for about 30 seconds.
Add 1/2 cup of barley and coat the barley with the ghee and spice mixture.
Add 4 cups chicken stock.
Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring, to make sure the barley does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add 4 cups vegetable stock.
Simmer for 30 minutes


The reason I add two kinds of stock at different time is because the first time I made it I only added the 4 cups of chicken stock so it reduce too far down, and the starch from the barley thickened it up too much, so (since I only had vegetable stock left).  I liked this, so I kept the recipe.  The stock I use (here in the USA) is the Kitchen basics brand (which is the lowest in sodium, at 14%), so you don't get that 'dry' sensation in your mouth, like after eating tinned or packaged soup.

I suspect that it needs thin strands of chicken and also needs to be either clearer or requited more turmeric (to give it a more yellow colour)

I'd LOVE to hear from others who can suggest improvements, and to make it authentic.

It's still lacking something, but it's good (especially on cold days...of which we get very few, here is Las Vegas!!!).

My local Indian supermarket owner (here in Las Vegas) has always been very knowledgeable.  However, I would like to double check on something that he has told me.

I have a few recipes that use both cloves AND lovage and he tells me that they are the same thing.

Is this true?  if it is not, do you have any idea what I should be asking for when I ask him for lovage?

Thanks.