well i went to the garden centre. got a packet of mixed habanero and scotch bonnets.

just stuck 10 of them in a pot and stuck on the windowsill. The pack doesint give any indication of which variation so pot luck realy.

says on pack to sow march/april.


heres hoping im not to late. im thinking of buying a growlight saw some on ebay, that would certainly help them along. been real poor light conditions this spring very overcast.

my other 2 chilli plants have 2 sets of leaves on them so perhaps they will start to grow big and strong now, no idea though what type they are.

got 2 tomato plants on the gow which i planted same time as the chillies they are coming along very nicely, about 14 inch high and very healthy looking.

hows everyone else doing?

ok i will give it a whirl. going to buy a little propagator to help them along. hope the garden centre has some seeds.


also

there is this great sounding chilli weekend thing at http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/phpBB3/index.php


sounds like a blast. im going to go and i live in the far north of scotland.

i was wondering if any other curry peeps on here wanted to go? , it a camping weekend thing as well.

So wouldnt it be great to meet up here, cook a curry on the stove and have beer.

hello

ive got 2 chilli plants on the go, must be 8 weeks now since i planted from seed. They are coming along very slowly. ive repotted them ect.

Im real disapointed i never started more off, the chillies i have i dont even know what kind they are, once growing more i will post a few pics maybe someone can help me with identification.

Anyhow this is a begging letter realy. I was wondering if anyone has some spare plants they wouldnt mind posting me. I will gladly give you postage costs. Perhaps you grew too many and be a shame to dump them.

i have been taking pics of the ones i have and will post the pics in here from seeding's on when they get on further by the summer.


regards




ps: i showed the wife a few pics posted on here in another thread of they peter penis ones overwise known as chilly willies. She now is intrested in chillies too. lol

i tend to throw garlic/ginger/onions/fresh chilli all into the hot oil together at start of recipe.

just seems easiest way and quickest.

for chilli powder i often add with the meat/base/ passata/vinegar/lemon all other spice mix/coriander together.


takes 5 mins tops in total.


then again maybe i gotta change doing this.

im starting to suspect making a curry at a run of the mill bir is more a case of making a ready meal from packets, cant see you average bir spending all day chopping garlic ect when you can get frozen crushed garlic in packets. and ive been in a bir kitchen many times, ive even delivered stuff for them from brake brothers wholesalers. And in the store room there is jar upon jar of pataks.

its funny but its just around the time pataks became popular that we all found the old fashioned style of curries just disapeared. coincidence? i think not.


so im thinking

pataks
pre-bought spice mixes
bhaji mix


i bet a monkey could make anything in your average bir within 6 months of being pot washer.

This also confirms with me the fact lots of the new cooks are british born, the old style cooks were taught in bangladesh. And such a large industry like any other will have lots of standardisation and companies selling goods to make life easier ie pataks and huds ect.

your average curry house cook will really be no more educated or skilled than a burger flipper at mcdonalds.

maybe we try to hard, perhaps we aint getting the taste because our cooking is more complicated, perhaps that ellusive taste sits at the bottom of a jar of pataks.

its like trying to replicate the old kfc recipe we will never do it. what we probably need is for one of them to admit whats jars and pre made mixes they are using.

The only thing they are scared of is us finding out how pathetically easy it is.


sorry for going off topic and rambling, im just a cynic and dont believe these 20 year old chefs i see cooking in these places have built up 30 years experience to obtain a high skill.

indeed from school dinners, but then why cant school dinners create a proper curry. im suprised there aint raisins in it too.

its realy quite odd that basically every other food type creation is out there in abundance to re-create, everything but the fare of probably our most popular eateries.

im begining to think the reason its kept a secret is because if we knew what was in it we wouldnt eat it.

found this little gem. jamie tells the secret of making a curry base. with of course lentils, cinnamin and coconut milk.

tut tut


http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/curry-recipes/curry-base-sauce#commentsForm

this is a great thread, one of the best on the site. surely with this we are close to putting the onion bhaji debate to sleep.

im going to try this on wednesday, my last few attempts were a disaster and i pretty much gave up, main reason is we never had a deep fat fryer in the house. today im heading out to buy myself one. You just cant work it with a wok full of oil.

will post pics of my attempt.

bump

Quote from: pizzaman on April 10, 2010, 09:51 AM
Hi all
I have noticed one thing in all your recepies for pizza sauce is that you are heavily flavouring the tomato sauce?This is ok for a deep pan american style pizza that could not be further away from an authentic thin based napoletana stone baked pizza.I make the most simpliest of bread recipes possible as it is not necassary to add anything else,strong bread flour,dried yeast ,water and salt thats it!
The secret to a great pizza is good quality toppings an less is more!!
But the main secret is the pizza oven,i have a built in pizza oven at home that reaches 500 degrees centigrade so thats twic as hot as a conventional domestic oven.My pizza's cook in approximately 90 seconds!

Maybe next time i cook some i will shoot a video so if anyone is interested then let me know.


pizzaman

i just gotta see that. i agree the oven is the thing. i have an electric oven only and it slightly lets my pizza's down. with the right oven i would be near perfection if not there. The base is slightly soft in my pizza's due to pasting the wet sauce on before cooking so i now give the base 5 mins oven time on its own. this helps to create a crispier pizza.

twice a day for me.










na twice a week about average, wont buy a takeaway now though occasionally go for a sit in curry. i think im addicted to chilli.