A Cracking Curry

[John Brown]

Made this tonight.
Followed the instructions to the letter.
Very tasty, but a little too hot for me, which equates to a lot too hot for my wife.
Next time I will halve the chilli powder quantity. Or use regular chili powder, rather than "hot chili powder".
I have to see if this chef has a garlic chili chicken recipe, as that is one of my favourite dishes.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My friend didn't like curry til he spent four years at Bradford university in the '70s. - now he'd eat it for breakfast. I Haven't yet found one I would eat unless I was dying of starvation. I detest the taste of cumin, caraway, coriander, turmeric and one or two others.

 

[Dibs-h]

Made this tonight.
Followed the instructions to the letter.
Very tasty, but a little too hot for me, which equates to a lot too hot for my wife.
Next time I will halve the chilli powder quantity. Or use regular chili powder, rather than "hot chili powder".
I have to see if this chef has a garlic chili chicken recipe, as that is one of my favourite dishes.

Glad you gave it a go. :wink:

I'd say go with regular chilli powder. We don't use anything other than normal one. But if you've got the hot one, no point wasting it, so a good idea to try halving it.

And maybe adjust things to suit your own palate - I.e. whether you like it more tomato'ee or less. And same with onions. Dopiaza is just double onions in the base

Do - 2 or double
Piaza - onions.

:lol:

I'll ask the Mrs about garlic chicken - see if she knows. Lol

Oh, worth trying chicken on the bone instead of boneless. I find it nicer. Just using small drumsticks is really nice. :wink:

 

[Dibs-h]

For garlic chicken, for the same measures for the chicken masala use anywhere from 2-4 more garlic cloves depending on how garlicy you like it.

Would suggest using 2 extra and step it up a little everytime until your happy with it.

Could a try little less than half the chilli powder (normal one) and add 1/3 tsp chilli flakes as well. (Add at the same time).

Should give you a starting point.

See how you get on.

 

[chaoticbob]

Looks good Dibs-h - but what garam masala did you use? It does seem to make a difference - some of the shop-bought ones are like sawdust.
Bob.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Re chilli powder - there are normally only 4 ingredients: cumin, garlic, oregano and chilli seed. I only know this because I am a big chilli con carne fan, and there is no such thing as chilli powder in sunny Greece. Given how basic it is, we make our own now (well, throw the four ingredients in when cooking, which is nearly the same). The good news is you can get it to taste of chilli (that'll be the cumin) without it being insanely hot. Why is chilli powder always so spicy? No need for food that hurts.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Heifer - young cow of breeding age that has not yet had a calf.
Cow - has had at least one calf.
Bull - intact male capable of breeding.
Steer - neutered male, usually grown on for beef.
Bullock - neutered male, sometimes grown on for beef, sometimes used as a draught animal.
Ox - neutered male, usually used as a draught animal.

(I think ... and there may be others!)

When I was a lad, our next-door-nighbour always used to say, "Better way get they bullocks in for milkin'". Always eyewatering.

Makes an impression when you are at an impressionable age.

 

[Dibs-h]

Looks good Dibs-h - but what garam masala did you use? It does seem to make a difference - some of the shop-bought ones are like sawdust.
Bob.

Hi Bob,

In all fairness I think its shop bought. Some of the old dears mix their own and because of the quantities of the ingredients involved - spend the next few months giving it away. :lol:

Try a brand such as East Rnd or Rajas.

HIH

Dibs

P.s. I'll double check with the Mrs when she gets back from work.

 

[Dibs-h]

Re chilli powder - there are normally only 4 ingredients: cumin, garlic, oregano and chilli seed. I only know this because I am a big chilli con carne fan, and there is no such thing as chilli powder in sunny Greece. Given how basic it is, we make our own now (well, throw the four ingredients in when cooking, which is nearly the same). The good news is you can get it to taste of chilli (that'll be the cumin) without it being insanely hot. Why is chilli powder always so spicy? No need for food that hurts.

I think that's the case for perhaps most chilli powders with the exception of that used in the Indian sub continent. There the chilli powder is just ground chillies.

You get a few variants. For instance Kashmiri chilli powder is hotter due to the type of chilli that it's made of.

In case anyone's interested,

https://simpleindianrecipes.com/Homemad ... owder.aspx

Hih

Dibs

P.s. some households do use a spice blend that's already been made up. Either by "granny" or someone who's learnt. Or you can buy the commercially made version. In which case you'll just see them using some amount of this and no other spices. You'd still see garlic, ginger and salt go in.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/

are great for herbs and spices. You need a £30 order to get free P&P but it's not difficult.
I've bought from them for five years and haven't bought anything that wasn't first class yet.
Try the chilli coated peanuts.

 

[Dibs-h]

Garam Masala:

The Mrs buys this one:

- sorry for the big picture, did try and make it smaller.

puts in the grinder\spice mill attachment of the food processor and gives it a quick buzz and ends up with this:

 

[Bm101]

A year old bullock or heifer is called a Stirk.

(edit: There's a whole page of replies I missed before posting this, apologies)

Also: unless you are getting your meat at Smithfield at 5AM good luck asking for Stirk at anything other than a countryside/farmshop or really good local butcher. You won't find it in the supermarket obviously.

Also Also: If you are local enough to do it and have the time and inclination to try buying meat at a big reduction and don't mind an early start, do have a visit to Smithfield. I tend to just buy for Christmas there because 'life' But I'm up at that time anyway and often nearby. It's noisy and raucous but it's safe as houses, it's probably the safest place in London at 5am tbh. What Lunatic would start trouble there?!? 400 nutty butchers armed to the teeth with razor sharp knives lol. :roll:
Mostly they are more than happy to sell you whatever you want but don't be standing about dithering and going ' no not that sausage, the other one' Just saying.
There's a pub there with a 24 hour License. This is a fact known mostly by delivery drivers supplying the restaurant trade, window cleaners and cabbies as well as the market men obviously.
And now you.
You can get a full English, Two egg and Chips, Sausage Bacon Beans, the works, and a good pint of Guinness at any hour. 24-7.
Not sure they do Avacado and eggs benedict with seaweed water mind. Them folks aren't up that early in the day anyway.
This is insider knowledge mind. Don't share it with just anyone. :|

 

[Dibs-h]

A year old bullock or heifer is called a Stirk.

Isn't that also called a yearling? Or am I mixing up bovine and equine terms?

 

[Bm101]

Had to google it... a stirk is purely a name for cattle.
Whereas a yearling is
"An animal that is between one and two years old.
A racehorse that is considered to be one year old until a subsequent January 1st."
At least according to that website.

Anyway. My mate swears by a book called The Curry Secret.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002S0KC1M/ ... TF8&btkr=1
I do have a cheap copy but I have never used it to my shame, I tend to stick to a few tried and tested Madhur Jaffrey recipes that I basically freestyle these days. No measuring. I doubt my curries are authentic but I'm not sure what they are supposed to be authentic to?
Continental Indian food? British Indian food? UK Indian restaurant /takeaway food?
I listened to a great show on Radio 4 about a women who was setting up restaurants where Indian women were cooking traditional food from home kitchens basically. Some I think were home visits which I would find a little odd personally, although probably a brilliant evening or lunch. The other one was a restaurant but not a fancy one. Almost a drop in type cafe.
I have had a search, closest I can find is the Darjeeling Express which is an obviously highly regarded female only Chef Restaurant but I don't think it's the same woman. https://www.darjeeling-express.com/ppdw ... vofiulp73w
If anyone has more knowledge on this please share!
At a time when we are seeing that 'curry houses' are shutting down due to staff shortages maybe it's time to address some formative issues about women working or at least providing an accessible means of gaining access to the means to work ?
Anyway. I'll be quiet now. :roll:

 

[Trainee neophyte]

A year old bullock or heifer is called a Stirk.

Isn't that also called a yearling? Or am I mixing up bovine and equine terms?

I was going to mention the hoary old joke with the punchline, "The farmer called them effers, but we knew what he meant", but I've just had a dejá vu moment.

So I won't mention it.

Glad that's all settled, then.

(Let me know if you do want the rest of the joke, now that I've given you the punchline, but I'm convinced it was brought up here not so long ago).

 

[Dibs-h]

At a time when we are seeing that 'curry houses' are shutting down due to staff shortages maybe it's time to address some formative issues about women working or at least providing an accessible means of gaining access to the means to work ?
Anyway. I'll be quiet now. :roll:

Unfortunately or otherwise "working in a restaurant" has always been seen as something in the bottom 5 jobs that could be done - by the communities in question.

Historically the owners got minted and the staff just survived. Real shame really.

So not entirely sure if women would want to do it.

Not withstanding that, I have come across quite a few instances where perhaps they've thought "we've cooked at home for years.." and then gone ahead with a commercial venture - supplying gourmet meals (fresh, frozen, chilled), event catering etc.

All power to them.

 

[Bm101]

Fair play Dibs.