Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: livo on October 30, 2018, 06:24 AM
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I had to go to Sydney today so I did a little shopping. I learnt straight up that it gets pretty hot so I'll need to learn to drive it. Yep. That's 964 "F after only 3 or 4 minutes with the lid on and I pulled the probe out before it melted. The gas has a primary regulator that needs to be barely cracked so you can get wall temp down to 400"F by adjusting with the burner taps.
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Also managed to obtain a set of skewers and an Ali frypan (finally). Plus some Laziza boxes (finally) and some fresh pappadums.
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Clearly a very successful trip, Livo
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Steep learning curve ahead I think. I dare say it won't be long before I realise I want a clay oven but this will have to suffice for now. It was an interesting and busy day with some 300 odd km travelled and some culturally diverse areas visited. I have taken some chicken out of the freezer so a few hours marinating tomorrow and a test run is in order.
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Would it, I wonder, accept a puddled fire-clay liner ?
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For what it cost me Phil, I'll probably just use it as is for a while and be on watch for a clay oven. I ended up paying about $260 for the tandoor and everything else for the day. This Pakistani steel tandoor normally sells for $320 new if you can find one. They are quite cheap and not well made so really it probably isn't worth the trouble.
First thing today, after marinating the chicken, is to make up some type of steel baffle plate to sit in the bottom. I think it is meant to have one. The guy I ended up buying the skewers from is a retired tandoor chef who has just closed down and sold 4 restaurants and a home delivery Indian food business. He advised me to put one in and use charcoal in conjunction with the gas to obtain better flavours. He is selling 3 commercial clay tandoor but they are far too big for my needs.
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Here are some pics of my first day ever using a Tandoor. While it worked out pretty well there is a bit to learn.
Punjabi kababs, Tandoori Chicken legs (Chewy's recipe :D) and Naan, plain and cheese (SAF Buttermilk recipe). I used charcoal in the tandoor as well as the gas so the flavour and aroma was amazing. I can still smell it on my clothes. The missing smell from the restaurants is the Tandoor. I now have it at home.
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All your efforts look lovely, I'd really like to have a tandoor, but I live on the 3rd floor and only have a balcony :( :( :(
London.
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The internet is riddled with plant pot tandoor designs and instructions. I don't recall where I read it but a few years back I saw something that said using pots could expose you to unknown heavy metals and other contaminates. If you go to the local nurseryman and ask him what's in the terracotta pots, he won't be able to tell you. I could have made one of these but decided not to. Still, I've never read about anyone dying or becoming I'll from using a homemade tandoor.
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Excellent, ;) Livo,
Joining the Home Tandoori Club.
A totally different way of high heat cooking, loads of fun!
Your photos show it was well worth your investment in time
and money. A bonus, with its handy size and a simple horizontal
rack fitted, it will do great Pizza. :D
cheers Chewy
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All your efforts look lovely, I'd really like to have a tandoor, but I live on the 3rd floor and only have a balcony :( :( :(
London.
This tandoor would easily fit on even a quite small balcony. The outside container doesn't get real hot either as there is a layer of insulation. It is smaller than a 5 kg washing machine and only weighs about 25 kg, plus it's on casters. One person can carry it but it's bulky. Easy carry for 2 people with a handle on each side.
If you can find this brand in the UK, I believe it comes in 3 sizes although this page only shows 2.
http://canonshop.pk/product-tag/canon-gas-home-tandoor-gtn-50/ (http://canonshop.pk/product-tag/canon-gas-home-tandoor-gtn-50/)
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If you can find this brand in the UK, I believe it comes in 3 sizes although this page only shows 2.http://canonshop.pk/product-tag/canon-gas-home-tandoor-gtn-50/ (http://canonshop.pk/product-tag/canon-gas-home-tandoor-gtn-50/)
I don't know whether your particular model can be found in the UK, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that a conventional (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOMESTIC-TANDOOR-OVEN-CLAY-TANDOORI-OVEN-CHARCOAL/292711165772) (albeit domestic) model (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOMESTIC-TANDOOR-OVEN-CLAY-TANDOORI-OVEN-CHARCOAL/292711165772) can be obtained in the U.K. for (just) less than
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The steel cooker Pakistani tandoor I have (if it is a tandoor by definition), are mass produced over there and are shipped anywhere depending on market demand and someone being prepared to arrange import. I made inquiry and I could have had 1 (or more) sent to me apparently.
That price for a clay tandoor is much better than over here. The size of the industry and Indian population in the UK must be the driving market force that puts downward pressure on prices. Supply and Demand. I would expect to pay at least double, probably more, for similar.
The square models are so bulky but I understand the benefit of the shape when fitted into a commercial kitchen. For my purpose of portability I prefer the cylindrical drum shape.
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Well tomorrow I'll be giving the new tandoor and the new Ali curry pan a proper test run. Today was spent in preparation with 2 kg of pre-cooked chicken breast, 1.5 kg of pre-cooked lamb and a batch of pre-cooked vegies. I've got 4 tandoori chicken legs in the marinade and a 1 kg batch of Laziza Tikka thigh fillets marinating as well. I've made 2 different batches of Naan dough (9 big ones in total) and I have defrosted a batch of the Shish Kababs I made last week. Yesterday I made a Palak Paneer from homemade paneer and I've already cooked a batch of Pilau rice this evening.
I'll have to see how I go for time but I'm planning on a mixed veggie and paneer curry, 2 lamb curries, 4 or 5 chicken curries including some of the tikka as a CTM, the tandoori chicken legs, tikka and kababs, naan, poppadums, raita and salad. I may even get a couple of samosa happening. My biggest problem is that I'm expecting nobody for dinner. :o It's Thursday. Crazy man. Me and the missus and maybe a kid or 2 (adults who'll no doubt want to eat Mexican or Italian instead of curry). But why have a tandoor and a new curry pan otherwise? I just have to do it.
I'll be putting up some pics tomorrow.
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Livo - I will be interested to compare notes with your tandoor experiences because my tandoor is near-identical to yours, As I said in another thread about cooking naans, it struck me as too risky to put naans in there because of the intense heat, But you managed it, so I'm well impressed.
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Good luck with your grand feast, also thanks for your welcome post. Livo I will look forward to your photo diary.
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George, I have a fair tolerance to heat and cold, although I've had a few burns and as I get older I'm not too fond of cold any more. I'll be testing the tandoor today and providing pics.
No worries Bob. Here is the first pic of the Navratan (Nine Gems) Korma. Pre-cooked veggies, fried paneer (home-made), and cashew nuts in a tomato cream sauce mildly spiced.
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How good is this stuff? Half of this will go into a CTM in a little while. It is so hard to not just eat it.
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Misty Ricardo CTM done. Delicious.
Obligatory Mango Chicken. Cracked it. Less Mixed Powder, Extra Mango plus Jaggery. The big thing is the Aluminium pan with enough heat to dissolve the Almond powder ( ;) CT comes through with the good oil yet again) .
Chicken Madras (Mangal Kashmiri Masala and my own Balti paste).
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Well that's the end of the chicken dishes, except, I went to the shop and bought another 2 kg of breast fillet because that Laziza Tikka marinade is so good and I couldn't waste it. I've cut another 1 kg into 14 pieces to go in the tandoor later this arvo with the Tandoori legs and shish kababs.
This one is Butter chicken which is a favourite of my No1 daughters partner. There are a couple of dishes that just have to be there every time. Slightly different this time as I'd run out of Pre-cooked breast so this one is a more traditional cook. Still pretty good though.
Well that's the inside wet cooking done. A Balti Lamb Korma and a spicy Rogan Josh. I might try some Chicken 65 if I get time, but it's outside to the Tandoor oven for now.
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Here's some pics of the Kababs. I'm running out of ticker. Long day. That's ticker not Tikka.
They are just as good defrosted from frozen as they were the other day fresh.
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Here is the second batch of Laziza Tikka (breast this time) and the Tandoori legs that have been marinating since yesterday. The tikka is so juicy. I hope you can see it in the photo.
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I don't think I'll be posting any more this arvo. The rest of my afternoon will be taken up finishing and serving. I've invited a few other drop-ins over to eat the spoils. I'll photograph the naan but you've seen naan before. So far, a 9 hour day in the kitchen with an hours break for a trip to the shop for more chicken, garlic and lemon juice. That's on top of all day yesterday doing the pre-cooks etc. Curry is hard work, but it is delicious. ;D
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Another Herculean effort! Wow! No messing when you put your mind to doing something! Looks delicious!
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Your food looks great Livo and your enthusiasm is infectious - it's what this forum needs at the moment.
How did you prepare the Laziza Tikka marinade? I've only ever bought the premade Laziza botti marinade on a jar, but this is not so easy to find in shops whereas the packet mixes seem to be more readily available. It's good that you achieved a result you were happy with.
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Well we made a pretty big hole in the food but there is plenty more. I'm a bit tired so I'll answer in detail tomorrow Sverige about the tikka. Thanks Naga. It was all delicious but I still keep coming back for the Balti lamb korma
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Some cracking looking curries being produced there, Livo. Good stuff and thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Garp. The curries were all delicious and I'm now really pleased with the level of proficiency I'm achieving. They must have been OK because there wasn't a whole lot left over.
One thing that doing a big cook like this does is illustrate the ability of full-time restaurant and T/A staff. To be able to churn this stuff out at high quality would take a lot of skill, particularly so in the smaller operations with low staff numbers. I had the luxury of time which they don't have. Of course a commercial kitchen would help. I think I had to wash up about 10 times over the course of 2 days.
Sverige, to answer your question, the Laziza Chicken Tikka Masala (Spice Mix) comes in a box of 100gms in 2 individual pouches, I think it cost me about AUD$3.00. The instruction on the back says to use:
1.5 kg of chicken pieces scored in criss-cross pattern,
1 Tbsp of Ginger Paste and
8 Tbsp of Lemon juice for
1 packet of spice mix.
I didn't read the box very well and dumped a whole packet on about 1 kg of Thigh fillets. (It didn't matter and they were just a little bit spicy). I also included some garlic and a little yogurt in the marinade to make it a bit more clingy. The instruction tells you to brush with butter / ghee / oil while rotating during the grill process. I didn't as I cooked them in the tandoor. I'm assuming this instruction is for a horizontal grill / bbq. After I'd cooked my first batch of thigh there was still plenty of marinade left so I put the kg of breast fillet in and they were fine so I would say 1/2 a packet is suitable for 1 kg of chicken quite adequately, so it's pretty affordable and easy.
Of course there would be no reason that this spice powder could not be used in conjunction with more elaborate Tikka recipes or in a Tandoori Chicken marinade. I'll be getting some more of it as I only bought 1 box to try.
Modify PS: The Balti Lamb Korma I refer to as my pick is just so reminiscent of Korma I used to enjoy from a particular restaurant 30 years ago. I loved it back then and this recipe is just so close. It was also my wife's favourite out of the batch both times I've cooked it. I've only made it twice now and it will be my turn to Korma recipe every time moving forward. I use the Misty Ricardo eBook pre-cooked lamb and then follow the Birmingham Balti Co "The Balti Secrets" book recipe for Lamb Korma Balti to the letter. page 78.
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Congratulations on your cooking marathon Mr Livo, you clearly have worked very hard i do hope you enjoyed your rewards. In particular I was very excited to see and hear all about your newly improved Naan bread recipe. Do you have any you could share please?
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Yes. The one in the other thread
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I don't think I'll be posting any more this arvo. The rest of my afternoon will be taken up finishing and serving. I've invited a few other drop-ins over to eat the spoils. I'll photograph the naan but you've seen naan before. So far, a 9 hour day in the kitchen with an hours break for a trip to the shop for more chicken, garlic and lemon juice. That's on top of all day yesterday doing the pre-cooks etc. Curry is hard work, but it is delicious. ;D
Thanks
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I should've been more helpful. Difficult to insert links on the tablet. I have been enjoying the School of Artisan Food naan.
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I like your food science and energy.