Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: livo on September 17, 2014, 01:57 AM
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The original recipe comes from a book called "1000 Recipes Indian, Chinese, Thai and Asian". I am using only the ingredients listed from the book with 2 exceptions being a small amount of Mix Powder and Brown Sugar being added since these are required for the Base Gravy I'm going to use.
edit: Not pictured is 4 dried curry leaves on each side. Also the pre-cooked chicken recipe called for 1 cardamom pod, a tiny piece of cassia bark, 4 black peppercorns and half a dozen cumin seeds so in order to properly compare, I also added the same to the book version by throwing them in with the cooking onions before the chicken was added.
Here are pics showing the prepared ingredients.
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Huge pieces of chicken livo! :o
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Huge pieces of chicken livo! :o
300grams on each plate cut into 7 pieces. I don't like tiny pieces as they can become dry, particularly breast. I'll cut these in half once precooked and to be fair I'll also cut the other dish in half as well.
Precooked Chicken.
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AP's / JV's original Base Gravy.
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Book method. (part 1)
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Book Method. (Part 2)
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I have to take a break for an hour or so while I go out. I'll finish the BIR style when I return.
The book version is delicious and so easy, so the BIR dish has to be real good to make it worth the extra time and effort. Book version has noticeable chopped onion but that doesn't concern me.
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BIR Style Finishing off. (Part 1)
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BIR Style Finishing Off. (Part 2)
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Well that was fun. As you'd expect, the two variations are different but I'd not like to say I prefer one over the other. The Book Recipe is more robust and zingy, while the BIR is smoother and the different flavours come out more individually. The chicken pieces in the BIR dish are juicier / more moist and have better flavour development as you'd expect by being pre-cooked.
The biggest advantage of the BIR style is that I only used a portion of the Base Gravy and there is enough left to do another 5 the same, so there you have good reason for the shops to do it that way.
As with most curries, I think they'll be even better tomorrow. Either one is delicious and perfectly acceptable. Next I'll do one using the Aussie method and compare that as well.
Now dinner is served.
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Why / how come / how the dramatic change of colour between these two stages, Livo ? It is almost as if they are two different dishes, one based on normal chicken and one on chicken tikka ...
** Phil.
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BIR Style Finishing Off. (Part 2)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13287.0;attach=3969;image)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13287.0;attach=3970;image)
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Just put a couple of drops of Pillar Box Red in it mate to experiment with colouring. I never use food colour but thought I'd see how much it took to make a difference. Plus the Rabbitoh's are Red and Green.
Red Chicken and Green chilli and coriander.
One of the videos I watched last night showed a guy making up his restaurant's Tomato sauce and he put red food colour in it, so everything that had the tomato sauce in it would be red.
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Anyone else no able to view the photos unless clicking on them?
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They just came straight up for me as soon as I posted them lc.
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I'm unable to view them - either on a laptop or ipad. When I click on them an error message is produced
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Forget that, I can now see them on my laptop - needed time for them to download - they don't seem to work with an ipad though.
Nice pictures - thanks!
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Just put a couple of drops of Pillar Box Red in it mate to experiment with colouring.
OK, obviously a personal matter, but for me the red colour is off-putting; if I am served a red curry in a restaurant, I immediately assume they have used chicken tikka in it rather than fresh, and send it back if they have (unless it is declared as based on chicken tikka on the menu). Using chicken tikka rather than pre-cooked chicken seems increasingly common these days (especially in the so-called house/chef's specials -- fancy names, fancy prices, and usually rubbish compared to a simple bhuna, dhansak, Madras or vindaloo), and I for one dislike the effect on the finished dish.
** Phil.
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I have to agree Phil. It's weird how the colour affects our notion of what we expect in a curry. In the photos above the orangey couloured madras looks great but the addition of red colouring ruins it for me.
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One of my most favouritist ever curries was a Punjabi Massala from a curry house in Arbroath.
It was a vivid bright red and made me sweat just by opening the carton.
Fantastic stuff, so I don't have too much of an issue with the actual colour of things, but just with how much toxic, radioactive glass coated asbestos was gently ground up to make it taste so good.
Now anything containing Dihydrogen Monoxide is a different kettle of worms and should be treated with caution. :P
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Not at all keen myself on red food colour added to the madras, it looked absolutely fine prior to this addition.
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Livo,
Your a double of me. Love your interest.
Could you list the ingredients. Also when the whole spice is added.
I can't say I'm sold on balti madras but most won't realise that balti is very different. I know lots of BIR pass it off exactly as you say.
A suggestion would be to leave the meat out. That way your taste buds focus on the curry sauce. Get that right and it's win win
Difficult from the pic but I feel sure you should try some of the site bases.
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Been asleep over here. To answer some of the points made.
Food colouring, as I said, is not something I ever do, other than very rarely in Tandoori Chicken. I saw the video on a chef putting red food dye powder in the batch of Tomato Sauce and just thought I'd see how much liquid dye it would take to change the colour of a small dish. Purely experimental and judging by the response here it won't be something I'll do too often in the future. Also note that the photos you are referring to were cooked during the early evening and taken under artificial light, whereas the Book Version was made in the mid day under natural light. This makes it seem much redder than it actually was.
JerryM:- The sauce from the Book Version eaten on it's own was delicious. There was left over after I'd taken it out of the pan and into the takeaway foil tray so I ate it. Yum.
The ingredient list for both preps were exactly the same.
Fresh
300 grams Chicken Breast
3 Small onions (2 medium)
3 Tbsp Tomato Puree (not Paste)
1 tsp Garlic Paste
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 Green Chilli (seeded and chopped finely)
Juice of 1 Fresh Lemon
Whole Spices (only the curry leaves were called for in the original recipe list)
1 Green Cardamom Pod
Tiny piece of Cassia Bark (only 1" by 1/4")
4 or 5 Black Peppercorns
Pinch of cumin Seed
4 Curry Leaves ( I'll have to check back on what I did to recall when I used these. You might see them show up in the pics.)
Powdered Spices
1 1/2 tsp ground Coriander
1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder ( I only used 1/2 tsp as I needed my family to try it)
1/4 tsp ground Fennel Seed
1/4 tsp Tumeric
large pinch ground fenugreek
Other
1 tsp Salt
300 ml Water
Vegetable Oil as required / preferred
Chopped Coriander leaves to garnish (optional)
Book Version (dead easy / bordering on lazy)
Essentially the tomato puree, water, lemon juice and all the powdered spices are combined in a bowl and set aside.
Cut up the onion and fry in oil, adding the salt and G/G pastes part way through the cooking. The original recipe here did not call for any whole spices but I put them in at the frying stage just so both dishes had all the exact same ingredients. I guess they should be fried off first to season the oil. I didn't as they were an afterthought part way through.
When the onion is done (clear) add the chicken pieces and fry off for 2 minutes to seal.
Add the tomato Puree mixture and stir through while bringing up to heat.
Cover and simmer for 8 - 10 minutes.
Garnish with chopped green chilli and coriander if used.
BIR Style (required extra water for Base Gravy)
Note:- this version actually ended up with only about 1 full onion in the final dish as I did not use anywhere near the full amount of Base Gravy. This probably explains why the Book Version is a more robust dish.
You should be able to follow the pictures.
I used 1/2 an onion and part of the tomato puree along with a bit of the salt, 1/2 the G/G paste and the whole spices, turmeric and mix powder to precook the chicken. Small amount of oil and water to cover. This took about 20 minutes.
Link to pre-cooked chicken. http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,13291.0.html#new (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,13291.0.html#new)
I used 2 whole onions to prepare a small batch of AP/JV Original Base Gravy, very thin.
I then used the remaining 1/2 onion, G/G paste, powdered spices and Tomato puree to Tarka.
Added spoon by spoon Base Gravy till I had what I thought was enough sauce in the pan.
Added the pre-cooked chicken and heated through.
Garnish and serve.
(note) judging by the above feedback, do not add RED PILLAR BOX colouring agent.
I'm not even sure this is "Balti". The book in question describes Balti style as mild curries then gives recipes for "Balti Madras" and "Balti Vindaloo".
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Purely experimental and judging by the response here it won't be something I'll do too often in the future.
A word of advice livo - cook for yourself and do what pleases you and the people you cook for. There are plenty of opinions expressed here but if you let yourself be swayed you'll never make any progress towards your own goals. That's a general point, not anything specifically about food colouring - just that accepting someone else's advice just because they seem more experienced is very dangerous on here.
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Interesting comparison, and a good topic, thanks for the effort! Myself I like cooking BIR rather than traditional, I find I like the natural colour of my food. ;)
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DB:- I'm here to learn as much as I can. I take everything in and absorb what suites me. I am not a fan of artificial anything in food and as a rule I don't use colouring agents. It was just a bit of a trial to see how it went. I do understand where you are coming from though and thanks.
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livo,
many thanks for detail info - appreciated.
only the curry leaves and fenugreek seed being a no no for me (never been able to gel with either although i've over time and hard cooking got to like the methi). rest looks really nice. think i might give the book version a quick go.
just to be clear - base is used in the BIR version where as the book version produces its own.
ps not fully convinced on the benefit of frying whole spice in oil. it's an area i will work on at some point. gut feeling so far is just adding them early is enough (re bunjarra method). i know traditional teaching is to add to the oil. if you taste the oil it don't really take on much flavor c/w the water based sauce.
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just to be clear - base is used in the BIR version where as the book version produces its own.
That is correct. The Book version is so easy. You basically combine the Tomato, LJ, water and powdered spices in a bowl then leave it. Cook your onion and chicken with the other stuff then add the contents of the bowl. The sauce will contain onion pieces as small as you cut them but it was a very tasty dish and was better the following day.
Also note that I used Kashmiri Chilli (Degi Mirch) and only 1/2 the quantity specified and it was hot enough for me. If you like chilli use the full amount.
I'll scan the page and post the image for you. Hope copyright isn't a problem here for you mods. If it is let me know and I'll PM it to you or anybody who wants it. Scan is very big on the web page. Scroll over to the right to see the Madras recipe or right click and save it / print it.
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livo,
many thanks for scan. got very clear jpeg.
hoping to give it a go this week. many thanks.
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Had inkling livo knows cooking.
This book recipe did not disappoint. It is a traditional version and had to make closer to BIR to suit my buds - in short left out the curry leaf and blended. Rest to spec.
Loved it. Really quick and easy to make. Not BIR for sure.
Its a tad like staff curry but c/w iffu recipe much quicker to make.
Going fwd I would set the onion off straight away then mix the wet ingredients in parallel.
I'm not sure how much effect the browning of the onion has. I have tried this in base before and a reason for revisiting in this recipe. You need to use wok. I used 3kw for about 15 mins and chopped onions fine 3mm sq.
I like fennel and found the balance spot on (there but you could not pick it out).
It's not quite a 10 recipe. I don't know what it needs (I guess I'm being unfair in unconsciously comparing with my norm BIR which is wrong)
Gut feeling is the coriander is just a tad too much. Going to have to think about how the spicing could be tweaked a little. Rest I would not change.
I think this recipe might just be what I've needed to push my knowledge of the spice envelope. Got my mind racing.
It really is perfect for midweek curry.
Spot on livo
Ps will add pics from desktop
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Glad you liked it. I found it so simple to do, and as you say, easy to modify in method and spices. The BIR style dish I produced, with a very bland base, come out pretty well too. Just as nice but different. I agree it is not a 10 but the potential is there for improvement. I love the zing of the lemon against the chilli. Really good.
I had my "Cooking Badge" by age 9. (dib dib dib, dob, dob, dob). :o I often cook Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Greek, Italian, and anything else I feel like trying. Sometimes though, you just can't beat a barbequed sausage and onion with tomato sauce and yellow mustard on a piece of white bread. Snag Sanga. Trying to perfect my Cha Shao or Char Sui at the moment at my son's insistence.
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Thanks Livo for the uploade, thanks JerryM for the great review, I will download the jpg and have a crack at it. 8)
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Livo,
Looking forward to sharing on all not just curry.
I do intend using the recipe as a side line learning (for BIR purposes). The thought being just to play around with the spicing and whole spice. These being 2 areas i don't know enough.
Will let you know how i get on. 1st will be to use BIR mix then the balti mix used for the adil balti.
Best wishes
Jerry
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pics.
the onion browned ready for adding the water spice mix
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/4377fb708e9b078b88daee18a9ccad12.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#4377fb708e9b078b88daee18a9ccad12.jpg)
the finished dish (i then blended it)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/c05ec59e925ec853579960ecc0373195.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#c05ec59e925ec853579960ecc0373195.jpg)
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Not too sure about that Jerry. Seems undercooked to me.
My pre-cooked bhunjarra onions are well done. They look like dark caramel...very well cooked. Then I blend and I have a dark, sweet, moreish onion paste...totally delicious. Asbsolutely no additions by the way. That comes in the main dish.
And never..ever..any water! :o
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Secret Santa,
not miss much. yes under cooked by "our" standard. its a clear one of the reasons why the dish is not a 10.
for the effort / reward its surprisingly very good.
its a keeper for me. that midweek curry just when suits is a real draw.
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for the effort / reward its surprisingly very good.
its a keeper for me. that midweek curry just when suits is a real draw.
Yep. That's exactly what I though too.
Quick and so easy, yet far better than you'd expect for the minimal fuss involved.
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Made a rev 2 version - in short not as good as original.
I purposely made it more towards BIR (cooked it 30 mins)
Used Iffu mix powder. The taste reminded of Chinese curry sauce. A 1st and suprise.
Used 400g onion aiming 2 portions. 2 tsp mix, 0.5 tsp fennel seed added whole, 2 off green cardamom (too much), 2 tsp lemon dressing (? 10 sec squirt), 1 off Asian bay.
Thoughts going fwd
1) mix no good
2) ease back on the ginger (overpowering)
Rev 3 will try adil gm. Feel its a worthwhile taste journey.
Ps really singed the onions due to multi tasking on making the spice liquid in parallel. Quite amazed no discern able taste difference.