Curry Recipes Online
Supplementary Recipes (Curry Powders, Curry Paste, Restaurant Spice Mixes) => Supplementary Recipes (Spice Mixes, Masalas, Pastes, Oils, Stocks, etc) => Topic started by: Mark J on January 16, 2005, 10:18 AM
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This is a recipe I use for precooking all meat I use in any Indian dish, it produces a very tasty and tender result.
Ingredients:
4 TBSP vegetable oil
Half a small onion chopped
4 cloves
1 black cardamom
2 green cardamom
2 inch stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 TSP curry powder (depending on volume of water being added)
2 TBSP yoghurt (not low fat)
1 TSP lemon juice
Method:
Bring the oil to a medium heat and add the onion, and whole spices, fry for a minute then reduce the heat slightly.
Add the meat, yoghurt, lemon juice and curry powder (You can cook a lot of meat in a big pan using this method, increase the volume of curry power and whole spices if cooking loads, this recipe is good for up to 1Kg of meat) and give it all a good stir round for 1 minute then add boiling water to a level just so it covers the meat.
You now need to simmer for the following time:
Chicken ? 20 minutes.
Lamb ? 35 minutes.
Beef ? 40 minutes.
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Thanks Mark.
What cut of meat do you use whan cooking lamb by this method.
I don't want to end up with fatty cubes of meat, which fillet looks as if it would produce, but the alternative is the very expensive chops which seem to be the only lean lamb you can buy.
I don't usually cook with lamb, but do rogan josh occasionally. I've found if you brown the lamb, it renders some of the fat, but the lamb ends up much chewier than BIR lamb.
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Hi mate,
I have used waitrose loin fillet which was bloody expensive (?22/Kg) and also I have used a leg of lamb joint which I have cut up into lean cubes, which is a pain to prepare but it seems to be the only reliable and cheap(ish) way to get lamb from a supermarket
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Tried this out at the weekend with a rogan josh, and was very pleased with the result.
The recipie is a Mudhra Jaffry one, and it's always produced excellent results except that even the most expenive lamb became tough with the cooking method selected.
This technique produces beautifully tender lamb.
Thanks Mark J.
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I've now tried this for cooking beef, and I don't know what went wrong, but the result is a disaster!
After the recommended length of time, the meat so chewey it was all but impossible to eat.
So I let it cook for another half hour, no change.
It's now been simmering for about 6 hours and is just about edible.
Any ideas what I could have done wrong. The only thing that was in any way unusual was that I went to great lengths to bring the meat/liquid up to temperature very slowly as I wanted to simmer at just under 100c. THis meant it spent some minutes between 90 and 95. Could this have changed the meat in some way that prevented it cooking properly.
This is a real puzzle.
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I must confess I have never cooked beef in this manner (the time I gave was from another recipe that stated 35mins for lamb and 40 for beef). However I often cook a Chinese dish (hangs head in shame) called pekenese beef stew that takes regular stewing steak and produces spectacular results.
With this dish I brown off the cubed beef for a few minutes and then add to a casserole pot with the other ingredients, I then cook it for 1 hour and 20 minutes stirring every 20 mins, the beef turns out extremely tender. I wonder if you just got a bad cut of beef (although I reckon that the BIR's will use cheap cuts of meat and get the tendernous via the cooking process)
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Wow you guys. The amount of time you take & the dedication to making the perfect curry. Absolutely brill. I had to laugh when Muttley said that the meat he was cooking was too chewy so he decided to cook it for a further 6 hours. It had me in stitches when i read it.
I applaud & bow down to your determination Muttley.
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Is it better to cut the chicken in pieces and then add it, or add the entire boneless skinless piece?
I cooked chicken by my normal method recently (boneless chicken) here for the first time in a gravy dish and after 2 hours, the chicken was so tough it hurt my jaw to chew it!! That has never happened before - I always used boneless skinless in the US and never had this problem....I am going to do a different style chicken this time and see what happens - I am truly puzzled!!
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Is it better to cut the chicken in pieces and then add it, or add the entire boneless skinless piece?
I cooked chicken by my normal method? recently (boneless chicken) here for the first time in a gravy dish and after 2 hours, the chicken was so tough it hurt my jaw to chew it!!
Hi Payal,
I reckon cooking chicken for 2 hours is the clue to the disaster and not the type of chicken or whether it is chunks or whole breast.
Chicken by it's nature cooks very quickly. A whole breast will be done in a fry pan in a few minutes and then ready to add to a dish. Putting it in raw will still only need 20-30 mins.
If you look at the thread above by Mark J his for pre-cooked chicken needs only 20 mins cooking time. Try Bruce Edwards pre-cooking method. The chicken is moist and succulent and certainly not chewy. Less is nearly always best!
Ray
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Oops, what I meant Ray was that it wouldnt cook after the usual 20 minutes so I kept cooking it, hoping it would turn edible!! The only clue I have is the tomato paste here could have something in it that prevented my chicken from cooking!! other than that, everything was the same as in the US.
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Oops, what I meant Ray was that it wouldnt cook after the usual 20 minutes so I kept cooking it, hoping it would turn edible!!? The only clue I have is the tomato paste here could have something in it that prevented my chicken from cooking!!? other than that, everything was the same as in the US.
What was the cut of chicken? Was it breast filllet (as used in most BIRs) or some other cut, thighs for example? Chicken breast will usually cook very quickly. Other fattier cuts (especially those "on the bone") take significantly longer. The fattier cuts are also less prone to overcooking and dryness.
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It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco. Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane. So nobody has had problems that I know of. It must be the tomato paste. When defrosted, the meat looked great and sliced perfectly too - so I dont think it is the chicken but i will cook some more in a different style to see what the problem was. Then I may know the answer.
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It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco.? Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane.
Hi Payal,
I shall stick my neck out here and say I reckon your problem is tough chicken of poorer quality and also due to the fact it was frozen and dare I say it.......cheap!!
It may be better value to buy a bag of frozen but I find it to be tougher. I don't know why, maybe older Chickens, hence cheaper or perhaps the rapid freezing process destroys the texture?.
I don't buy bags of frozen as I also find it's a bit like shoe leather.?
The moral being "you pays yer money you gets the goods" !!
The price of chicken breast over here is insane I agree but they do give consistently good results.
Ray
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uh oh, so it may be the chicken....hmm...mine was just like shoe leather :D I will try making a different recipe with it and see what happens next week....we eat meat (chicken) once every 2 weeks or so only - rest is veg.
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I think most bags of frozen chicken breasts have water and various chemicals added 'for succulence'. Check the labels carefully!
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uh oh, so it may be the chicken....hmm...mine was just like shoe leather
Hi Payal
Don't worry about your tough chicken, I expect someone out there will have a great recipe for "Shoe Leather Madras"!
I reckon wev'e all made something like that before!
Ray
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This is how i cook my Chicken.
Chop 7-8 chicken breasts into as even pieces as you can ( i cut to the size of a ?2 pound coin = width height). I hope this helps. ;D
Boil a kettle.
Put chicken in pan.
Pour boiled water over chicken to just cover it.
Bring water to boil turn down immediately & slowly cook on simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
Look for one of the biggest pieces take out & cut in half to make sure its cooked through.
Take out immediately & put into your pot of Curry.
This may sound simple but like all of our recipes there is a knack.
I keep checking to see if cooked after about 5 minutes .
My Chicken is tender beyond words due to the lower heat & the small size.
DARTHPHALL.......... 8)
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Thanks for your cooking method....I will try that this week and let you know what happens....I have never precooked the meat but perhaps I should. I am still trying to understand why people here use kettles!! I had never seen one being used in the US :)
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Well, i use the Kettle method so i can get the cooking time right, i get my chicken really tender, yes we do things a little different here in the UK COZ WE ARE MAAAD ;D
Yours DARTH.... :)
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It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco. Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane.
I recommend removing the breasts from whole chickens. Even if you throw the rest of the chicken away, which isn't necessary, it will still be ?'s cheaper than buying breasts sold neatly packaged, or even frozen, probably.
I use 1.5Kg frozen chickens from Lidl which currently cost only ?1.49. So two chicken breasts cost me just ?1.49. They take only seconds to cut out once the chicken is defrosted. It would take me longer to cut open a supermarket pack of chicken breasts!
I can't belive the sky-high prices many people pay for some things, including chicken breasts.
Regards
George
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I shall stick my neck out here and say I reckon your problem is tough chicken of poorer quality and also due to the fact it was frozen and dare I say it.......cheap!!
Ray
I can honestly say the ?1.49 frozen chickens I buy from Lidl are not the slightest bit tough, whether for a Sunday roast, poached or whatever. They also have plenty of flavour. I bought a ?12 free-range chicken once, for a special occasion. I didn't notice a jot of difference. It was a waste of money. My philosophy is that you don't normally get what you pay for. If you spend less, you can often get more.
Regards
George
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I use the LIdl frozen breasts also mate . :)
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That is a really practical idea but I get grossed out by bones and the such....even raw chicken grosses me out so much i wear rubber gloves while handling it :o
I am trying a different recipe with the frozen breasts tomorrow....then i hope to find out if the chicken is the problem.
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Had another Curry for work today Chicken was extremely tender ( Thanks Lidl ). ;D
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To add ... In the last 20 Curries i have made the chicken is better & more tender than any Take-away Ive ever had . :)
Yours DARTHPHALL... 8)...
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This is how i cook my Chicken.
Chop 7-8 chicken breasts into as even pieces as you can ( i cut to the size of a ?2 pound coin = width height). I hope this helps. ;D
Boil a kettle.
Put chicken in pan.
Pour boiled water over chicken to just cover it.
Bring water to boil turn down immediately & slowly cook on simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
Look for one of the biggest pieces take out & cut in half to make sure its cooked through.
Take out immediately & put into your pot of Curry.
This may sound simple but like all of our recipes there is a knack.
I keep checking to see if cooked after about 5 minutes .
My Chicken is tender beyond words due to the lower heat & the small size.
DARTHPHALL.......... 8)
Hey, I followed this method today and cant believe how the chicken can be so moist!!!? I actually did an experiment - had my base sauce made and the way I made the chicken last time was to cook it in the sauce for 15 minutes and then followed the rest of the recipe.? The chicken was ok but I did this again today in a pan while in another pan, I followed Darthphall's method.? The chicken didnt look very pretty since it was white and I was very skeptical.? it took 7 minutes to cook as I cut the chicken in thin strips today.? Then I took the chicken and added it to the sauce for a a little bit.? So here I am with 2 bowls of this chicken in coconut gravy and Darthphall's one is far better :o? It even took in the masalas while I assumed it would taste like boiled chicken.? I am very impressed and surprised at the simplicity this involves!!? Thanks Darthphall!!!!!
Payal
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Hi Payal,
Well done mate, it's nice to see someone get a good result from this site. I was a bit skeptical myself? ??? thinking it was too simple to be a real option but how wrong I was. I tried it myself and it really does work. Sometimes the simple things in life are the best ( I keep trying to convince the wife of this! ).
It also goes to show anyone's postings on the site are worth a read as sometimes they come up with an answer to surprise you.
I also use and like the pre-cooked chicken method of Bruce Edwards as another good and tasty option. The Balti Kitchen method also gives a good and moist result.
Ray
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Thanks Payal & Ray for going for one of my experiments.
Took 3 of my 100% Madras clones ( see my 99.9% post for full info). & all were totally impressed which made me very proud of my little achievement & all worthwhile,the chicken was very tender l( cooked as method i posted here) .
I will now aim to finalize my Vindalloo in the next 2 months( less busy down here now , were`s chef ??).
Then to make a start on Jalfreize, Tikka Masala, Bhunna, Garlic chicken & Korma.( All using Chicken as the meat ). :)
Yours............DARTH " My quest is nearly over " !!!! PHALL..... 8).....
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I was most surprised that after mixing it with the gravy for few minutes, it didnt taste like boiled chicken. perhaps soft, moist chicken absorbs spices easier!! I have to admit, i never made chicken so moist before in my life. I was so tempted to add onions or spices to flavor it but didnt......I do need to post the madras sauce recipe that I have been using this week....it is very simple and makes a great base when used in a coconut based "curry". Hopefully will post that tonite. I am having company tomorrow and wasnt sure if I wanted to attempt a chicken dish in case the shoe leather version showed up!! Now I can make the chicken dish and not be afraid of that - thats why I did the experiment a day in advance. Again, thank you Darthphall.
Payal
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You are very welcome Payal I'm glad to help you in our combined quest, i will hopefully posting more in the near future why not try my version of Dabari Rice.
Here`s the link...http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=498.0
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On the point of simplicity.
When I'm experimenting i try to think as a profit making business IE: simple/short time consuming methods = more profit,
more dishes cooked in least amount of time= more profit.
Bearing in mind the above factors but also not loosing sight of " making a very good meal" that makes customers come back.
Bad news travels faster than good in any business.
The reason for Chicken tasting so good is because its so lightly cooked the matrix of the meat is still capable of absorbing any spicy substance you put it in ( you can marinade with this cooked method !!).
? ? ?DARTH " They don't get any simpler than me " PHALL..... 8).....
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This is how i cook my Chicken.
Chop 7-8 chicken breasts into as even pieces as you can ( i cut to the size of a ?2 pound coin = width height). I hope this helps. ;D
Boil a kettle.
Put chicken in pan.
Pour boiled water over chicken to just cover it.
Bring water to boil turn down immediately & slowly cook on simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
Look for one of the biggest pieces take out & cut in half to make sure its cooked through.
Take out immediately & put into your pot of Curry.
This may sound simple but like all of our recipes there is a knack.
I keep checking to see if cooked after about 5 minutes .
My Chicken is tender beyond words due to the lower heat & the small size.
DARTHPHALL.......... 8)
I tried this method last night, and found it to taste just like the indian restaurants and takeaways chicken, very tender and it does seem to absorb taste and colour from the curry. I'm gona use this method from now on.
Now after trying that method of Darths, i think im gona give his other stuff a try too!
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Now after trying that method of Darths, i think im gona give his other stuff a try too!
John
Did you see my message, earlier today, applauding Darth's Pilau (Dabari) rice recipe?
Regards
George
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George,
I've just had a good read of the Dabari rice, i think that'll be my next experiment.
It looks like a good pattern coming along with Darths recipes, did you use 4 whole star anise in the recipe of "dabari rice" ?
regards
john
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Thank you very much for showing faith in my recipes & methods its good to know people are getting success from them , gives me a warm glow of satisfaction :).
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Darth, Can you confirm there is no dodgy aftertaste from this precooked chicken ?
Reason I ask is that I often get a horrible taste with chicken from BIRs whereas I never get the same bad taste from Chicken Tikka - hence the reason I always get my curriies with tikka.
My own pe-cooked chicken is good too, but this method sounds a doddle.
PS. Assuming I cook the chicken for 8-10mins, do you let it cool naturally and freeze it or bung it in cold water to rapid cool first ?
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When i did this method the other day, I only used 1 chicken breast and i chopped it into about 6 pieces and placed in a pan, i then added boiling water from kettle and bought back to boil then left to simmer for 10 mins on low, then drained the water and left it for ages while i did other stuff, when it came to using the chicken i just bunged it in me curry and it had the perfect texture and the taste was just what you'd get from a BIR.
I think this chicken could be used straight away or cooled and placed in fridge to use next day, i never freeze precooked chicken as it always seems to have the taste of "freezer" i.e stick you head into a freezer and smell that frosty smell, well thats what me frozen precooked chicken has tasted like.
Thats why i love this method, cos i can just use 1 chicken breast if i only want to do 1 curry when i get home from work.
Regards
John
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Hi Blade.
I have to say i`ve never had a dodgy aftertaste, so i`m unsure what has happened to yours but, if you cook the chicken my way you could have it with some soy sauce or eat it plain its that nice.
I feel the trick is in the lower cooking time so you don't cook the taste out of the meat ( this can be said for all meats red or white).
I do think however that over-cooked Chicken in water does have quite an unpleasant taste maybe thats what you are tasting as dodgy, could be construed as a slightly metallic aftertaste .
When i cook chicken this way i empty out the remaining juice ( it tastes good & can be used to make Chinese style chicken & Sweetcorn soup or any of the watery Chinese soup recipes, this is what is done in Take-away`s, very economical ?;)).
Blade i let the Chicken stand in the empty pan until the curry is ready then just tip it in,i do the same for a very popular rice ( i`ve made up) dish i cook for my workmates.
If you like Chinese style very healthy recipes this is the one for you let me know if you are interested, & yes i will call it DARTHRICE. ;D
Hope this clears a few things up for you, please don't hesitate to ask any more questions if my posts are a little unclear ( which often they are, sorry in advance peeps !!). :D
?DARTH " you want to try my meat " PHALL...............
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Cheers John and Darth...I'll give that a go next time. Suppose it does make sense to only cook one at a time.
As for your question on whether I'd like your Chinese rice recipe.................
Does a bear shit in the woods ? Yes, definately yes...... so post away my good man :)
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OK Blade, I`ll post it later this afternoon mate.
With several variations on the theme. :D
DARTH.....................................
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Darth, tried the boiled method. Works great if using right away. However, I made a double batch and kept it overnight in the fridge. This tasted bad with that aftertaste I feared.
Net for me is I'd use Curry House method if I intend making loads and freezing. Use this method if I have raw chicken to hand.
PS Just had a vindaloo for breakfast. I'm taking a break for a few weeks :)
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I now microwave my chicken. Take a chicken fillet - put it on a plate, give iit 1 min at 800W, turn it over, and give it another minute. I then chop it into 5-6 bits and add it as my 'pre cooked chicken'.
Perfect texture every time - and so quick and easy. No hassle of uncooked meat on your chopping board/knife etc.... no need to do it in advance. I just do it while Im dish cooking, its that easy.
I was amazed at how well the chicken came out this way, and fully recommend it,
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Microwave, is an excellent way & Ive used it before but i like adding some of the water from the cooked Chicken to my Curries to add taste.
Using the Microwave is however a really quick way & yes i agree gives great results. :)
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Today I just tried the beef precooked method. I have to say it has given me the best results so far.
One thing I did learn from some Indians that I know over here that an extra point is marination of the meat before cooking.
Next time I try this I'll add some yogurt and bare spice to the raw meat and let that sit there for 24 hours in the fridge. I have tried this before and had some very good luck but no where near what I have now.
I'm hoping both methods will:
1. Reduce cooking time
2. Provide a more silky fork cuttable beef for the main course.
Hope to provide pics too of course.
Best and thanks everyone. ;D