Did you guys catch this on Saturday Kitchen this week? It looks semi-BIR but maybe a little 'posher'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01jt2t0/Saturday_Kitchen_02_06_2012/

The Ingredients

250g (9oz) Ghee
3 tablespoons Fresh Coriander (chopped)
65g (2 1/2oz) Garlic
1 tablespoon Ground Turmeric
1 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder
350g (12oz) Fresh Spinach washed with large stalks removed
1 tablespoon Ground Cumin
4 medium sized Green Chillies with stalks removed
1 tablespoon Paprika
? tablespoon Garam Masala
550g (1 1/4lb) Onions Chopped
1 x 400g (140z) Can Chopped Toms
50g (2oz) Fresh Ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon Salt
900g (2lb) Boneless leg or shoulder of Lamb (1? in) cubes
1 tablespoon Ground Coriander
120ml (4fl oz) water
A pinch of ground cumin and freshly ground black pepper to serve

How to Cook

1. Heat the ghee in a large, heavy based pan. Add the onions and cook over a medium heat, stirring now and then, for 20 minutes until they are soft and a light brown

2. Put the tomatoes, water, ginger and garlic into a liquidizer and blend until smooth. Remove the fried onions with a slotted spoon, add them to the paste and blend briefly until smooth.

3. Return the puree to the ghee left in the pan and add the lamb and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes, by which time the lamb will be half cooked and the sauce will be well reduced. Stir in the turmeric, chilli powder, cumin, paprika and ground coriander and continue to cook for 30-45 minutes for shoulder or 45-1 hour for leg, until the lamb is tender, adding a little water now and then if the sauce starts to stick.

4. Meanwhile, put 175g (6oz) of the spinach leaves into a large pan and cook until it has wilted down into the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute, then transfer to the rinsed out liquidizer and blend to a smooth puree. Set aside. Rinse out the liquidiser again and add the green chillies and 2-3 tablespoons of water and blend until smooth. Set aside.

5. When the lamb is cooked, there should be a layer of ghee floating on the top of the curry. You can either skim it off or leave it there, whichever you prefer. Then stir in the spinach puree and the remaining spinach leaves and cook for 2 minutes.

6. Now taste the curry and add as much green chilli puree as you wish, according to how hot you like your curries . Simmer for 2 minutes more.

7. Stir in the fresh coriander and Garam Masala. Transfer the curry to a serving dish and sprinkle with a little more ground cumin and some freshly ground black pepper just before you take it to the table.
Serve with your choice of rice, Naan breads, poppadoms and whatever else you can cram in.

Hi all

I know we spoke about this before Christmas but the restaurant wasn't ready. Well it is now and I've convinced Az this is something he should be offering on Sundays. He's asked me to arrange groups and an itinerary of what to do (I'm not on commission but hopefully I'll get a free takeaway out of it one night . The restaurant is in Fleet, Hampshire. The website is still under construction but you can download the menu from the homepage - http://www.zaalfleet.com/.

In terms of what to do, I'm assuming members from here would prefer an in-depth, full life-cycle experience including making the base / pastes / prep that will actually be used in the restaurant the following day. Im thinking something like this:

10am
Meet/chat/coffee
Garam massala spice roasting

10:30am - 11am
Base sauce preparation and cooking
Massala paste prep and cooking

11:00am - 12pm
Chicken and lamb tikka marinade / cooking in tandoor
Onion Bhajis prep and first cook
Naan dough prep
Garlic/Ginger paste

12pm - 12:30pm
Grind garam masala
Make mix powder

12:30pm - 1:30pm
Main and side dish cooking
Naan cooking if brave enough

1:30pm - 2pm
Eating our creations
Q and A

It would be good to hear if I've missed anything glaringly obvious.

Date wise, I suggest we aim for Jan 29th and Feb 5th with maybe 5 or 6 people maximum per session.

Price wise, I don't know what to suggest. Does ?60 including lunch and coffee sound right?

I know lots of people were interested in this so it will be first come first served. I'm sure he will run other dates though so no one should miss out completely. Please send me a PM or post on this thread to say if you want to come and which date is preferable and I'll do my best to make it happen.

Cheers
Chris

Hi all,

Great to see so many have signed up for the BBQ on Saturday. It seems to have come around quite quickly now! There is still plenty of room for more, it's a massive park so space wont be an issue. The long term forecast is looking good too so fingers crossed!

For those who haven't signed up yet, the plan is to meet at Frimley Lodge Park on Saturday at around 11:30am. If everyone brings along their best curry based dishes we can cook / heat them up there and sample everyone's handy-work. I'm planning on taking some chicken tikka and Roshney Sauce to heat up along with beers / soft drinks and crisps e.t.c. I'll take a big container full of ice to keep the drinks cool, plus a cool box for the meats. I'm sure there will end up being way too much food but that can only be a good thing - I assume we all have healthy appetites!

If you want to come post a reply to this thread or drop me an IM. It's very much a family friendly day so bring wives and kids if you like. I'll take footballs and bats and balls e.t.c. to keep the kids busy, plus there is a big playground there and possibly a miniature train you can pay 50p to have a ride on.

I'm still hoping Nipoori Man will get a Nipoori to us in time to test and play with, plus I'm expecting Az from Chutneys to be there to sample our food and give advice as well as bringing a few samples of his own.

Does anyone have a gas ring they can bring? If not I might be able to get hold of one but we are running out of time a bit.

The postcode for Sat-Navs is GU16 6NS, there is lots of info about it here - http://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/leisure/parksandrecreationareas/frimleylodgepark.htm

See you all there, it should be a cracking day!

Chris

So it's my birthday in a week and my lovely wife suggested I combine the usual family money presents to buy a tandoor for the garden. What a fabulous idea I thought!

Having a look online I dont seem to be spoilt for choice. Spice of India and thetandoorclayoven.co.uk both have very similar looking options, presumably built in the same place but with different badges on.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Has anyone used either, and if so, were they any good? The videos didn't inspire confidence in how much heat they can generate. Can I use a gas ring instead of charcoal with it? I love the idea of having one, but at around ?300 its a big investment if it hardly gets used!

Over the last 6 - 12 months my curry cooking has come on leaps and bounds. I thought I'd share my top 5 revelations (in no particular order) and it would be good to hear everyone elses.

1) Cook the curries in veg ghee instead of veg oil.

2) Spices need to be charred (not totally burned) at the initial stage - be brave.

3) G/G paste needs to be cooked longer than you think - aim for medium brown in colour.

4) I always precook my chicken or lamb on the BBQ in a tikka marinade - see below - (whole or half chicken breasts that are then sliced and added to the curry). If I'm adding onions or green pepper to a curry I precook these by lightly frying them in G/G paste.

5) Pataks Tikka, Tandoori and Kashmiri Massala pastes should always be in your curry cupboard.

I hope this helps some of you save some experimentation time. It would be great to hear what other suggestions people can add to the list.

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