Yesterday marked a sad day for our family.  It is with great regret I must announce the untimely passing of a dear old friend.  Our much loved Zyliss Autochop.  A remnant in the kitchen cupboard from the 70's, this unique device has saved thousands of tears in the preparation of onions, unendingly chopped hundreds of carrots and celery stalks to a fine dice, reduced garlic cloves to pulp with no fuss, chopped fresh herbs and never baulked at a few rashers of bacon.

Sadly when I went to use it yesterday the blade detached from the spring loaded plunger and in so doing broke the blade guide as well.  A quick search on the net for a replacement found a few in "Museum" like sites.  The good thing is though that there is a newer model.

I wonder if we'll get 30 years service from a new one.

Vale Zyliss Autochop (in Red and White).

Dinner tonight,  with Kasmiri Dum Aloo, and left over tikka, vegetable curry and yellow rice.  Bottom picture is the basic staff curry before the variations were applied.

I have just had the pleasure of having 2 young UK lads at my place over the last 2 days. They were installing our new Solar PV cells and inverter on the house. Only young blokes from Newcastle (UK) and Scotland but not sure where. They have been here for about 6 years now.

Anyway, while they were up on my roof I was in the kitchen doing the Mr B'ham's Balti Sauce and finished chicken dish plus other curry dishes in prep for a curry dinner tomorrow night.  By the end of today the Newcastle guy, Adam, asked me if I was a chef. I laughed and said no.  I explained that I was using this site to learn BIR and he started telling me how much he misses his home curries (with chips).  He reckoned the smells coming out were reminding him of home.

I'll take that as a compliment and encouragement that I'm getting something right somewhere along the way.  He did however reinforce the view held by most, if not all, UK expats and visitors, that the shop curries here in Oz just aren't the same as over there.

He also told me that at home a Chinese meal is served with half rice and half chips smothered in delicious Chinese curry sauce for about ~1.50. We certainly don't get that out here.

Well it's been a while since I've cooked much to do with Indian Food, what with the festive season and all. I've been helping a friend tweak the new diesel motor he's put in his boat and this, unfortunately, involved some 3 and 4 day fishing trips up around Broughton Island and Seal Rocks. What a burden! We did manage to catch some and so I felt the need to find an easy and filling dish that could be prepared on board and took appropriate provisions.  It was so good that last night I made it at home for myself and the good wife.

Here are some pics of the preparation.

Ingredients 400g skinless and boneless Flathead Fillets (use any white fish)
Crushed Garlic, Lemon Juice, Biryani Masala
2 Cups Basmati Rice
Chillies and Tomato

Not shown is 1/3 cup of natural yogurt.

If your anything like me you'll have heaps of them.  Firstly, this is in no way critical of Graeme for recommending a book to me.  I'm happy with it but that doesn't mean it isn't worthy of critical review.

It is mostly accepted that people usually make only a handful of recipes from any book containing hundreds. Even in doing just that, it is remarkable how often you find errors, omissions and just plain funny things in some.

Cut up an onion but don't use it is my favourite and it pops up quite often.  An opening section on basic principles and preparations that are not referred to anywhere else in the book is another.

I just spent yesterday afternoon meticulously trying to follow the instructions from a book to produce a Lamb Rogan Josh.  It turned out pretty good but I had to shake my head at the book from start to finish.

RJ is one of my favourite dishes and a good one is fantastic but a bad one is downright awful.  First of all the recipe is a 2 page spread with a full page glossy colour photograph of a delicious looking dryish curry, quite red in colour.  The title Rogan Josh (Rich Red Curry), followed by a description of the curry pictured.  Then the statement about the version you are about to make, ie not that dish, but something completely different.

First step is pretty straight forward about marinating.  Then the cooking.  We start with medium heat then increase to high, followed by decreasing to low. No problem yet.  Now we cover the pan and cook for 20 -25 minutes "until the liquid dries up".  This is a new technique for me and I must have done something wrong because after the correct time I had my pieces of lamb swimming in about 2 cups of liquid, which is exactly what I'd expected to occur.

Undeterred, I push ahead to the next step.  At least the chopped onions go into the pan in this one, along with some spice and G/G.  Now remember that the heat is at low but we are instructed to "reduce the heat to medium".

The lamb is already afloat but to this dry curry we are instructed to add another 350mls of water and further liquid in Tomato Puree.  I added the tomato but decided the water was a bad idea.  This was the first place where I varied away from the recipe as common sense just prevented me from being so foolish.

Heat setting back to low and simmer for a further 20 - 25.  Even without the extra water there was still a flood of thin, watery brown soup that looks about as appetising as a barker's nest biscuit, where we have a picture of a delicious dry red curry.  At this point you'd be thinking I must have missed something. Oh, that's right! We're not making the pictured dish at all. or anything remotely like it.

Dish saved by putting the whole lot into the pressure cooker and giving it 2 hours on slow cook mode followed by 15 - 20 minutes of reduction.  It turned out OK in the end but you have to wonder about book instructions.

Scores:
Recipe followed exactly from the book 1/10.  Rescued dish 6/10. (This is probably a bit hard, I did enjoy the finished dish after the extra treatment I had to perform on it.)