Chicken Vindaloo

After all the excitement of the Zaal demo, I was keen to see more cooking myself.
I called into a takeaway that I have been visiting for 5 years and was taken into the kitchen for a chat
They had just bought pizza making equipment, so there was quite a buzz of excitement, even though it was a quiet evening
I saw a chicken vindaloo cooked
Vindaloo round here, is not a hot curry

A chef 10 years back, was puzzled by my ?takeaway?curiousity
He showed me a vindaloo, being cooked by him
A slightly different recipe, but essentially the same
Anyhow, here I was 10 years on, still not mastering this ?simple? recipe
Still mesmerised by each ingredient & technique
In my heart I now know, that if tried at home, it will be met with disappointment and wonder
But that doesn't stop me

Tonight the chef had precooked chicken
This had been made, in a very similar way to Zaal
Too close, to bother re writing the recipe
I?ve posted it before, somewhere on this site, anyhow
The gravy is made with boiled onion, a little garam masala, salt and chip/bhajee oil.
After an hour and a half, a chef spoon of spice mix is added, it?s brought back to the boil then pureed.
It?s used for the next few days and improves in flavour
I?m sure you get the picture
It?s nothing new
Ok so chef heated a chef spoon of oil from the chip pan
He added half a teaspoon of garlic ginger puree and fried until just turning brown.
He whisked the pan away from the heat, and added half a chef spoon of spice mix and a chef?s spoon of tomato puree (white tower and straight from the can)
Then he added half a cup full of cold water
Back on the heat and he reduced this down until you could see the oil coming through.
In goes the precooked chicken, with a quick stir.
Then in goes a couple of ladles, of curry gravy
Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes
Serve
Ridiculously simple & ridiculously tasty
I think a demo such as this highlights the different methods used by different places.
There is no right or wrong
But if it tastes good??.buy some more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spend quite a bit of time in takeaway kitchens
I always feel bad when I post their recipes
Somehow I betrayed their trust
Here comes some guilt:-

Prawn Jalfrezi

Heat 4  tablespoons of fresh oil and fry
Quarter Sliced onion, 3 chopped green chilli,1 teaspoon garlic ginger, 1 desertspoon mix, 1 teaspoon fenugreek leaves, ? teaspoon chilli, ? teaspoon salt
Dry fry for a minute stirring constantly

Rinse the frozen prawns in cold water and squeeze them
Deep fry for a minute (yes deep fry)

Add to the frying pan and stir in for a minute then add two ladles of curry gravy
Fry for 8 minutes to get thickness of sauce right

Near the end of cooking deep fry sliced onion, red pepper and ? tomato for a minute
Add this to frying pan and cook on a few more minutes
Serve

The curry gravy is made of nearly all onion, with a tarka added after pureeing
It's very runny, like a cup of tea

Well actually it's a takeaway, not a restaurant
But it's brilliant
I ordered for the whole family
We had:_
Madras
Vindaloo
Rhogan Josh
Punjabee
& rice
It took 25 minutes to cook

The curries were all excellent, and the Punjabee nearly took our heads off
There were sliced and whole chillies in it, but it was still full of flavour
The Rhogan Josh has a large blob of cooked garlic paste, on top of it
Very garlicky, mild, and a beautiful aroma
The madras was just what you'd hope for
A thick sauce with a chilli kick, tomatoey, garlickey and very moorish
and last but not least the Vindaloo
Round here, that's just a standard curry (but a very good one)

All the curries had a slight garam masala taste to them, and a real freshness
The rice was a little unusual
It was a bright yellow, from food colour
But all the spices had been removed
You can buy the curries separate, to the rice
So if you wanted to cut costs, by using some homemade rice, you could
Excellent all round food and "I'll be back" most definitely

Has anybody else bought this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0716022354/ref=oss_product
It's an interesting read, and includes BIR recipes too
I've just made the garlic mushrooms
They were really nice
The book even has a donner kebab recipe

Does oil in a pan ,heated by gas, get hotter than a deep pan fryer?
I have tried two deep pan fryers set to 190 degrees (maximum heat), and none of them bubble or cook as quickly as a chip pan
I would say, that a chip pan, can almost half the cooking time
Is this something wrong  with my bought deep pan fryers, or is there a difference?
I tried cooking a poppadom too
It didn't puff straight away and gave a  very greasy result in the deep pan fryer