Topic: went to rajver lastnight to collect a takeaway

[parker21]

gosh i so excited......
went to rajver(biddenden) and asked if chef was busy coz i had a couple of things to ask him. we sat and chatted about the onion gravy i posted on this site and i was having trouble reproducing the colour and consistency that his vindaloo despite following what i had been shown by the previous chef.i showed him the recipe of ingredients i had neatly printed out.he made a few changes to it then said when was i free (as i live about a mile as the crow fries from the restaurant) he said if you give me your number and address he would give me a ring on sunday( only free day for me a perfect day for making curry ;D) and if i provide the ingredients he would come to my house and show me from scratch how to make his onion gravy that is now used at Rajver! and possibly a few  choice dishes vindaloo will almost certainly be one of them ( if only you guys/girls out  there could taste my vindaloo he cooked for us lastnight  )

here is a quick taster....

to precook the chicken

ingredients

chicken
water( just enough to cover )

method

boil for 10-15 mins( should be tender) and ready for currying

that's it 

well peeps i will keep you posted. cannot wait it's like being a kid again

will try to get the recipe for his tikka/tandoori marinade and timmings for cooking in the tandoor for those of you that have one

cheers
gary( forgot to logout from home normally woodpecker)

[Mark J]

Fantastic, can t wait to see your report

[Curry King]

Great stuff, the orginal gravy you posted from there is very similar to what I make now top stuff, I might have to hold of a new batch of gravy till you post back.

[Yellow Fingers]

to precook the chicken

ingredients

chicken
water( just enough to cover )

method

boil for 10-15 mins( should be tender) and ready for currying

that's it

This seems starnge to me. Whenever I have tried to pre-cook chicken this way it always tastes boiled or what I would consider 'off' when used in the final curry. To me pre-cooked chicken is just that, it is cooked before the final curry is made and then stored, either frozen or refrigerated until ready for use. This is the way restaurants do it.

I can't wait for your report to see how this turns out.

[Curry King]

Hi YF,

As far as im aware this is the "quick" way of doing it, in a restaurant they will pre-cook it in big batches and as you say stick it in the fridge.  I was told if you want it in a hurry just boil it but it won't be the same.

Cheers
cK

[Yellow Fingers]

Hi CK

I can understand that if the currry house suddenly ran out of pre-cooked chicken they would possibly boil up a pot of chicken pieces in water to get them over the shortage, but as a method for pre-cooking chicken for later use, it just doesn't work.

Before I started trying to make my own indian retaurant style curries, (I'm not going to perpetuate this BIR acronym because it's wrong, BPR maybe but not BIR), anyway, before I tried to copy the indian restaurant style I had a few curries that had chicken that tasted 'off' to me. It wasn't until I later tried to copy the curries that I realised that the 'off' taste was just chicken that had been pre-cooked by the boiling method.

But we're getting ahead of MarkJ's anticipated post on the new base, so who know until then?

[Curry King]

Yeah, I can tell the difference, if i come in from the pub I occasionaly whip up a quick curry and just boil it in water to save time, the next day il try it without the aid of lager and the chicken's definetley not right.? Normaly I would precook using this method:
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=158.0,? and you can taste a world of difference.

[Yellow Fingers]

Yeah, I can tell the difference, if i come in from the pub I occasionaly whip up a quick curry and just boil it in water to save time

I think that's my point. Even if you were in a hurry, why would you boil chicken separately. If I do a 'hurry curry' I do a normal indian restaurant style curry and the moment there's enough liquid in the pan the raw chicken goes in. Because it is chunks it cooks in 5 mins maximum. Why would anyone ever cook chicken by boiling in water, especially a curry house?

Oh and I think I said waiting for MarkJ's base, I think I meant Woodpecker, sorry MarkJ.

[woodpecker21]

This seems starnge to me. Whenever I have tried to pre-cook chicken this way it always tastes boiled or what I would consider 'off' when used in the final curry. To me pre-cooked chicken is just that, it is cooked before the final curry is made and then stored, either frozen or refrigerated until ready for use. This is the way restaurants do it.

the person who told me was a waiter but was a chef but could not keep up with the pressure he came from maidstone fair sized population good night life so turn over would be quite high. but .... he said the chicken should be tender but would be par-cooked. i did suggest adding some masala. but he said no need. so maybe because their turnover is not as high as maybe brick lane.....?

it is a question i will ask the chef on sunday

a good tip for a takeaway curry or in some restaurants is to order a set meal which comes with starter/s, main dish/es, side dish/es, and normally popadoms and finally mint sauce and if you are lucky some onion salad and or normal salad yummy. the key is too working out the prices before you order and asking if you can change some of the dishes as long as you pay the difference for the more expensive dishes. and always if no one else has order onion bhajis then do so. goe s paticularly well with chicken tikka onion salad lettuce and a slice of tomato and a few drops of yoghurt mint saiuce as a starter followed by chicken vindaloo pilau rice and bombay aloo oh forgot to say naan bread ;D all for the grand total of ?13.10( sorry admin this part should be in another section ) ;D
anyway g/gls am just as excited as i was lastnght holding of getting the ingredients until saturday morning so they are the freshest i can get them.and spice cupboard full... thank oyu julian graves health stores...


regards

gary

[Curry King]

I think that's my point. Even if you were in a hurry, why would you boil chicken separately.

The reason I do it is that the curry only takes a few minutes to make and the chicken wouldn't have time to cook right through, plus the fact that the only time I tend to use this method is when ive had a few light ale's, its probably best to make sure