Topic: Hello! There's more to this than I imagined!

[parker21]

hi ootini
check out micks blogspot here http://cbm-mick.blogspot.com/ he has some great vids to whet you appetite. and he ahs a base sauce recipe on there as well as many vids from inside restaurant kitchens.
btw welcome

regards
gary

[ootini]

Thanks for that, nice to hear a live version of "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd too!

[Malc.]

Check out the LeSpice Jalfrezi whilst your on CMB's Blog, it's a cracking dish indeed.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Trying an experiment this evening : KD1 base prepared in a pressure cooker without pre-liquidising the garlic and ginger.  My theory is that the pressure cooker will obviate the need for pre-liquidising, and I have chucked in one red and one green pepper for good measure, simply because I had them to hand and they were in danger of being wasted.  I have increased the water content from 2 3/4 pints to 3 pints to compensate for the extra vegetables.

Continuation here.

** Phil.

[chewytikka]

Welcome ootini
Here's my Lamb Pasanda recipe, tried and tested and unchanged for over 30years.
If you can follow the recipe closely, you will get a good result.

Chewytikkas   
Old School Lamb Pasanda

Ingredients:-
2 tbsp of Butter Ghee
0.5 tsp G&G paste
0.5 tsp curry powder
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp Almond powder
2 tbsp Poppy seeds (Khus Khus)
6 tbsps fresh single cream
4 tbsps plain yoghurt
Portion of heated curry base sauce

Method:-
Heat Butter Ghee (medium heat)
Quickly add:-
0.5 tsp G&G paste
0.5 tsp curry powder
a pinch of salt

Stir/mix well then add:-
2 tbsp Almond powder
2 tbsp Poppy seeds (Khus Khus)

Stir/mix well then add:-
pre-cooked Lamb

Stir/mix well then add:-
6 tbsps fresh single cream
4 tbsps plain yoghurt

Stir/mix well then add:-
Portion of heated curry base sauce.

Cook on medium/high heat until the Lamb is cooked
through and the sauce thickens (5-6 minutes - ish)

Garnish Pasanda with flaked Almonds.

Cheers and have fun

[Razor]

Hi Dave,

My advice,

Rice
Precook your rice, then freeze it.  When you ready, pop it in the microwave for 2 mins on full, give it a stir, then blast for another min on full (based on a 950w m/wave)  For me, this helps really separate the grains perfectly and produces excellent restaurant standard rice.

Precooked meat/veg/chicken
Choose your preferred method, and again freeze it.  Add it to the final dish just before you add your base sauce.  The reason I do it this way, especially for chicken is, It stops the chicken from over cooking.  If you think about it, you will probably precook your chicken for about 15 mins max, if you were to then add the chicken to your curry, you would be cooking it even further, perhaps another 8 minutes?  That's 23 mins all in all, way too long for a bite size piece in my opinion.

Final dish (curry)
If each of your dishes are to serve 2-3 guest, cook each curry individually and then transfer each portion of the same curry to a larger pot.  I would only be tempted to keep warm in the oven if you will be serving all the dishes in less than an hour from when you commenced cooking.  Otherwise, say, if you started at lunch time, transfer to a larger pot, then reheat slowly in the oven about 40 mins before you serve.

My final piece of advice is possibly the most crucial;

Cooking for guest's should be fun and entertaining.  If you leave yourself short of time, you WIL panic and rush things a touch. Now your guest's will almost certainly be amazed by your food but you will definitely feel somewhat disappointed, feeling that you could have done better.  If you prepare well, well in advance, this should keep you calm and relaxed, and you will enjoy the evening as much as your guest's.

I would definitely take Martins advice.  Give yourself a trial run on Friday night, that way, you will no what to tweak when it comes to the real thing.  Like Chris says, keep your expectations low, that way, you will be overjoyed when you taste the dish.

All the very best of luck Dave,

Keep us posted and if you feel the need, keep asking questions, we're all here to help mate.

Ray

[Peripatetic Phil]

Ray offers excellent advice, as always, and there are just two places where he and I might differ slightly :

Rice
Precook your rice, then freeze it. 

I find that rice grains tend to "explode" when you freeze them, because of the expansion of the water they have absorbed during cooking.  I would certainly go along with pre-cooking and microwaving before serving, but I would chill, not freeze, in between.

Precooked meat/veg/chicken
Choose your preferred method, and again freeze it.  Add it to the final dish just before you add your base sauce.  The reason I do it this way, especially for chicken is, It stops the chicken from over cooking.  If you think about it, you will probably precook your chicken for about 15 mins max, if you were to then add the chicken to your curry, you would be cooking it even further, perhaps another 8 minutes?  That's 23 mins all in all, way too long for a bite size piece in my opinion.

I pre-cook my chicken for a maximum of ten minutes, and then chill, not freeze.  No particular reason for this, just the way I do things.  I also cut my chicken pieces on the large side, so there is less risk of them overcooking.

** Phil.

[Curry Barking Mad]

Hi Phil,
Exploding Rice Ice..........I can't say I've ever experienced that.
Mick

[Peripatetic Phil]

Hi Phil,
Exploding Rice Ice..........I can't say I've ever experienced that.
Mick

Interesting !  It has certainly happened to mine, which why I no longer freeze it; I wonder what the difference might be ?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Progress report :

After about an hour and a half at full pressure, the onion, garlic, ginger and peppers were still clearly distinct; using a stick blender, these were then homogenised and the resulting liquid tasted.  It has a pleasant, vegetable-ey taste with a trace of a sharp edge.  What was very noticeable is that there was no unpleasant onion-ey smell at all at any point during the cooking.

Next stage involved the integration of the oil, tomato, turmeric and paprika, after which I stick-blended it again just for the hell of it.

Then to the final dish, a variant of Chicken Madras KD1/PT :

• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 pint base sauce
• 8 oz pre-cooked Chicken
• 1 teaspoon Bassar Curry Masala (for flavour)
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Mirch (for colour)
• 1 teaspoon Degghi Mirch (for heat)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Methi leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon Chat Masala (to add a slight touch of sourness)
• 1/8 Lime, whole
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Coriander stalk
• A little chopped fresh Coriander leaf for garnish

• Gently saut