Topic: Lamb Tikka

[ELW]

Hi daddyL, I'd use a very small piece of charcoal or very quickly in & out with it. I tried something similar a while back on chicken &  it ended up tasting of charcoal

Regards
ELW

[daddyL]

My gut feeling is the result won't be lamb tikka as we know it, the reason being that you will have essentially boiled (or at best, braised) the lamb and thereby changed the texture from what your mouth and brain will expect.  Even though you finish it off on a barbecue or under the grill, you will be barbecueing/grilling already boiled/braised meat, and I do not think that thereby will lay success.

** Phil.
[/quote]

Its Tikka Phil but not as we know it!
And that maybe a good thing as ive had some poor stuff to the point as i dont order it anymore.
I like to experiment but sadly the other half said NO to the vac pack machine so its back to basics which is probably the best way 

[Peripatetic Phil]

Sadly the other half said NO to the vac pack machine so its back to basics which is probably the best way 

Could you not achieve almost the same effect using a pressure cooker with a very low heat source ?  (Assuming that you already have a pressure cooker, that is !).

** Phil.

[daddyL]

Phil, I have a pressure cooker and you may be onto something!

I think my first step... talking to my Butcher about different cuts of Lamb to use as let's say the leg may not be ideal to producing the best tikka using a traditional grill or BBQ cooking method.

Thanks for your input its valued and appreciated

Leon

[PaulP]

Very interesting and I think an ideal excuse to buy my next piece of kitchen gadgetry for the great lamb tikka experiment!
So it got me thinking... if we marinated the lamb in a vac pack bag (e-bay ?40) for x time then slowly simmered the said package for x time hey presto slow cooked lamb with all the marinade remaining, we could then finish off on BBQ or under grill to impair some smokey notes or  maybe try adding some liquid smoke to the marinade 

Any thoughts on this method or am i just taking it too far  ;D

Hi daddyL,

I've got one of these sealers:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Quality-Vacuum-Machine/dp/B001HBE5Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1337112279&sr=1-1

And I've just bought one of these precise temperature controllers:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sous-Vide-Magic-Controller-FREE-WORLDWIDE-SHIPPING-/150613228801?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item23113f7d01

And finally a cheap rice cooker to use as my sous vide water bath.

I'm going to try what you suggested i.e. vacuum bag the lamb with a tikka marinade, then cook it at about 57 degrees for a few hours, then take out of the bag, onto skewers and under a hot grill to finish off.

So far I've tried chicken breasts without a marinade but cooked at 60 degrees for 2 hours before finishing off in a hot pan to brown the meat. The result was some of the best chicken breast I've ever cooked. Very juicy, tender and meaty.

Next time I'll try the marinade for chicken tikka but don't know what to expect as all the sous vide experts claim that raw garlic can taste really strong after a slow low temp cooking.

Cheers,

Paul

[daddyL]

Hi Paul,
Looking forward to your trials and hope for the best as I still want one of those vac pack machines!

Please try out the persian smoking technique too as i feel this will go some way to adding the missing tandoor element in the tikka, but as ELW as stated go easy!! as my first attempts using this for biriyani were a disaster!

Leon

[Peripatetic Phil]

And I've just bought one of these precise temperature controllers:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sous-Vide-Magic-Controller-FREE-WORLDWIDE-SHIPPING-/150613228801?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item23113f7d01

Paul, just in case you are not aware (I'm sure you are), don't forget that HMRC will charge you duty on an import of this value, and Parcelforce (MTRIH) will levy their non-negotiable

[PaulP]

Hi Phil, I was expecting that to be honest and it took 3 weeks to arrive. They didn't get me for any duty but it was labelled as worth only 59 dollars when in fact it cost me more like 160 dollars.

So far chicken breasts and belly of pork turned out great but the pork chops and steaks I need to work at.

Cheers,

Paul