Help- preparing a shared meal

top_drawer_2

hi,

I am doing a shared meal tommorrow for my housemates, two of them are trying to learn to cook as we do the meals. I wanted to do a curry and am swaying towards Dahl as it very "different" to the curries we have all experienced in the past. However, I have never done it before and am worried that a) should I put meat in because it seems wrong not too b) if I do then its going to cost quite a bit more... and a recipe the one I have seems to assume I know a lot more than I do........

Any suggestions much appreciated.

Jenny

carolinosourus

Dhal is lentils! It's a vegetarian dish so putting meat in probably isn't recommended until you're a little more confident with cooking and playing with recipes.

If you just google dhal then it should give you loads of recipes. If you have any trouble with any cooking terms I'll be glad to help Good luck

ifonlyitwaseasier

have a search for Curryqueens thread, there is a foolproof dhal recipe on it!

marmalize

if i have to feed many people on the cheap i do a veg curry whith plenty of chickpeas for a 'meaty bite'(use cheap in season veg from garden or lidl)big dish of rice(fry an onion and a little red chilli till crisp and use as a topping for rice(looks very proffessional).naan bread from lidl is about 50p for 2 ...also bargain and well impressive are puri breads for starters served with mint raita...raita is chopped mint and yoghurt...puri is just plain flour, salt (a little garam masala if you have it but not essential)..you then just make it into a dough, leave for 15 mins to rest...roll out very thinly into 4inch discs and fry in deepish very hot oil, puri should puff up...looks and tastes fab for only a few pence and a bit of time...)
p.s...my favourite place for indian recipes is.. 'manjulaskitchen(dot)com'

Fire_Fox

I always found vegetarian curries seemed to be missing something until I started putting coconut cream in. It's cheaper than coconut milk too!

xxvickixx

I like Paripu which is made with red lentils, it has coconut and tomatos in and is the nicest dhal I have ever had. You should be able to google the recipe. A good accompaniment is some chapattis as you can scoop the dhal up with them and eat with your hands for a really authentic meal.

marmalize

personally i am allergic to nuts so usually finish curries with either hard fried onions and chillis sprinkled on top or some plain yoghurt..just made one for tonight with a variety of garden veg(green beans/ courgette/ tomatoes/ onions/chillies) plus 1kg of lovely meaty chicken thighs (were £1.50 from lidl)so it would feed 6 people for £3...(£1.50 chicken/30p tin toms/£1 for basmati rice..made my own naan breads and puri)
am cheap and proud...lasted lush and compliments from all who ate it...

top_drawer_2

Thanks everyone, I am practising my technique at cooking still and improving fast....

Thanks for the links suggestions.

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I always found vegetarian curries seemed to be missing something until I started putting coconut cream in. It's cheaper than coconut milk too!

Would I just add this to the mix? at any particular point?

marmalize wrote: »

personally i am allergic to nuts so usually finish curries with either hard fried onions and chillis sprinkled on top or some plain yoghurt..just made one for tonight with a variety of garden veg(green beans/ courgette/ tomatoes/ onions/chillies) plus 1kg of lovely meaty chicken thighs (were £1.50 from lidl)so it would feed 6 people for £3...(£1.50 chicken/30p tin toms/£1 for basmati rice..made my own naan breads and puri)
am cheap and proud...lasted lush and compliments from all who ate it...

This sounds amazing!! Please can I have your recipe?

I have told them I will make Olive bread as I came across the recipe and it sounds good although its a mix of genres. Please could I have your recipe for naan bread too.

Thanks everyone!!

Jen

marmalize

blimey..a recipe...i'm a bit of a 'throw it in and see' but i have very few complaints...
my basic curry recipie is:brown off any meat used(i tend to use either chicken thighs or lamb(if on offer)remove from pan, fry 3xfinely chopped onions,3 cloves of garlic,and a teaspood each(roughly) of tumeric/paprika/chilli powder/ground coriander/ground cumin/grated fresh ginger, fry for a couple of minutes, tip it all into a saucepan with the meat,pour a tin of chopped tomatoes into frypan and stir to pick up any leftover spices,add to meat and stir..now it's up to you.....if you like a dry curry then let simmer till meat is cooked and liquid boiled down to required consistancy(personally i like a curry with plenty of 'gravy' for dipping my nann breads in so i add eiter stock or water and then thicken up the sauce if needed with beurre manie(desert spoon butter mixed into same of plain flour)
thats my basic curry(i think)...using same principal i make veg curry by chopping and frying whatever veg is handy..usually red pepper/courgette/onions/ mushrooms/large tin chickpeas, add the spices and tin toms and cook till sauce reduced etc....as for bread recipes just go to Manjulaskitchen.....she is fab to watch and has video presentations of ALL her recipes ...so foolproof

little_sarah_2

I know you said you were thinking about dahl, but I love this recipe, it always turns out well for me and it's easy to follow.

I can't post links, but if you Google "bbc good food chicken biryani" it's the second link down (Chicken Biryani Pilau)

HTH

kunekune

There is an excellent oven-baked vegetable biryani on the bbc good food site too. I've made it heaps of time. Sometimes I make it and also make a saucepan of a simple lentil dahl (I like coconut in it too) to serve as a "sauce".