DIY indian restaurant style curries

George_Bray

Woby_Tide wrote:

Maybe have 10 pints of strong lager first then shout at your wife "MORE POPPADOMS" whilst she's cooking. Then fall asleep towards the end of the meal.

Very funny, but there's probably an element of truth there. Meals
seldom taste as good when you been slaving over a stove to make them.

Seriously though, somebody must know how curry house curries are made, whether you love them or hate them, unhealthy or not and I'm absolutely sure they are VERY unhealthy.

The latest suggestion from the forum at http://www.cr0.co.uk/curry/ is said to be from the mouth of a genuine ex-curry house chef, i.e. that some curry houses, at least, add chicken stock to the base sauce by boiling up the chicken bones left from the meat they use in finished dishes. Nothing goes to waste! But, if true, there are interesting implications for vegetarians, because their vegetable dishes would also use the same base sauce. Is there any law against that?

Regards
George

Former_MSE_Archna

Not strictly speaking work but I'm sure Martin won't mind
I thought I would share my mum's culinary expertise with you, she's the best cook ever but I am a little bit bias! This is the recipie she uses when teaching her adult ed classes, it's a pretty healthy recipe, you could always use low fat yoghurt to make it even more so. Most if not all of the ingredients can be brought from supermarkets but if you have an Asian shop near you they will be far cheaper. The packets are quite big so you can always split them with friends. As far as the takeaways go I am afraid my mums knowledge doesn't extend that far, although she says they probably pre-boil the meat and use lots of cream/fat! I did once see a programme that recreated indian takeaways and they said the trick was to cook the onions really well (more than you would in European cooking) and then blend them to make a paste, but that's all I can remember! Hope you enjoy!

Rogan Gosht (meaning rich meat)


1kg spring lamb (all fat removed, cubed into 5cm)
2 potatoes (peeled and quartered, cooked in boiling water for 5 minutes)
2 table spoons oil
2 medium onions cut into thin rings, halved
2/3 canned tomatoes
1 tablespoons garlic/ginger paste

Whole spices:
8cm cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
4 cardamom pods crushed
½ teaspoons cumin seeds
½ teaspoons coriander seeds
2 bay leaves

salt and fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoons garam masala
½ teaspoons paprika
½ teaspoons red chilli powder

Small pot plain yoghurt

fresh chopped coriander for garnish



Marindade meat (overnight if poss) in yoghurt. Season with one teaspoon garam masala, teaspoon ginger/garlic paste.


1. Heat the oil and sauté onions till golden brown

2. Add tomatoes, garlic/ginger and whole spices

3.Add the lamb cubes (keep juices from marinade aside at this point) and the rest of the spices. Cook till coated taking care not to burn the mixture. Add a few drops of water if it starts to dry up.

4. Stir in the marinade-yoghurt and simmer for 5 minutes. Add another cup of water, cover and simmer till the meat becomes tender approx 20 minutes.

Sprinkle garam masala and coriander leaves. Serve with bread or rice