Indian Cooking

debbym

sylphraven wrote: »

Sounds yummy! Had a roast yesterday so shall use the left over meat to make this tomorrow I think, only need to grab a couple of the spices & a tin of Tomatoes when I do the shopping. :T

Sorry to sound like I'm picking on you sylphraven but NEVER NEVER NEVER use cooked meat for a curry - I know that decades ago that is traditionally how currys were made but cooked meat won't absorb the flavours the way uncooked meat can and never tastes right Same with the traditional handful of raisins and curry powder, sorry my mum but no no no (this is why she thinks I loath curry - actually I only loath HER curry:o)

Kazzajr

I have to agree with this, my mum used to make chicken curry on Monday with the leftover from the roast and a tin of homepride curry sauce, even though I loved this when I was young it is just not the same, the chicken goes chewy and just a horrible texture.

Even when making proper curry you should use raw meat, mum eventually got hold of proper indian recipes and the food from that is all lovely provided it was made from raw meat. Although some of them had to be adjusted as were too strong/dry for our palates.

I have also tried making fajitas with cooked meat and it just doesn't work.

celyn90

Most of the curries I cook are vegatarian; mainly pulse based, on account of the people that taught me Indian cooking not eating that much meat but I do use cooked meat occassionally in curry and it is always fine. It is important that you don't cook or treat it it in the same way as raw meat but can be used without problem. I find that marinating cooked meat first will allow it to take up flavors very well. It does taste different to using raw meat but it isn't bad. As long as you adapt the recipe to reduce the cooking time, it will be fine (it can fragment or go spongy if you don't). I reguarly make samosas and breads with meat filling too using leftovers.

sylphraven

No worries Debbiem, I happily take on constructive critisism (especially as it was put nice & polite ) As long as my lot like it with cooked meat I know its a recipe I can use the day after a roast, but next time I shall try it in the week with raw meat, thanks for the tip.

PasturesNew

Well, I'm all over the place in my planning. Bought the veggies last Saturday, but had forgotten I had a pack of sausages that had to be used up. So had to eat the sausages from 15th to 18th.

So last night, I was ready to start cooking at about 9pm. But by the time I'd cut up a small cauli, peeled/cut 3 carrots and 6 spuds and a head of brocolli and got the spuds/cauli on to cook it was already 9.40.

So I cheated and just did: spoonful of Balti paste, 1 veg oxo, 1 pint of hot water from the cauli saucepan. Mixed that up and put it in a saucepan with 2 dried chillies, 3 bay leaves, a tin of tomatoes and half the veggies.

It was hot, wasn't great... and now I have to eat vegetable curry for the next 6-8 meals to get through it all.

I really didn't have the time to go tracking down any recipes and getting the things out and doing what a recipe said as I thought if I did that it'd be gone 11 before I ate!

So ... veg curry for the next week. By which time I'll be fancying pizzas, and when I make those I have to eat those for 3 days. So it won't be a proper indian curry try out time now for 2 weeks.

Debt_Free_Chick

Sorry, not read the whole thread but hope this helps ....

Until 10 years ago, I had a stab at being veggie but really did not fancy that soya mince and "pretend" bacon & sos stuff. Found Oriental food difficult to conquer and preferred Middle Eastern/Indian food anyway. So .... I taught myself to cook Indian food, too.

If you live in a City with ethnic Asian settlement, get yourself down there. Buy your spices there and check out the price of the fruit & veg. Sure, its not "unblemished" like Mr Ts but the prices are good especially for garlic, ginger & coriander.

In addition, if "Mrs owner" is there and speaks reasonable English, ask her how to cook a particular dish.

On the Ladypool Road in Sparkbrook, Birmingham I had fanstastic help from 2 or 3 women in different supermarkets. One even told me how to make Ras Malai which, for me, is the Queen of Indian desserts.

In the supermarkets you buy any variety of poppodums at silly, silly prices.

And certainly, in my case, the Asian supermarket owners were openly touched that an English bird was taking an interest in their culture & food.

Finally, Pat Chapman's Curry Club books are actually quite good - they take you through the basic techniques such as roasting the spices etc. And if you want to try your own version of your favourite Indian restaurant dish, then this book is not a bad place to start.

jo1972

Hey Pobby, are you back from holidays yet? I want to do a nice curry tonight but I've only got minced beef, what can I cook? I was thinking maybe a kofta kinda thing but I don't know where to start

Looking forward to some more yummy recipes too!!

x.x.x.

hi, i was looking for a thread that was started ages ago, where someone was posting all different indian meal recipies, but i cant see it?

ive tried searching, but i cant find it. has it disappeared, or am i just blind? lol

Penelope_Penguin

This one - curry night

Penny. x

x.x.x.

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

This one - curry night

Penny. x

nope, but looks great. thanks