2012 Cooking Club Week 2b: Indian Resturant curries

angeldaisy · 26-08-2012 11:42am

Hi curry addict just finished the base now smells fab so hopefully we'll be having curry tonight?
2 questions, I'm struggling to find fenugreek leaves are they crucial?
Also if I want to cater for a large group can I make each batch separately and then keep it warm in a slow cooker. I've 10 coming to dinner shortly and was hoping to impress with my curry skills:))

Curry Addict · 26-08-2012 6:05pm

angeldaisy wrote: »

Hi curry addict just finished the base now smells fab so hopefully we'll be having curry tonight?
2 questions, I'm struggling to find fenugreek leaves are they crucial?
Also if I want to cater for a large group can I make each batch separately and then keep it warm in a slow cooker. I've 10 coming to dinner shortly and was hoping to impress with my curry skills:))

i guess its too late now

i usually just put each curry portion in a bowl and then microwave to reheat later and give it a good stir!

fenugreek leaves do add to flavor but even more so to that magic curry aroma. it will still taste great without them but they are worth getting!

hope it all worked out well for you

angeldaisy · 26-08-2012 6:46pm

?
i guess its too late now

i usually just put each curry portion in a bowl and then microwave to reheat later and give it a good stir!

fenugreek leaves do add to flavor but even more so to that magic curry aroma. it will still taste great without them but they are worth getting!

hope it all worked out well for you

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Wow! I ended up making the Rogan josh it was amazing well worth the effort even our 7 yr old cleared his plate - always a good sign:)

Thank you so much I always wanted to try a curry from scratch - now I know how!

eskimocat · 28-08-2012 4:20pm

Well I am all set for 'family feast' night tonight.... have the curry base made, chicken cooked to directions and some more prep work done and am looking forward to wowing my friends with your recipies!

I had been looking for a curried potato recipe but do you think i could use the Saag Aloo one and just leave out the spinch... so it would be more 'Aloo!' Have the potatos par boiled.

You are wonderful, Curry Addict for sharing your recipes

. Thanks to your advice I now also own a blender which is making short work of all my chopping etc! Phew!

Wish me luck.............

Curry Addict · 28-08-2012 4:57pm

eskimocat wrote: »

Well I am all set for 'family feast' night tonight.... have the curry base made, chicken cooked to directions and some more prep work done and am looking forward to wowing my friends with your recipies!

I had been looking for a curried potato recipe but do you think i could use the Saag Aloo one and just leave out the spinch... so it would be more 'Aloo!' Have the potatos par boiled.

You are wonderful, Curry Addict for sharing your recipes . Thanks to your advice I now also own a blender which is making short work of all my chopping etc! Phew!

Wish me luck.............

for a potato curry i really like this as its nice and light with a bite!

1tsp ginger/garlic paste
1 finely chopped onion
1tsp tomato puree
1tbs curry masala
1tbs standard curry powder
2 ladles of curry base
precooked potato
salt to taste

good luck with your curries tonight!

eskimocat · 28-08-2012 5:17pm

Cheers!!! That is great!

I'll let you know how it goes, I am confident in your recipes more than my cooking but I am sure it will be fine!

eskimocat · 29-08-2012 11:37am

Success!!! Everyone was raving about the curry last night! They cleared the lot! And the curried potatoes were gorgeous, best I have ever tasted!
Yum yum!

Thank again CurryAddict..... you are a genius!

Curry Addict · 29-08-2012 1:12pm

glad it worked out for you! it can be a bit scary 1st time

digitaldr · 02-09-2012 8:47pm

My missus would have a heart attack if she knew about the 200 mls of oil! Should I just not tell her or could I just substitute something else?

angeldaisy · 02-09-2012 8:54pm

digitaldr wrote: »

My missus would have a heart attack if she knew about the 200 mls of oil! Should I just not tell her or could I just substitute something else?

I was looking at this this afternoon as I made up another batch of the gravy. I worked out that the oil is approx 1800 kcals for 200ml, however I reckon that this would make about 5 / 6 individual portions of the gravy - could stand to be corrected on that:D
But this would mean approx 300 kcals each portion for the gravy - course you have the meat and then depending on what you made ....... Its not an every day meal - but well worth the extra cals and I'm sure its far less than a takeaway and you know what went into it:D

Curry Addict · 03-09-2012 9:09am

i have to agree about the oil content. its something i intend on working on.
i detailed the exact way its done in resturants where its based around a 5 minute cooking time. the fast cooking method of the individual portions just doesnt work without the oil. its important to understand how its done before we can adjust it to suit ourselves.
at home we dont have such time restriction, so less oil, more water and longer cooking time may be the way to go healthier. but its not easy to get good results if you reduce the amount of oil.

it may not be so healthy but it is a humungous portion! a huge portion of most foods will have a lot of calories too! i eat only about 2/3s of a portion when i make a curry and i dont feel so guilty about leaving the rest as its inexpensive to make. I also eat it only once a week so i can handle the approx 650 calorie portion i eat.

digitaldr · 03-09-2012 8:05pm

Thanks for the detailed reply curry addict. I intend to try your sauce just as soon as we take a break from trying the Hairy Dieters recipes (I plan to start a thread on the main food forum about these). Initially I'll follow your recipe to the letter as I always like to have a baseline to compare to before I make any tweaks. As for portion control I find it impossible when faced when a tasty curry:D Would be interested to find out how you get on with a reduced oil version. By the way have you tried it with ghee or do Indian restaurants really use it much?

Curry Addict · 05-09-2012 4:39pm

digitaldr wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply curry addict. I intend to try your sauce just as soon as we take a break from trying the Hairy Dieters recipes (I plan to start a thread on the main food forum about these). Initially I'll follow your recipe to the letter as I always like to have a baseline to compare to before I make any tweaks. As for portion control I find it impossible when faced when a tasty curry:D Would be interested to find out how you get on with a reduced oil version. By the way have you tried it with ghee or do Indian restaurants really use it much?

copy exact is definitely the way to go and then tweak to your own tastes

i wont be doing reduced oil version for awhile as mrs. curry addict made a fresh base a few days ago.
ghee is not a good idea in curries imho simply because you want to keep the sauce as light as possible. vegetable oil or seasoned oil is used everywhere ive seen. seasoned oil is simply the oil they use to deep fry bhaji and pakoras etc.
Gee is used in dhals and other veggy dishes. i got some lessons off an indian chef in london, she told me Ghee is viewed by indians as we view lard, old fashioned and very heavy in dishes.

_blank_ · 07-09-2012 3:48pm

Curry Addict wrote: »

naan dough
1/4pint milk
1 egg
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1/4teaspoon baking powder
500g self raising flour

make a dough and leave to rest for 1 hour
pre-heat oven for 30mins on highest heat with oiled baking tray inside.
roll out your nan, place it on the baking tray and bake for 3-4 mins.

I tried making this dough, and all I've got is fine breadcrumbs.

can anyone advise? It seems like way too little liquid

Curry Addict · 07-09-2012 4:49pm

Des wrote: »

I tried making this dough, and all I've got is fine breadcrumbs.

can anyone advise? It seems like way too little liquid

ouch should be 1/4 of a litre of milk

eskimocat · 07-09-2012 4:59pm

Owing to the success of my last dinner party Curryaddict, I am planning on wowing them at work on Monday with one of your tasty curries.

Hungry myself just thinking about it! I hope you get to experiment soon with the oil etc as per the discussion.

_blank_ · 07-09-2012 5:19pm

Curry Addict wrote: »

ouch should be 1/4 of a litre of milk

yeah cool, I just started adding more milk, a bit at a time, until it came together.

Any ideas on how to make it into a Peshwari Naan?

Curry Addict · 07-09-2012 6:06pm

ive never made it but i could guess

mix ground almond, raisins and sugar with some melted butter.

take a portion of naan dough and pat it out into a small circle, put the mix in the middle and fold in the sides to make a ball with the mix in the middle and simply roll it out to make the naan shape and bake it!

how did your naan turn out btw?

_blank_ · 07-09-2012 6:09pm

haven't made dinner yet, will report back after!

I might actually give that a bash, I've ground almond out for the Korma.

_blank_ · 07-09-2012 6:12pm

Oh, how many naans would that recipe make? It seems like a lot of dough.

Will it freeze?

Curry Addict · 07-09-2012 7:35pm

Des wrote: »

Oh, how many naans would that recipe make? It seems like a lot of dough.

Will it freeze?

i have never frozen it, some doughs do freeze ok, no harm trying it

_blank_ · 07-09-2012 8:36pm

Curry Addict wrote: »

i have never frozen it, some doughs do freeze ok, no harm trying it

Cooked it all up into naans, got six from it, decent sized ones, freezing the left overs, they can go into the oven from the freezer like shop ones the next time.

Made 2 Peshwari with pistachio nuts, raisin and brown sugar in the grinder part of the food processor, then using the process you described above.

Had one Korma and one Madras from the first post, and those two, plus the naan went down brillaintly. The naan especially, as I hadn't made it before. It's very, very nice. I also threw some onion seeds into the mix before sticking them in the oven.

Thanks again Curry Addict, these really are top notch recipes.

Curry Addict · 07-09-2012 9:31pm

glad it all worked out after the milk shortage

and particularly the Naan as they can be tricky and you had to persevere

the madras is my 2nd favorite so full of yam yam :pac:

_blank_ · 07-09-2012 9:47pm

Curry Addict wrote: »

glad it all worked out after the milk shortage and particularly the Naan as they can be tricky and you had to persevere

the madras is my 2nd favorite so full of yam yam :pac:

Ha yeah, I just kept adding milk slowly until it all came together and looked ok, I thought it ended up a bit wet, but I left it for an hour and when I was kneeding it, it turned out ok.

Winston79 · 13-09-2012 12:24am

Made the gravy tonight, it ended up with 2.5 ltrs. Does that sound about right?

Curry Addict · 13-09-2012 9:45am

Winston79 wrote: »

Made the gravy tonight, it ended up with 2.5 ltrs. Does that sound about right?

that sounds ok yes.

Winston79 · 13-09-2012 11:34am

Curry Addict wrote: »

that sounds ok yes.

Cool, i have the chicken cooking now

Madras for dinner tonight, can't wait. This really is a quality thread, I thought what I was cooking up to now was curry!!

Curry Addict · 13-09-2012 11:49am

gl with it hope it works out well

eskimocat · 13-09-2012 3:10pm

I thought the same about my previous curries but I must say this is the real thing! Delighted to be able to cook such lovely flavoured food!

My workmates really loved it. Gave you full credit CurryAddict!! Thanks again

Winston79 · 15-09-2012 12:36am

Curry Addict wrote: »

gl with it hope it works out well

Worked out very well indeed. Delicious madras enjoyed by all.

I'll be doing the korma next week!

2012 Cooking Club Week 2b: Indian Resturant curries

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