Favourite Cook Book/Recipe/Food-related Site?

jimfinoc

You can buy Popadoms in a packet in an Indian shop in Moore Street, part of the Ilack Center. This is how you cook them. You can serve them cold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_YARQfiv8M

For the dips, we use ramikin dishes. Work out about 4 dips. For a hot and spicie one I get a jar of lime pickel. Also you should get a tub of natural yogert and add some chilli sauce to your taste, or some Colemans mint sauce, or make up some finely choped salad with a little spice in it.

Darkginger

The spices I use for Pilau Rice are the Schwarz mix - comes in the usual Schwarz jar, labelled 'Pilau Rice'. Just add a teaspoon or so when boiling your rice.

Bella mamma

jimfinoc wrote: »

You can buy Popadoms in a packet in an Indian shop in Moore Street, part of the Ilack Center. This is how you cook them. You can serve them cold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_YARQfiv8M

For the dips, we use ramikin dishes. Work out about 4 dips. For a hot and spicie one I get a jar of lime pickel. Also you should get a tub of natural yogert and add some chilli sauce to your taste, or some Colemans mint sauce, or make up some finely choped salad with a little spice in it.

Brilliant thanks! I'll get the spices in that shop too.

Bella mamma

Darkginger wrote: »

The spices I use for Pilau Rice are the Schwarz mix - comes in the usual Schwarz jar, labelled 'Pilau Rice'. Just add a teaspoon or so when boiling your rice.

Thanks, sorted!

Darkginger

Re the yogurt dip - try a small tub of plain yoghurt, add some finely sliced cucumber, 1 tsp Colman's Mint Sauce (or Colman's Garden Mint - if the latter, add a pinch of sugar), a pinch of salt, and a pinch of garam masala. Don't forget mango chutney!

ems_12

Hi Bella Mamma,

I'm not great at cooking, but cooked for twenty odd people at my parents anniversary party once and decided to do something similar; got an indian party packs as starter (pakoras, onion bahjis (sp?!) etc) then followed with this recipe for lamb korma;

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/591464

Made it that morning and left it in the slow cooker which meant the lamb was lovely and tender, and then all I had to worry about was the rice! Everyone liked it, and there was a selection of generations/picky people there (phew!).

Enjoy - curries from scratch are yum!

Bella mamma

ems_12 wrote: »

Hi Bella Mamma,

I'm not great at cooking, but cooked for twenty odd people at my parents anniversary party once and decided to do something similar; got an indian party packs as starter (pakoras, onion bahjis (sp?!) etc) then followed with this recipe for lamb korma;

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/591464

Made it that morning and left it in the slow cooker which meant the lamb was lovely and tender, and then all I had to worry about was the rice! Everyone liked it, and there was a selection of generations/picky people there (phew!).

Enjoy - curries from scratch are yum!

20? I'm impressed!

In the spirit of 'leaving no stone unturned', I got Chicken Dhansak and Lamb Jalfrezi tonight :cool:. (yum BTW).

This is a very nice Indian and I asked the chef if he could make the Dhansak mild, as I'd like a milder dish as one of the two, for my soiree. Anyway, he gave me a Lamb Vindloo (I've been blown away) and a Lamb Chat....something free!!!!

I can't say I really knew there was a huge difference in the look/taste between the two, but this is not my area of expertise. I was surprised that the chicken in the Dhansak was pre-cooked, like in Chicken Tikka Masala.

Will keep your recipe in mind, thanks for the link

eamor

Hey OP, Might be a bit late with this suggestion but www.videojug.com is great if you are trying out new stuff. I made a gorgous lamb saag from scratch by following the tutorials on there.
Happy Cooking
Eamor

nesbitt

I just purchased 'The Mixing Bowl' - collection of recipes. Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services Ireland.

This is a delightful book, well illustrated and laid out. There are five sections 'Breakfast Delights, Soups, Starters & Light Lunches, Amazing Mains, Irish Originals, and Perfect Pudding, Tart & Pies'.

This book would make a great gift. Price 12.99euro Easons.

I bought this for my Mam, but I am going to buy one for myself as the recipe has such firm favourites of mine and some delicious looking new ones to try.:)

Marty McFly

Ok now I can cook a little bit but would love to be a bit of a whizz in the kitchen, been looking at cookbooks but there so many I dont even know what im looking at really.


My favourite types of food would be mexican, italian, asian or big meaty dishes like youd see in man vs food, can anyone recommend any good cook books for me?

Im not sure if this is the right forum for this kind of thread seeing as it seems to be mostly about recipes etc but im hoping its ok .

The Black Oil

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054978683

Here might help you out.

Marty McFly

Thanks to this thread ive now bought

Jamie Olivers: Jamies Italy

Jamie Olivers: Ministry of Food

and

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: The River Cottage Meat Book

So thanks.

Faith

Threads merged.

ernie999

Darkginger wrote: »

This is the best site I've ever found for curry recipes (and I'm a curry nut). http://www.secretcurryrecipes.com/

There are free sections, but subscribing (£6 a year) gives you access to everything. They concentrate on reproducing the taste you get in an Indian restaurant (as opposed to authentic Indian food).

There are several stages to making a restaurant-style curry:

1. getting the correct ingredients
2. making a spice mix
3. making a base gravy
4. pre-cooking the meat and/or vegetables
5. bringing it all together, and using the correct cooking techniques

Check out this YouTube channel for help with all the above http://www.youtube.com/user/leviteish?blend=3&ob=5#p/a - brilliant videos that explain it all very clearly and which have made a real difference to my curry cooking!

Hope that helps, but do ask if you have specific questions

No way thats gas cuz I joined that site yesterday and at first glance it seemed too good to be true its a very impressive website but when I looked further into it there was mention of not being able to access certain recipes unless properly paid up as it were well that just p***ed me off straght away as i thought it was a money making site but £6 is very cheap if it is genuinely good? you have tried the recipes obviously,are they that good? I'm not being a food snob AT ALL but I would really know a good Madras, Balti,Garlic Chilli Chicken etc etc a mile off having lived in England, I know these are basic mainstay dishes but if they're made right as I'm sure you know,can be out of this world,and I have'nt found an Indian Takeaway near where i live to be up to scratch,I tried a Madras from utube by TitliNihaan she has a link for her website there as well,I have to say it was lovely and would certainly make again,BUT it could be slightly better so I am searching till i perfect my curries,the price of all the spices was under E10 and i could easily get 8-10 curries from them!!!

Darkginger

I swear to you, the recipes on that site are THAT good I have the same username there as here, so feel free to look up my posts and you'll see I'm a real fan. I made the mistake last night of searching for a curry recipe (had some pork fillet, wanted something that specified pork, ended up with a Kris Dhillon recipe that is a bit 'meh' now I've made it) elsewhere, and was disappointed.

It does take a bit of practice to get a proper Indian restaurant taste - it's not like there's 'a recipe' to follow, really - you have to learn where to source your spices, how to make a mix powder, how to make the base gravy, and how to bring it all together - sometimes it makes you feel like you're playing with dominoes - can't do one thing until another thing is done, which relies on a third thing...argh!

Having said that, it is SO well worth putting in the effort. I moved to Ireland from the UK 12 years ago - and at the time (we're in the middle of rural nowhere) I didn't stand a chance of finding a good Indian restaurant or takeaway - so I started looking for a way to make 'proper' curries myself. That site has shown me the way (hallelujah!) - and I really can produce something that's up to the standard of Indian restaurants in the UK now (I have a couple of delivery curries a few times a year when I go back to the UK to see my Dad, so am not deluding myself with false memories!).

The £6 charge for full membership for a year is worth paying, I think, but not necessary to get the hang of making a basic curry. You just need the Melting Base 3 recipe, and a mix powder, then watch the Curry2go vids on YouTube (Julian is very generous in sharing his 'secrets') and you're good to go.

Let me know how you get on - I'm a bit (a bit?) passionate about home curry cooking

Curry Addict

ernie999 wrote: »

No way thats gas cuz I joined that site yesterday and at first glance it seemed too good to be true its a very impressive website but when I looked further into it there was mention of not being able to access certain recipes unless properly paid up as it were well that just p***ed me off straght away as i thought it was a money making site but £6 is very cheap if it is genuinely good? you have tried the recipes obviously,are they that good? I'm not being a food snob AT ALL but I would really know a good Madras, Balti,Garlic Chilli Chicken etc etc a mile off having lived in England, I know these are basic mainstay dishes but if they're made right as I'm sure you know,can be out of this world,and I have'nt found an Indian Takeaway near where i live to be up to scratch!

the madras on that site is very good, it is the standard madras you get in a good curry house. their "melting base" is a good base and gives good results when u use it to make the madras. the only criticism id have of the melting base is it doesnt include fresh coriander leaf.
Their "resturant base" is just too rich and doesnt work well imho.
there is a bit of hokus pokus on the site which is bull**** tbh. it is not a dark art its simply a step by step process.
i have to agree about the quality of local indians here unfortunately.

Darkginger

The reason the melting base doesn't include fresh coriander is that it loses its flavour when cooked and/or frozen - nearly all the recipes that use the MB include fresh coriander at some stage. I've tried adding it to the base gravy - it kinda gets lost - much better added later. Having said that, some restaurants do add it at the gravy stage - but as I have to make a special trip (20 mile round trip) to get the stuff (except in the summer, when I try to grow it, sometimes successfully!), I prefer to use it later, so the flavour comes through.

Can't remember the name of the producer, but I've recently found packs of frozen 'fresh' coriander (they do parsley and basil too) at Centra - it's not as good as the real thing, but covers the gap between trips to the greengrocer!

Darkginger

Oo, forgot to say - Curry Addict - you have to try Julian (curry2go) 's recipe for vindaloo (on YouTube) - the kashmiri chillies are really fruity and add a deep flavour to the dish. Give it a go and let me know how it goes. If you can't find the kashmiri chillies, drop me a PM - have a large bag of them, happy to send you a few

Curry Addict

for me the coriander/carrot/onion is a wonderfull combo in a base.

i had a look at the vindaloo. looks great and made me drewl. i make it similar, i put the chillies in whole, i use white wine vinegar instead of lime and less chilli powder i use a vindaloo spice blend instead of mix. the ginger/garlic paste at the end looks interesting and worth a try for sure. thanks for the tips!
for me a vindaloo is all about garlic/vinegar/chilli but ill try some lime next time instead of vinegar.

ernie999

Darkginger wrote: »

I swear to you, the recipes on that site are THAT good I have the same username there as here, so feel free to look up my posts and you'll see I'm a real fan. I made the mistake last night of searching for a curry recipe (had some pork fillet, wanted something that specified pork, ended up with a Kris Dhillon recipe that is a bit 'meh' now I've made it) elsewhere, and was disappointed.

It does take a bit of practice to get a proper Indian restaurant taste - it's not like there's 'a recipe' to follow, really - you have to learn where to source your spices, how to make a mix powder, how to make the base gravy, and how to bring it all together - sometimes it makes you feel like you're playing with dominoes - can't do one thing until another thing is done, which relies on a third thing...argh!

Having said that, it is SO well worth putting in the effort. I moved to Ireland from the UK 12 years ago - and at the time (we're in the middle of rural nowhere) I didn't stand a chance of finding a good Indian restaurant or takeaway - so I started looking for a way to make 'proper' curries myself. That site has shown me the way (hallelujah!) - and I really can produce something that's up to the standard of Indian restaurants in the UK now (I have a couple of delivery curries a few times a year when I go back to the UK to see my Dad, so am not deluding myself with false memories!).

The £6 charge for full membership for a year is worth paying, I think, but not necessary to get the hang of making a basic curry. You just need the Melting Base 3 recipe, and a mix powder, then watch the Curry2go vids on YouTube (Julian is very generous in sharing his 'secrets') and you're good to go.

Let me know how you get on - I'm a bit (a bit?) passionate about home curry cooking

Oooh sounds good!! I didn't know about these base sauces but it definitely sounds like the way to go,I don't mind putting the effort in if the end result is gonna be worth it and I know it will be!! I live on the southside of Dublin in a built up area and I cant get a good Indian near me and this is what drove me to having a go at making my own,the Madras I made from youtube was as good as our local takeaway but more satisfying probably cuz I made it,so I can't wait to get stuck into the proper step by step process of making one,I'll more than likely sign up proper this week to that site and if not next week!!

I had a look on youtube at that curry2go fella doing garlic chicken etc which included an onion base they sound really authentic

I'll have a look for you on rcr when I'm properly signed up!

Thanks a million by the way

Darkginger

Glad to help There's also a guy on RCR (Curry Barking Mad, aka Mick) who has produced his own e-book with base gravy recipes, mix powders, and a few restaurant staples. He charges £2.99 (came to €3.50 when I bought it) for the download, which includes links to videos showing the techniques. I haven't tried all of the recipes yet, but his Bombay potatoes are great. They call for onion seeds, and I *think* I'm using the right ingredient (nigella seeds aka black onion) , and make my kitchen smell like a real restaurant.

I'm desperate to get back to cooking and eating curry - Christmas caused a hiatus in my experiments, and I'm craving curry really badly at the moment. Sadly, I have to do roast beef and Yorkshire pud for dinner tomorrow (was husband's birthday today, he's from York, it's his favourite meal, but he had a tummy upset today) - so roll on Wednesday and Julian's vindaloo!

Funnily enough, a new guy turned up on RCR a day or so ago - thought he was you 'cos he was looking for a good garlic chilli chicken recipe You'll have to compare notes when you get there!

simply simple

have you ever tried the videos of vahrehvah recipes on youtube.they also have their website www.vahrehvah.com
must say his taught recipes comes out perfect everytime.
hold on,there is also 1 more showmethecurry.com
late for your event but this can be always useful

ernie999

Ahhh yer a star!!! My name is Jambo on it (ernie was taken) ,although you love Indian I bet you like all tasty food with a bit of a kick,there's a website' well more of a blog called Authentic Food Delights which has some very good recipes on it the Garlic Chilli Chicken is lovely and really quick to make and only takes a couple of hours marinating the chicken,the Black Pepper Chicken is lovely too!!

There's also links on the site of chefs blogs which I only clicked onto tonight (as I'm now on a mission) and there's some very tasty looking dishes,I haven't looked at many but one i clicked onto (sailus kitchen) looks very good!!! I'm lookin at the Methi Murgh it looks really tasty,not very spicy but lots of other stuff going on

It prob was me I did mention in my introduction what dishes I was interested in well some of them

lets know how the Vindaloo goes

ernie999

Darkginger wrote: »

Re the yogurt dip - try a small tub of plain yoghurt, add some finely sliced cucumber, 1 tsp Colman's Mint Sauce (or Colman's Garden Mint - if the latter, add a pinch of sugar), a pinch of salt, and a pinch of garam masala. Don't forget mango chutney!

Thats a brilliant idea for a cooling dip!! I'll give that a bash when I'm making the Vindaloo courtesy of Julian,I looked at a few of his videos after you recommending them,very good info there I have to say,did you make the Base Gravy or the Onion Gravy,or both? I haven't reached the video describing the flavoured oil yet but I want to start gathering some of the essentials first,did you get an aluminium pan like he suggests?

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into cooking some tasty Indian food:)

BhoscaCapall

I'm interested in collecting the 'best' recipes for common dishes. Recipes that perhaps have little tips and tricks to make the best version of every day dishes. Perhaps there's already a cookbook devoted to this?

For example,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_B3QNu_Ks

Brian?

She get's some hate from food snobs, but honestly you can't go wrong with Delia.

Can't boil and egg?:

http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/eggs/how-to-boil-an-egg.html

Minder

Dean & DeLuca Cookbook, 700 recipes for savoury dishes and not a single picture, photograph or drawing.

Gloomtastic!

Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook is pretty good for all the basic recipes plus lots of extras as well. It also has all the basic tips you are looking for.

angeldaisy

the bbc good food website is very good, has clips showing how to do certain things, along with tried and tested recipes. Also look at their ultimate recipes, just type in ultimate in the search box, all done by Angela Nilsen.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com

Mrs Fox

angeldaisy wrote: »

the bbc good food website is very good, has clips showing how to do certain things, along with tried and tested recipes. Also look at their ultimate recipes, just type in ultimate in the search box, all done by Angela Nilsen.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com

Agreed.
I've always found Good Food site reliable.