RMWeb Curry Club.

[C126]

Thanks to you all for such wonderful contributions, including the photographs (and the garlic-bread recommendation!).  Lots to follow up c/o Google: I had not heard of Japanese curries, and only know 'Beef Rendang is Indonesian/Malay'.  Since moving in with my veggie partner a few years ago (alas, I still can not persuade her my chickpeas are better 'al dente' from soaked, than from a tin), we have curry only three times a week, but Covid-19 has prompted trying new recipes and ideas, as well as much jam-making.  Did two batches last weekend of blackberry-and-apple, one with 1tsp ground cinnamon, and one with 1tsp ground green cardamom: good balance of the three flavours (this is with 1lb each of the fruits plus 2lbs of sugar).

 

I do have a few jars of Patak's pastes in the cupboard, but try to make up my own mixtures from individual spices.  We also are lucky enough to have a bay-tree in the garden, so that always goes in the rice - thanks for the tip about tearing it.  My first 'recipe book' was a Sharwood's promotional freebie from the 1980's, so I have a sneaking affection for the brand, but have not seen their curry powders for sale for decades.  Are they still made?  I remember the deli in my childhood selling them in grey tubs, with lurid labels.  I used a paste (the Jalfreizi is probably my favourite, but this was the Balti) when last making a batch of mashed left-over vegetables for my weekend lunches of 'Pav Bhaji' to save time, and it tastes good.

 

I would vote for chicken thigh over breast any day in a Tandoor, as learned in a restaurant only just before lock-down; hence my query over the superiority of a charcoal tandoor.  Waitrose sometimes have pheasant on special offer in season, so I treat myself occasionally, deluding myself it is healthier than chicken.  I marinate it the day before and then grill it, and prefer the taste and texture to chicken.

 

Thanks again to you all for your contributions.  Last night's marinated paneer with grilled cherry tomatoes and squares of yellow pepper was good: again, a Covid-19 inspired search for an alternative to 'mattar paneer' (delicious though this can be).  I will look out some recipes to share.  Best wishes.

[57xx]

Have to admit to being a bit of a curry fiend myself. I start off cooking currys when I was about 10-12yrs old (40 years ago!), using a recipe in the Farmhouse Cookbook. It was basically left over chicken from the previous Sunday's roast, onion, curry powder, ginger powder, sugar, flour and not a lot else! I cringe to think what it would taste like today. When I moved out to London to go to Poly, I was living in halls and met several Indian girls living there who taught me the finer points of curry making (and how to cook rice, a technique I still use to this day). Access to all the Indian grocers up there was a revelation, we never had anything like it in my home town at the time.

 

They introduced me to using fresh spices (whether whole, ground, tempered or roasted) and I've never looked back. All my currys since then are made from combining the relevant spices. I do still have a packet of Madras curry powder in the cupboard, but that's solely reserved for making Singapore noodles. I've got a stack of books with more authentic recipes than you would find in takeaways. I've also only just started looking at some of the Indian cooking channels on Youtube, there are some great traditional recipes to be found there.

 

One of my favourite dishes now is Curd Rice. Simply boiled rice, mix into yoghurt and then a spice temper drizzled over it. I have a Curry Leaf plant so the fresh leaves in it give it an amazing flavour (don't bother with dried  curry leaves, they are not a patch on the fresh ones)

 

Also a fan of Thai currys but don't cook them very often.

 

Last but not least, another vote for chicken thigh over breast. And preferably on the bone for even more added flavour!

[APOLLO]

Pataks is OK - Made in Wigan (well, Leigh actually) - you can smell the onions when they are boiling up !!!!!

 

Look out for these - the golden curry is nice,, not strong but tasty,-Vermont curry is nice.

 

 

Zeppelin curry ????

 

 

Brit15

[57xx]

2 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Zeppelin curry ????

 

 

 

 

Goes down fiery?

 

[Tony Davis]

6 hours ago, APOLLO said:

 

Yes Yellow curry is a recognised Thai dish,

 

 

Thai curry is sold as a paste, never powder. We have two thai food shops here in Wigan which sell all sorts of goodies. If you have a more common Chinese food shop / supermarket near they usually stock Thai curry pastes, made in Thailand so the real McCoy.

 

This one is nice if you can find it.

 

 

And this brand is the Wife's favourite, Nittaya, in a large sachet bag

 

 

Try to avoid UK produced stuff in jars sold in supermarkets - usually OK (ish) but can't hold a candle to the genuine stuff.

 

Oh, if you like the Chinese Chippy type of curry (I do with chips occasionally) you can usually get this in tubs at Chinese supermarkets, mild and hot. We mix the two 50/50, add pork & onions etc.

 

 

Brit15

 

Thanks Brit15, I will definitely be looking for these products in the near future. I found the different flavours in the yellow curry really enjoyable.

[didcot]

I have a couple of "Pinch of Nom " slimming cook books and the Chicken Balti is brilliant. You make your own Balti paste from spices and marinade the chicken. I usually do a batch as I'm the only one who likes Curry and freeze it for a busy day. I hate shop bought Curry pastes. Whilst not strictly a Curry, the Cajun Bean soup and Cuban Beef are also very good. You can find the recipes online.

[JeremyC]

My personal tastes in curry are probably influenced by being introduced to them as a young engineer on Indian and Chinese crewed ships in the Merchant Navy. The curries (and Chinese food) there were totally different to what is found in restaurants in this country (and what was produced for the officers was different again to what the crew ate). For many years curry was a no no in our house as neither my wife nor sons would eat it, but the latter having grown up and been away at university have developed a taste for it and even my wife now enjoys a mild curry. Personal favourites at the moment are a lamb Karahi or Jalfreezi. I prefer lamb (or beef) as I think it carries the flavours better. On the occasions we make curry I use Madhur Jaffrey's recipes and for a quick jar curry Tesco's finest seem quite reliable.

The one person in the family who really dislikes curries is my brother in law who spent some of his childhood years in India when his father was there as a representative of the North British Locomotive Company.

[tigerburnie]

I too love a curry, never been to the far east, but find the UK restaurant's are pretty good, in my yoof after playing rugby then consuming gallons of beer a curry in Leicester was always the way to finish off the night.

14 courses, no problem, starter of Shish kebab, a Balti (these days a Madras is as hot as I'm daft enough to try now) and 12 pints of Cobra..........................

[APOLLO]

Curry over in Thailand is quite something else - especially at street markets. Thais rarely cook at home, street vendors are everywhere. Food is freshly cooked, very cheap and excellent. When we visit family over there it's usual for someone to go to several local vendors and return with all sorts of delicious foods,  There's only one or two foods over there I don't like, my favorite is spicy Chiang Mai pork sausage on a stick with a small chunk of raw garlic - delicious.

 

 Most towns have a street market which comes alive at night with many local folks cooking / selling. it's great on a warm (well hot) evening to just not have a formal meal and walk through the market buying & eating on the go, ending up with a beer or two at the end !! Alas not this year due to covid.

 

By the way I have (almost !) never had the runs, delli belly etc - though it's wise to quickly check out the hygiene of the various stalls. If there is a queue of Thai's then that is usually a sign its OK.

 

 

 

 

 

Lots have a little seating area also.

 

 

I give these a miss though - some still twitch even after frying !!

 

 

After 3 weeks eating Thai food I dream of baked beans on toast or (being a Wiganer) a meat & potato pie on the plane flying home !!!

 

Brit15

[SHMD]

...you were on to a winning post, there Apollo, until that last photo!

 

Although these street markets, "that come alive in the evening", are usually very good where ever I have been.

..and definitely, if the locals a queuing up - that's when I take an interest!

 

 

Kev.

 

[Tony Davis]

On the subject of using spices, one of my go-to meals is coconut dahl, it's really simple, Masoor dahl, tin of coconut milk, chopped onion, two chopped medium tomatoes, three finger chilies, s&p and....... Turmeric. I have almost been banned from using Turmeric in the kitchen because, no matter how careful I am, it always makes it's way onto SWMBO's tea towel or white cabinet door!

[Night Train]

On 29/08/2020 at 16:23, C126 said:

I confess to being one who could eat curry happily three times a day for the rest of my life, and ate it daily for dinner in my 'batchelor days'.

A couple of us were working in Aurangabad last year. It seems the hotel provided curry twice a day and the works canteen provided another for lunch. We had curry for 37 consecutive meals, 3 times a day and still loved them.

 

The 2 standout meals were a lamb rendang (apparently quite popular where we were).

 

And a chicken tandoori pizza. The chicken was cooked in the tandoor to order. The pizza base was covered in the green mint and coriander chutney they like, instead of tomato sauce. Without doubt, the best pizza I have ever eaten.

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Night Train

[57xx]

5 minutes ago, Night Train said:

A couple of us were working in Aurangabad last year. It seems the hotel provided curry twice a day and the works canteen provided another for lunch. We had curry for 37 consecutive meals, 3 times a day and still loved them.

 

The 2 standout meals were a lamb rendang (apparently quite popular where we were).

 

And a chicken tandoori pizza. The chicken was cooked in the tandoor to order. The pizza base was covered in the green mint and coriander chutney they like, instead of tomato sauce. Without doubt, the best pizza I have ever eaten.

 

 

Damn, both of those look very good. Making me hungry again and I've already had chicken and chickpea curry tonight!

[APOLLO]

I've shown the missus this thread - she's not impressed - "Nothing better than a Thai curry" she says - I disagree (though I said nowt !!!!!!).

 

Anyway ----

 

 

Brit15

[Gwiwer]

To say I am a big fan of Indian-style curry is an understatement of some magnitude.  I am also very fond of Thai food especially the green curry style.  Similar spicy cuisines exist in many parts of the world though I have not knowingly sampled more than one or two dishes and - as with most of my eating experiences - those have been in the UK or Australia.  I had a very good Thai curry at the top of Auckland's big hill one night and have enjoyed Singaporean curry in my travels through that place.  

 

I had the good fortune to live in east London when the Indian community occupied Forest Gate (and most points between Stratford and Ilford but Forest Gate was solidly Indian) and just about every retail establishment was either a fabric shop or restaurant.  Some were south Indian, most were northern.  There were a very few Nepalese and Burmese places.  Nearly all were single family businesses.  

 

Street food style is often the best bet in my opinion though Indian food can take longer to prepare than a stall allows.  Those bain-marie style outlets you see at fairs and festivals are often quite good and because the food is batch-cooked and kept warm it is both readily available and (usually) vegetarian which can reduce any possible health risk.  

 

My favourite dishes would be goat vindaloo, meat phal and sag aloo.  I am not afraid of heat.  Neither do I react adversely to it other than during the meal itself; chilli in particular makes me sweat and turns my face red but I quickly settle down.  It can look a bit dramatic to others though.  

 

I don't use curry powder but do use Pataks pastes.  I have used other brands and I have used cook-in sauces but none are quite as good in my opinion.  

 

Favourite home recipe is my sag aloo:-

Peel and rough dice a kilo (2lbs) of potatoes to about 1cm cubes.  Par-boil until just yielding.  Drain and wash with cold water to stop the cooking process.  

While the potatoes are cooking grind a dessert-spoon full of black peppercorns and the same of fresh cardamoms together with the pestle and mortar.

Chop a good handful of fresh spinach leaves or defrost around six of the frozen "balls" of spinach.

Using the potato pan melt a dessertspoon full of ghee over low heat and mix it around the potatoes; add the spinach and mix together.

Add a dessertspoonful of Pataks MAdras Curry Paste plus the peppers and cardamoms and mix roughly together.

Turn out into an oven-proof dish, add more ghee if required (this doesn't need to be too sloppy but some people like it like that) and bake at 200C for around 20 minutes.  

Serve as a main or a side as required.  

 

The South West Area Group of this establishment has had curry nights from time to time.  If one were to be organised again I would hope to attend.  In the meantime does anyone know if my favourite Cornish outlet has survived the virus?  Curry Corner at the top of Causewayhead in Penzance has been there for around 25 years under the same ownership. You wont find too many female Indian chefs.  It looks scruffy and you would walk past it if you didn't know.  Don't.  Food is cooked in front of you (right in the shop window) so there's no faking or microwaving.  It's not fast food - it's good food.  I hope she has managed to survive the scourge.  

 

Among Thai restaurants a very honourable mention must go to the unlikely venue of Worthing where, tucked away in a back street almost opposite the pier isThai Street Food (which is actually a dine-in / take-away / delivery place but not street food as such.  Yamin runs the place with a passion, a tiny staff and a miniscule kitchen yet is known far and wide.  She even cooked free meals for the homeless during lockdown and extended that to be free food for anyone in need of a meal.  It's amazingly good, authentic (I am assured by Thais and an Amex Travel food critic) and a little eclectic.  As is Yamin herself.  

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Gwiwer

[Tony Davis]

17 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

playing rugby then consuming gallons of beer a curry in Leicester

Is that where your user name comes from?

[C126]

Thanks again for all your contributions.  I am pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm for Thai curries, something I have eaten only once.  There is (was?) a pub in Hampshire or west Sussex I went to with chums decades ago that cooked Thai food, and I did enjoy it, but I confess my motto when going out for dinner is, "Why have anything else, when there's a curry-house open?"  However, lest it be thought I am quite set in my ways, this thread, combined with my beloved going away this weekend allowing me free reign in the kitchen, has prompted me to go shopping this after-noon to try Beef Rendang.  I thought I would try the B.B.C.'s/Hairy Bikers' recipe (is it 'pukka' enough?):

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beef_rendang_62793

 

Thanks also to Gwiwer's recipe above.  I am not a fan of Saag/spinach, but have just discovered Chard as an alternative, and also wonder about substituting my much-loved water-cress, in this classic combination.  If I try it I will post tasting results here.  Thanks to you all as ever.

[57xx]

 

My Murraya koenigii "Curry Tree", bought about 3-4 years ago as a small sapling about 3" high.

[tigerburnie]

3 hours ago, Tony Davis said:

Is that where your user name comes from?

It does indeed, though I wasn't good enough to play for the Tigers, my old club are now called Leicester Lions.

[Tony_S]

20 hours ago, Tony Davis said:

Turmeric in the kitchen because, no matter how careful I am, it always makes it's way onto SWMBO's tea towel

Turmeric stains on tea towels disappear after washing if you dry the towel somewhere sunny. No idea if it works on the cupboard doors though. 
Tony

Edited August 31, 2020 by Tony_S

[Tony Davis]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Turmeric stains on tea towels disappear after washing if you dry the towel somewhere sunny. No idea if it works on the cupboard doors though. 
Tony

Thanks Tony, I'll give that a try, although I do live in the fens so sun is often in short supply! Wind, plenty of that, not a lot of rain, but sun? hmm

[Tony_S]

2 minutes ago, Tony Davis said:

Thanks Tony, I'll give that a try, although I do live in the fens so sun is often in short supply! Wind, plenty of that, not a lot of rain, but sun? hmm

I think some of our tablecloths are over 40 years old and are starting to show signs of wear but no stains from curry. I don’t think the sun down here in South Essex is as strong as the Punjab where the tablecloths originated but it seems adequate to remove turmeric stains. Mother in Law was most annoyed when she discovered some naughty people were using food colouring instead of turmeric and the stain didn’t come out. 
Tony

[Tony Davis]

21 hours ago, Night Train said:

A couple of us were working in Aurangabad last year. It seems the hotel provided curry twice a day and the works canteen provided another for lunch. We had curry for 37 consecutive meals, 3 times a day and still loved them.

 

The hotels we stayed in in Sri Lanka also served curry for breakfast, and I often have it a home, delicious and filling. 

[sb67]

Does anybody make their own Naan or Chapatis? I'd like to try but put off by using yeast etc, I tried just flour and water for Chapattis and wasn't too impressed.

[melmerby]

On 30/08/2020 at 21:11, Night Train said:

A couple of us were working in Aurangabad last year.

 

I can't remember there being much there apart from Aurangzeb's "Mini Taj" and a Chinese retaurant opposite the hotel!