After reading the thread about boiling onions I once again set to work
trying to see if I could get this system to produce some good results. In
the past I have made this basic sauce and just wasted it trying different
thing. My best results were with the base sauce and forget the rest! Just
pop in some vindaloo sauce etc. and coriander leaves at the end, using this sauce
as a start...
you get the drift anyway.
However all this leads me on to another try at the boiling the onions
method, I think it was Tuesday anyway early this week I set about peeling
the onions, garlic and ginger (before my Ann my wife came home) 2Ib onion,
etc.
But I was prepared!!
Out side went me, and the onions etc to my secret
weapon my hidden BBQ in the garden (set up gas bottle the evening before)
and then started with the onions on ring burner. I closed all the doors and
windows and quite smug with tin of lager in hand, just pop out every 10 mins
to check and stir with torch in hand.
That's it!! I said to myself, no more
complaints from Ann and no more smell to take to work.
However disaster struck halfway through cooking, at about 18:00 hours metric
time.
No not the gas bottle
No No not the rain
No No No not the torch batteries
No No No No not the local cat
But!!
Hailstones yes!
Hailstones up here in Newcastle. Can you see it!!
It's
me with large spoon and torch in hands working the BBQ in the dark, boiling
onions with horrendous smell and a pile of hailstones on top of my big pan
and me dripping wet. My Ann came back and said the smell was all the way
down the street and I had just been given what I deserve.
This was a Kodak
moment lost forever.so I have been told no more homemade curries as the
stink is being carried on our clothes to work, and simply we stink of
onions.
Ann's going out today so guess what?
And this fog isn't going to
stop me she will never know, will she??
The Second Story
I'm trying the Kris Dhillon, 'Curry Secret' method and I'm on the onion,
ginger and garlic boiling stage. The trouble is, it smells like absolute
shite!!!!
It's a really bitter smell. Is this normal?
Please help, the Mrs is gonna kill me soon!!
Oh, and the water in the pan has gone green.
I cannot imagine that anything tasty could possibly come from the concoction
I've got in the pan at the moment. If this is an authentic Indian restaurant
method, then why don't Indian restaurants smell like shit?
I think the best thing to do would be a Google groups search for "kris" in
this group :o) If you read that lot you'll be able to reach your own
conclusion.
I was expecting a bit of a smell, onions being onions and all that, but this
is terrible. It's like boiling battery acid.
I've finished the boiling and I'm onto the cooling stage now.
Could this bile I've got actually turn into something nice to eat? Im
seriously having doubts.
Keep the faith C. Yes it smells foul at this stage but remember there's
more cooking to be done, ie. 2 frying stages. This first bit is to break
down the bitter compounds within the onion and it works.
Right, well I've just added the blended bile to the tomato sauce mixture
(which incidentally smelled divine, it was a shame to add the bile to it to
be honest) and im now waiting for some froth to skim.
I'll report back. House still smells of shit!
Not much froth but its hard to tell because I have to keep stirring to avoid
pan stickage.
House still smells of shit.
Go outside your house for a minute. Take some deep, cleansing breaths. Come
back in again.
You thought it smelled bad before!!
Tell me about it. I went to the shop during the 'cooling period'. When I
opened the door, I thought I'd got lost in the fog and accidentally walked
into the maggot farm.
Sorry everyone, I didn't have time for another progress report last night,
and I've been out all day today.
The curry?? In a word....... Superb!! If I had been served that at a
restaurant, I would have been more than happy.
As I began the final stage I was still having doubts, as the overriding
smell I was getting was still that of a rancid Frenchman. But after adding
the final ingredients, I realised that what I was experiencing was the
culinary equivalent of alchemy, the ancient art of turning base catshit into
pure gold.
During the boiling stage, I remember thinking to myself 'I don't care how
good this turns out, there's absolutely no chance im going through this
again'! However, after tasting the results, I am already planning my next
batch, albeit in the back yard!
I urge anyone who hasn't already given it a go, to do so. Even the purists
would be hard put to find fault.
It wasn't the best curry I've ever had by any means, but it was certainly as
good as anything I've had from a take away, and more than a match for 90% of
what I've had from restaurants around Manchester.
I made the basic chicken curry but chucked in a couple of teaspoons of
chille to make a vindaloo as he suggests.
I also added a bit of tandoori marinade as he recommends at the bottom of
the page.
Dhansak happens to be another of my favourites, so I may well give that a go
next.
Im like a kid/fatty in a sweetshop/curryhouse at the minute! :O)
C, this has been the most entertaining thread in ages, made me smile many
times.
I have made vindaloos using Khris's book too, and as well as adding chilli
(surely a vindaloo isn't just a curry with chilli)
sometimes I add a little bit of tamarind.
Sometimes also some fresh methi.
Not too much though, taste as you go.
Well you wouldn't have thought so, but having tasted it, I'd say that's
exactly what a take-away vindaloo is, a basic chicken curry with extra
chilli. I suppose it depends on the quality of the take-away and its chef.
I actually made one last night, but only had about half the required amount
of the bile mixture left. I was going to half all the other ingredients, but
decided not to bother. The result was even more impressive than when I used
the correct amount of mucus. Bloody hot though!
Tamarind could be a good idea, I do usually use a bit in my vindaloos.
