Am I the only one using (Indian) 'cook in sauces'?

[xylophone]

18 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Reading all of that makes me want to come round to your house for dinner... 

Thank you for the positive feedback............

 

PS. I forgot to add that I often took advice from some of New Zealand's best chefs, (some of whom I knew because of my position as Director of Sales and Establishment Marketing for American Express) and one of them suggested that I was adding a little too much to the lamb shanks dish, because I started to put truffle essence in the mashed potatoes. However he said that I was probably overdoing it because there were so many different taste sensations in the dish already, that the truffle oil infused mashed potato was overkill.

 

So I stopped using it after that advice.

Edited September 9, 2023 by xylophone

[Crossy]

I've not used these since my British wife ran off with the builder (I'd already paid him for the house extension before discovering she'd also been "paying" him). Best thing that ever happened!

 

Just ordered a few to try on my lady.

 

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, Crossy said:

I've not used these since my British wife ran off with the builder (I'd already paid him for the house extension before discovering she'd also been "paying" him). Best thing that ever happened!

Snap,

Mine thought she was Lady Chatterly and ran off with the gardener.

What is it with British women and low class tradesmen?

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Agreed... Slow cooking brings out the deepest flavours. 

 

That depends on the degree of detail and effort you go to make it. 

 

From choosing the best tomatoes, to fresh cashew nuts, to churning then sieving the final sauce so that what you are left with is a rich silky smooth sauce. 

 

Au contraire... 

 

All part of the process...  for many Indian recipe's there are two main processes, the meat and the Gravy.

 

For my butter chicken I make the paste (Ginger & Garlic paste, Red Chilli & some salt) and coat the chicken in the paste (leave it over night or at least a few hours) - then cook (fry) & seal in the flavours. 

Make the sauce in the same pan the meat has just been cooked in.

 

The result is an outrageously good 'Butter Chicken' that is a very far cry from anything that could be described as 'bland'.... 

 

Tikka Masala is a little different, char grilling the marinated chicken adds the charcoal flavour and an additional layer of depth and quality.

 

I don't make my own Naan bread - I just can't get that as good as the restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That does look good.

[NextG]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Agreed... Slow cooking brings out the deepest flavours. 

 

That depends on the degree of detail and effort you go to make it. 

 

From choosing the best tomatoes, to fresh cashew nuts, to churning then sieving the final sauce so that what you are left with is a rich silky smooth sauce. 

 

Au contraire... 

 

All part of the process...  for many Indian recipe's there are two main processes, the meat and the Gravy.

 

For my butter chicken I make the paste (Ginger & Garlic paste, Red Chilli & some salt) and coat the chicken in the paste (leave it over night or at least a few hours) - then cook (fry) & seal in the flavours. 

Make the sauce in the same pan the meat has just been cooked in.

 

The result is an outrageously good 'Butter Chicken' that is a very far cry from anything that could be described as 'bland'.... 

 

Tikka Masala is a little different, char grilling the marinated chicken adds the charcoal flavour and an additional layer of depth and quality.

 

I don't make my own Naan bread - I just can't get that as good as the restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No argument. I only refer to my taste. Butter chicken wouldn’t be my choice in a restaurant, but that doesn’t mean that no one else should order it. It’s a matter of taste. But anyway if made with good ingredients and love and care, I would eat it happily.

[norfolkandchance]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Snap,

Mine thought she was Lady Chatterly and ran off with the gardener.

What is it with British women and low class tradesmen?

Mine ran off with a RAF Policeman. The shame of it.
 

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Snap,

Mine thought she was Lady Chatterly and ran off with the gardener.

What is it with British women and low class tradesmen?

What is it with the husbands that they leave that makes "low class" tradesmen a better option?

 

Unifying characteristic of all the bitter deserted males I've known is a complete inability to acknowledge their own contribution to the collapse of their marriages.

 

5th page of the thread and we've come a long way from the usage of ultra processed junk sauce.

 

That stuff really is ****........maybe it was you liking that sort of slop that tipped her over the edge?

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Enoon

[josephbloggs]

6 minutes ago, Enoon said:

What is it with the husbands that they leave that makes "low class" tradesmen a better option?

 

Unifying characteristic of all the bitter deserted males I've known is a complete inability to acknowledge their own contribution to the collapse of their marriages.

My thoughts exactly.

[Ralf001]

17 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

even as cooking I clean as I go so it as clean when I finish as it was when I started.

Good for you Bro you deserve a gold star.

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

I've not used these since my British wife ran off with the builder (I'd already paid him for the house extension before discovering she'd also been "paying" him). Best thing that ever happened!

Snap,

Mine thought she was Lady Chatterly and ran off with the gardener.

What is it with British women and low class tradesmen?

Answered here perhaps !!! 

 

 

[westsail]

I like to make Indian curry at home, too.  You can often find a couple varieties of Indian curry sauce and paneer in the frozen section at Makro.

[richard_smith237]

30 minutes ago, Enoon said:

Unifying characteristic of all the bitter deserted males I've known is a complete inability to acknowledge their own contribution to the collapse of their marriages.

A huge dose of reality in this comment...   which will naturally be objected to and disagreed with by those very characters towards whom the comment is most applicable. 

 

 

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

A huge dose of reality in this comment...   which will naturally be objected to and disagreed with by those very characters towards whom the comment is most applicable. 

 

 

Yet here you are in an impoverished 3rd world country financially leveraging uneducated farm girls into your bed like the rest of us.

Edited September 9, 2023 by BritManToo

[metisdead]

Some posts in violation of our Community Standards have been removed.

[chickenslegs]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Yet here you are in an impoverished 3rd world country financially leveraging uneducated farm girls into your bed like the rest of us.

This thread is about your table cloth ????

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, Enoon said:

5th page of the thread and we've come a long way from the usage of ultra processed junk sauce.

 

That stuff really is ****........maybe it was you liking that sort of slop that tipped her over the edge?

Well I never thought the day would come when someone would start a thread on "curry sauces", especially since many of them can be bought in packets and jars, or frozen from supermarkets.

 

The laugh about it is that a poster whom I have now put on ignore wanted me to post a picture of a curry I had made, which I haven't made for quite some time, as if the picture would prove how good it was!!

 

So not being disrespectful to any other poster, a picture of a curry being made/cooking is no testament to how good it tastes. Go figure.
 

[Keeps]

20 minutes ago, xylophone said:

 

 

The laugh about it is that a poster whom I have now put on ignore wanted me to post a picture of a curry I had made, which I haven't made for quite some time, as if the picture would prove how good it was!!

 

 

I did the same weeks ago. Somehow, I have managed without his infinite wisdom on every topic posted on this forum.

[n00dle]

7 hours ago, NextG said:

If you’ve been at it for years, you must have some pictures to share. 
There’s a lot of boasting about cooking from scratch here, but scant evidence of actual prepared meals. 

having been born on the leading edge of what they call the forgotten generation, while comfortable with tech and social media  i never got into selfies or photo documenting my meals. 

i dont plan on changing that for you.    

[n00dle]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Yet here you are in an impoverished 3rd world country financially leveraging uneducated farm girls into your bed like the rest of us.

the rest of us?

it always amuses me when people justify the way they live by assuming its universal.

i dont know anyone who lives in squalor and bangs farm girls.  

[richard_smith237]

8 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

That does look good.

That butter chicken was made in the UK a couple of Summers ago (Wife took the photos... Taking photos of food seems to be a national past time !!)... 

 

I made another back in Thailand a couple of months later...  it wasn't as good, the only difference was the quality of tomatoes. They're just not as good here and it makes a difference in the final product. 

[bendejo]

13 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The result is an outrageously good 'Butter Chicken' that is a very far cry from anything that could be described as 'bland'.... 

The most delicious Indian curry style dish I've experienced (and I lived in India for a few years) was a butter chicken served at a food court in Capetown, South Africa.  It is (was?) a bunch cafeteria-style counters, each with a different international style of cuisine and a pain in the neck prepaid voucher system.  I ate there whenever I could.  Also had some very nice social interactions with people I met there.

About ten years ago I was watching a spy movie filmed in S. Africa which was supposed to be Pakistan.  Much to my surprise the place was shown for a moment, people chasing each other through it.  It is in the central area near the railroad terminal.

 

[save the frogs]

15 hours ago, NextG said:

You should get yourself a slow cooker ???? They cook slowly ???? for hours. You don’t need to stay in the kitchen or even at home.
You don’t get melt in the mouth beef/lamb or ‘falling off the bone’ by simmering for fifteen minutes. 

yes, true.

i'm a bit lazy for slow cookers. 

also, slow cooked meats have health benefits. i think they may be high in collagen. 

enjoy if you have the time and patience to cook "old school", a lost art in modern society. 

 

 

[xylophone]

6 hours ago, save the frogs said:

i'm a bit lazy for slow cookers. 

I use one on a regular basis and find that I can produce a good end result with about 3/3.5 hours of cooking a boeuf bourguignon, a little less time for beef goulash, and the same with a chilli con carne.......but I'd better get off this subject otherwise I will be chastised by the "guardian of the thread"  because it doesn't contain a pic of a curry!

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

I use one on a regular basis and find that I can produce a good end result with about 3/3.5 hours of cooking a boeuf bourguignon, a little less time for beef goulash, and the same with a chilli con carne.......but I'd better get off this subject otherwise I will be chastised by the "guardian of the thread"  because it doesn't contain a pic of a curry!

Doesn't beef bourguignon take about 3 hours anyway ???

 

I've never cooked it, but my Wife is an excellent cook and her Western food is better than her Thai food IMO, probably because she follows the Western recipes to a T, conversely, she somewhat 'wings it' with Thai food; after all, she is Thai so she automatically knows how to cook Thai food so does things 'her way' !... sometimes excellent, sometimes average.

 

& On that note, I used to challenger her with more complex dishes, I figured bourguignon was going to be tough... She took up the challenge, but it was expensive (she had to go out and get the ingredients and also some Brandy !!)...  4 hours later this had utterly back-fired on me, I was ravenous after waiting so long and it cost us a small fortune !!!

 

 

Her beef wellington is something else. But, for whatever reason I do the 'curries'....  

 

Is there some 'man logic' as there is with BBQ'ing ??  i.e. when the guy steps up because for some unexplained reason BBQ'ing is the guys job !!!...  And, for some reason it feels that way when making a curry too....    Also weirdly, cocktails... when I make a decent cocktail, Old Fashioned, Negroni, Espresso Martini etc I am the one who does it as it mans job !!! 

 

No photo's sorry.

 

 

 

 

[NextG]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

I use one on a regular basis and find that I can produce a good end result with about 3/3.5 hours of cooking a boeuf bourguignon, a little less time for beef goulash, and the same with a chilli con carne.......but I'd better get off this subject otherwise I will be chastised by the "guardian of the thread"  because it doesn't contain a pic of a curry!

All good since the method described can and has been used with jar sauces to make decent curries/stews. My ‘beef’ was the trying to slate someone on their own thread. A bit disrespectful ???? Bygones. 

[NextG]

17 hours ago, n00dle said:

having been born on the leading edge of what they call the forgotten generation, while comfortable with tech and social media  i never got into selfies or photo documenting my meals. 

i dont plan on changing that for you.    

I don’t do selfies nor social media. Though my mum likes to know what I’m eating ????

[Rimmer]

Some personal attacks in violation of our Community Standards have been removed.

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Doesn't beef bourguignon take about 3 hours anyway ???

 

I've never cooked it, but my Wife is an excellent cook and her Western food is better than her Thai food IMO, probably because she follows the Western recipes to a T, conversely, she somewhat 'wings it' with Thai food; after all, she is Thai so she automatically knows how to cook Thai food so does things 'her way' !... sometimes excellent, sometimes average.

 

& On that note, I used to challenger her with more complex dishes, I figured bourguignon was going to be tough... She took up the challenge, but it was expensive (she had to go out and get the ingredients and also some Brandy !!)...  4 hours later this had utterly back-fired on me, I was ravenous after waiting so long and it cost us a small fortune !!!

 

 

Her beef wellington is something else. But, for whatever reason I do the 'curries'....  

 

Is there some 'man logic' as there is with BBQ'ing ??  i.e. when the guy steps up because for some unexplained reason BBQ'ing is the guys job !!!...  And, for some reason it feels that way when making a curry too....    Also weirdly, cocktails... when I make a decent cocktail, Old Fashioned, Negroni, Espresso Martini etc I am the one who does it as it mans job !!! 

 

No photo's sorry.

 

 

 

 

Sounds like you are a lucky man to have such a good wife, and who is such a good cook. Mind you in New Zealand I had a Chinese girlfriend (a very charming, witty and lovely lady) and she could cook Western dishes as good as anyone, and her steak was the best I've ever tasted!

 

Yes you are right, beef bourguignon does take about 3 to 3 1/2 hours anyway, but if I put it in the slow cooker I don't have to bother with it for 3 1/2 hours, apart from the cursory glance after two hours, so no stirring or fear of it getting burnt and I can get on with doing something else. I've also found that the cheaper the cut of meat, the more tasty it is after the long, slow cooking

 

Your mention of Beef Wellington has got me drooling, so I'm probably going to have to go out to a local restaurant where I know it's being served, and have myself a good helping of it.

 

No photos sorry.

[ravip]

On 9/7/2023 at 12:12 PM, 1FinickyOne said:

New Years day both my niece and I got food poisoned from one of CM's famous Indian places - have not been able to go near the stuff since... 

5 or 6 years ago, my office sent me to New Delhi for 3 weeks. I still remember a warning a friend of mine gave - NEVER eat anything on the street and only go to 'higher' end restaurants!

"Delhi Belly" or something to that effect!

[richard_smith237]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:36 AM, ravip said:

5 or 6 years ago, my office sent me to New Delhi for 3 weeks. I still remember a warning a friend of mine gave - NEVER eat anything on the street and only go to 'higher' end restaurants!

"Delhi Belly" or something to that effect!

A number of years back I was working in India, I had the secretary plan a nice trip for a couple of days.. By the time I finished the project I was 'India'd out'... exhausted by the relentless attention, my instructions changed from "please arrange a great trip for a couple of days" to "get me on the next flight out of here" !!!.... 

When asked what was the best part of the work trip, I replied "hearing, Cabin crew, doors to automatic" !!!!! 

 

I returned a about a year later, refreshed and with the Wife (then GF), we hired a driver for 5 days, travelled around Delhi and Agra and had an amazing trip with incredible food.... but we had one rule, only eat in 'higher end' restaurants and 100% no street food or drinks.... 

.... I joked that we are perhaps the only visitors to Delhi who didn't get 'Delhi-Belly'...  that single rule "Never eat anything on the street" prevented a ruined trip. 

 

That said...  I find Indian food outside of India to be better.

Other countries take cuisine from other countries and adapt and bastardise the dish towards local tastes....  usually its the British making it more bland, or Thai restaurants in the UK putting something like peas in a Green Curry etc... 

Conversely, with Indian food, I'd argue the British made it better and the 'British style Indian curries' are excellent...  

 

If you know what a Balti is, then you've probably eaten in a UK curry balti house.

If you know what a Phaal is, then you've probably witnessed a mate crying into the spiciest curry he's ever eaten because of course you were never stupid enough to take the bet from your mates after 6 pints on a night out and order a Phaal yourself !!!! 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by richard_smith237