Curry Blog

1 Comment » - Saturday 28th November 2009

The Great British take-away

After a busy day at work sometimes nothing hits the spot quite like a takeaway and beer. And let’s be honest, an Indian takeaway has to rank as one of the best.

Keen to try somewhere new I logged on with anticipation to the Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC) website for the first time eager to place my order and get stuck in. The website was easy to use and there was a good amount on offer, not so much I spent ages faffing around but enough that there could be something for everyone.

So what did we order? Well, there were two of us and we were keen to try a selection of dishes so aside from the normal sides (Naan, rice etc) we ordered the below:
Shish Kebab Kabli, “Tender fillets of lamb mildly marinated, cooked in the tandoor”
Murgh Jaisalmar, “A light chicken dish cooked in the dopiaza style, not too hot but with plenty of spices and herbs”
Bhuna Gosht Khybari “Tender lamb tempered with a touch of ginger and coriander cooked in tomato, garlic and onion sauce”
Pasanda Khybari, “Tender lamb fillets marinated in yoghurt and spices, cooked in the tandoor and served in a rich sauce with cashew nuts”
Royal Bhenta “Fresh baby aubergines cooked in a rich tomato and onion sauce”
Selection of Sides “Naan bread, Rice”

I hope you’ll agree we had a good variety of dishes, well, except the two Lamb dishes… First impressions of the dishes were very good, the smell filled my flat in seconds and the packaging was soon cast aside. The dishes looked great, the meat to sauce ratio was excellent (something that always bothers me about takeaway) and none of the dishes were swimming in grease, in fact there was not a drop of grease to be seen anywhere.

The food was very good, subtly spiced with fantastic balance of flavours. The Murgh Jaisalmar in particular was excellent – the chicken was cooked to perfection, wonderfully moist and succulent, the sauce was creamy and the spices well rounded. Needless to say it was finished first and in not a lot of time! The lamb dishes were also good however I am pleased that we dialled up on the spice as otherwise they may have lacked some of the punch that you want with a curry.

The side dishes were also good, the Royal Bhenta provided some of our 5-a-day and the Naan bread was terrific, nicely doughy but with plenty of crispy bits. The only real let-down was the meagre couple of (well broken) poppadoms – it would have been nice to have a couple more then we were given.

I must admit though there were some great touches throughout the entire experience. As usual I’d forgotten to go to the off license to pick up some beer so it was great we could add Cobra to the order – let’s face it, a curry just isn’t curry without a nice cold Cobra!

So – was it worth it? It’s not the cheapest takeaway in south London but the food was good, it was very easy to order online and delivery was far quicker than expected. Overall a good service. I recommend you give them a try.

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1 Comment » - Friday 27th November 2009

Cooking Anjum Anand’s Chicken Naag

As you will have seen top Indian chef and presenter of “Indian Food Made Easy” Anjum Anand has created a new dish especially for Cobra National Curry Week. The recipe for the curry can be found on the Cobra website here  with a video demonstration from Anjum herself, as well as  Galaxy FM DJs Rob, Nige and Rachel to prove that anyone can make the dish! 

Last week the Cobra team were lucky enough to have a sneak preview of the curry and got to be the first ones to try it out.  The curry is supposed to so simple that anyone can make it, without compromising the great tastes of authentic Indian food.  With the team having various levels of cooking skill, it was going to be a good test run for some of the guys.

The curry is a great way to get into making your own – there is a strong balance of flavours and yet it’s not too spicy, it’s simple to make, preparation time is no more than 20 minutes and the cooking time is around 35 – 45 minutes maximum.  It’s very simple to make and is broken down into three stages so it’s easy to follow.

Rather than give you a blow-by-blow guide to cooking the curries here are my top tips and FAQs

-          How will I know when the mustard seeds are popping?
This will happen after about 30 seconds – 1 minute, it’ll sound like mini pop-corn popping, don’t lean too close, they sometimes spit a bit….

-          I don’t have a blender – how do I make the paste?
The easiest way is to grate the garlic and ginger using one of the smaller holes on your cheese grater and just chop the tomatoes up a bit smaller.
You will get a slightly chunkier sauce but it will still cook out as well and most importantly taste the same

-          Where do I get all the ingredients from?
You should be able to get them from your local supermarket

-          My potatoes are taking a while to cook how can I speed this up?
Make sure you’ve added enough water and have covered the pan whilst it simmers, this should speed things up a bit

-          Any other top tips?
Make sure the potatoes are cut quite small (about 2cm thick is ideal)
Right at the last minute add the coriander – this adds a nice freshness to the curry and cuts through the spice nicely
If your hands smell a bit of Garlic, cut a lemon slice and rub your hands with it – this will get rid of the smell
Serve it with chapattis and a nice cold Cobra!

So now you have no excuse now for not being able to cook a very simple, tasty curry!

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2 Comments » - Wednesday 25th November 2009

Curries from the Indian sub-continent

It’s a great misconception that there are just a handful of Indian styles that are repeated across the vast country. This could be said to be put down the fact that for over 40 years the majority of restaurants in the UK are in Bengali in origin.  The truth is that there are in fact hundreds of different styles and in some areas the food can change from village to village with each having its own subtle differences in both the taste and type.   

I’ll try to broadly summarise this in easy to digest sections but suggest you go here if you want a far more detailed breakdown of the different regions.

Bengali, Bangladeshi and Oriya cuisines

Bengalis are big on seafood and are tend to be very keen on fresh fish. So if you are eating a Seafood curry chances are It is a Bengali one. Mustard seeds and mustard oil are added to many recipes, as are poppy seeds.

As for the Oriya people they tend to have similar eating habits and are considered masters in preparing these types of curries. This is proved by the number of Oriyas deployed in West Bengal as master chefs.

Gujarati cuisine

Ever wondered where the Thali comes from?  You know that Indian version of the Smorgasbord which is made up of Roti bread, daal or kadhi, rice, and sabzi/shaak (a dish made up of different combinations of vegetables and spices, which may be stir fried, spicy or sweet).  Well it is mainly a Gujerati dish, though there are versions that are popular in southern Indian too

North Indian and Pakistani cuisines

North Indian cuisine includes Mughlai cuisine, the cuisine of Kashmir, Awadhi cuisine, the cuisine of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthani cuisine and Bhojpuri cuisine.

One of the most-loved Pakistani curries is Karahi, which is usually chicken cooked in a dry spice rub. Also popular is Peshawari karahi which is a simple dish made with just meat, salt, tomatoes and coriander.

Punjabi cuisine

Do you know why Masalas are so popular in Scotland?  Well, it’s all thanks to the large Punjabi population whose curries are mainly based upon masalas (spice blends), pure desi ghee, with liberal amounts of butter and cream. It’s not just Masalas that the Punjabi region is famous for there are certain dishes that are exclusive to Punjab, such as Maha Di Dal and Saron Da Saag (Sarson Ka Sa)

Northeast Indian and Nepalese cuisines

The curries of North-East India are very different from other parts of India. This area’s cuisine has been influenced by its neighbours, namely Burma and Tibet. Its use of well known Indian spices is less. Yak is a popular meat in this region of India.

As many gap year backpackers will testify – Dahl baht, rice and lentil soup, are staple dishes of Nepal. Newa cuisine is a type of cuisine developed over centuries by the Newars of Nepal.

Malayali cuisine

One of my favourite regions of India and one where I have spent a fair amount of time is that of Kerala and not just for the stunning beaches!  Malayali curries of Kerala often contain shredded coconut paste or coconut milk from one of the many trees that line the beaches as well as curry leaves, and various spices.

Mustard seeds are a key ingredient along with onions, curry leaves, sliced red chillies fried in hot oil.  Kerala is known for its traditional Sadya, a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-dishes, such as Parippu (Green gram), Papadum, some ghee, Sambar, Rasam, Aviyal, Kaalan, Kichadi, pachadi, Injipuli, Koottukari, pickles (mango, lime), Thoran, one to four types of Payasam, Boli, Olan, Pulissery, moru (buttermilk), Upperi, Banana chips…. the list just keeps on going!

What do all of these different regions all have in common?  That a Cobra is the perfect companion to every curry!

(Thanks to Wikipedia for filling some of the gaps in my knowledge. Image from Students of the World)

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No Comments » - Tuesday 24th November 2009

Quick curry guide from Wikipedia

So what about the actual food?  Well although the names may be similar to traditional dishes, the recipes generally are not, below is a selection of dishes you’re likely to find in your local curry house:

  • Korma/Kurma – mild, yellow in colour, with almond and coconut powder. Good starter curry quite often favoured by people setting foot in an Indian restaurant for the first time.
  • Biryani – Spiced rice and meat cooked together and usually served with vegetable curry sauce.  However a lot of vegetarians opt for a meat-free version.
  • Pasanda – a mild curry sauce made with cream, coconut milk, and almonds or cashews.  Over the years it has established itself as the thinking curry lover’s alternative to Korma.
  • Chicken Tikka Masala – a dish of roast chicken chunks in a creamy, lightly spiced, tomato-based sauce, which as you probably know was invented in the UK and is the nation’s favourite dish.
  • Roghan Josh (from “Roghan” (fat) and “Josh” (energy/heat – which as in English may refer to either “spiciness” or temperature)) – medium, with tomatoes and paprika , Quite often comes with peppers too, a real favourite with the Curryarti
  • Bhuna – medium, thick sauce, some vegetables served with Lamb or Chicken. More popular in the north than the south of the UK,
  • Dhansak – medium/hot, sweet and sour sauce with lentils (originally a Parsi dish). Another curry that the connoisseurs favour, the Dhansak is also very popular with vegetarians.
  • Madras – fairly hot curry, red in colour and with heavy use of chilli powder. In our books a much under-rated curry which has a powerful, but not overpowering kick.
  • Jalfrezi – onion, green chilli and a thick sauce. The Jalfrezi became increasingly popular as an alternative to the Madras and the Vindaloo during the 1990s. Often the sauce isn’t that hot, but then when you chomp on a chilli…
  • Vindaloo – this is generally regarded as the classic “hot” restaurant curry, although a true Vindaloo does not specify any particular level of spiciness. Invariably the hottest dish on the menu  
  • Phaal – extremely hot dish using ground chillies, ginger and fennel.  A dish that every curry lover needs to eat at least once in their life! Quite often not included on the menu – you have to ask for it.

    • So there you go – a brief list of what you’re most likely to find in a curry house.  Of course, there one other thing we’re missing and something you’ll find in nearly every curry house across the UK – an ice cold Cobra.

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    21 Comments » - Sunday 22nd November 2009

    Dr. Spice needs you!

    Since our Facebook page went live this morning, we’ve been overwhelmed with the fantastic number of comments from budding curry chefs around the country. A huge number of you like to add a bit of spice to your own kitchens and dinner tables, and we’d love to hear about your own individual tips, recipes and methods for getting the perfect curry.

    We’ve partnered with some great curry chefs and restauranteurs to provide a few recipe ideas and even have videos of some amateur cooks proving just how easy it is. But we can’t cover it all, and who knows? – one of you might have a secret recipe that could become the next Chicken Tikka Massala! So if you’ve got your own special set of ingredients, or even just a simple tip for perfecting a sauce, just add a comment to this blog post and share your love of curry with our other readers during National Curry Week.

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