Home Made Indian - just like the takeaway

[carron81]

Hi

Does anyone have a good recipe for making any chicken indian dish?

Me and my boyfriend have tried many concoctions to try and get our home made indian to taste like the take away does.

It doesn't matter what recipe we follow or concoction we come up with , it always tastes the same. Its good but not like the takeaway

Got 2 chicken breasts defrosting so hopefully you can help

[wired]

Have a look at www.spicesofindia.co.uk, they have some very good recipes

[chinadog]

I use Pataks curry pastes. For a chicken curry a nice creamy korma sauce. Have a look online at their range carron.

[Mortartube]

You need to make a basic onion sauce first. This is the secret almost all Indian restaurants use. Instead of tomato puree as I lst, they usually add a tin of chopped tomatoes to the sauce. The meat is then gently cooked COVERED in the a little of onion sauce, Chicken for 20 - 25 mins, lamb or beef 40 -45 mins. Take out the meat and discard any remaining sauce in the pan. Then carry on with your chosen recipe.

Basic Curry Onion Sauce

Peel, rinse and slice 2lb onions. Place them in a large pot with 2.25 pints water.

Peel and chop 2oz garlic & 2oz Root Ginger. Put in blender. Add 0.5 pints water. Blend to a smooth consistency then add to pot of onions.

Add 1 level tsp salt.

Bring to the boil then gently simmer COVERED for 45mins.

Allow sauce to cool. Then puree in a blender to a very smooth consistency. At least 2 mins in a blender. There should be no lumps.

If you wish to freeze the sauce do so at this stage in portion sizes. This will do 8 to 9 single retaurant size main course meals.

I add a good squirt of tomato puree before using this in any recipe. But it is better frozen without the tomato in it.

[Mortartube]

Part II

To cook meat to use in a curry.

Lamb (And I would suggest you use this for beef too)

This will do 2lb meat suitable for 6 - 8 people. You can freeze any unused meat for a month.

2lb boned cubed meat
8 Tablespoons veg oil
1 tsp Turmeric
4 Tablespoons Onion Curry sauce
2 tsp (about) Tomato puree

Take all ingredients except meat and add to a wok or frying pan. Cook over medium heat stirring continuously until the sauce begins to darken slightly in colour.

Add lamb or beef and stir well to coat meat.

Turn down the heat and cook covered for about 40 mins. (I covered my wok with foil), Stir frequently to ensure even cooking.

When cooked, remove the meat and discard any remaining sauce and sediment. The meat is now ready to use in your main dishes.

For chicken, the method is the same but only use 6 Tablespoons of oil and cook for 20 - 25 mins.

[Mortartube]

A bhuna recipe. This is lamb but just use prepared chicken as outlined previously.

Bhuna Gosht

2oz Mushrooms
0.5 Green capsicum
1 large onion chopped.
6 tablespoons veg oil
3/4 pint curry sauce
2 teaspoons tomato puree (roughly)
1lb cooked lamb (method as above)
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp chilli powder
1 green chilli finely chopped
1.5 tspns Garam masala
1 tsp ground Cumin
0.5 tsp Fenugreek powder
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh coriander

Wash mushrooms and capsicum and peel onion. Slice thinly.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan or wok. Gently fry above ingredients for 4-5 mins

Add curry sauce, Tomato puree, lamb, salt, chillies. Turn up heat. Bring to boil. Cook for a further 5 mins stirring frequently.

Turn down heat. Add Garam masala, Cumin and Fenugreek. Cook for a further 5 mins stirring now and again.

Spoon off any excess oil and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander before serving. Serve with rice and puppadoms, or Naan Bread

Happy eating

[Mortartube]

BTW that method came from a book, well worth getting if you can.

It's called "The Curry Secret" by Kris Dhillon.

ISBN 0-7160-2054-8

It tells you how reataurants do it.

[maggiefoodie]

i would check out these recipes on allrecipes

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/searchresults. aspx?keywordGroup=1_Chicken&tag=curry

i know i tried the 'chicken chicken curry' and loved it. i picked it b/c it seemed to be submitted by someone Indian (from the name) and it's always nice to try and be authentic!

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6245/chicken-ch icken-curry.aspx

good luck!

[zuzazak]

very simple chicken balti recipe that tastes surprisingly good:

chop a few green chillies and fry in sunflower or veg oil on low heat
add chicken bits and salt
add lots of fresh chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have made a sauce (40minutes?)
add fresh chopped coriander

done!

add corian