Jump to content

Easy curry from scratch


Rob85
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

18 minutes ago, Mungler said:

Is there an easy way to peel garlic? The last batch cook of base sauce I did needed just under 1/2 kilo and life is far too short for peeling / crushing that quantity of garlic.

A bit of bike inner tube works a treat, thoroughly clean it first. Put the garlic inside bit of pressure with your hand roll it backwards and forwards twice. Hey presto peeled garlic

Jamie oliver was selling bits of inner tube for a tenner online calling them the easy peeler. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Mungler said:

Is there an easy way to peel garlic? The last batch cook of base sauce I did needed just under 1/2 kilo and life is far too short for peeling / crushing that quantity of garlic.

I reckon I could knock a pound out in 5 minutes (Please insert innuendo here as appropriate) - I tend to get larger cloves as the silly little supermarket ones are just a pain. Wonder if you could just put them in a juicer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Fatcatsplat said:

I reckon I could knock a pound out in 5 minutes (Please insert innuendo here as appropriate) - I tend to get larger cloves as the silly little supermarket ones are just a pain. Wonder if you could just put them in a juicer?

That would depend whether you only want the flavour and none of the texture!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Mungler said:

Is there an easy way to peel garlic? The last batch cook of base sauce I did needed just under 1/2 kilo and life is far too short for peeling / crushing that quantity of garlic.

 

Crush it with the knife side ways then it slips out easily.

Easy garlic is disgusting, doesn't taste or garlic and ruins the taste of the food. 

 

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As mentioned above, try to buy bulbs that have the biggest cloves possible.  I just discard the tiny little cloves out of a bulb, they're not worth the hassle!

Put your bulb of garlic on a solid surface and smash it with the heel of your hand to break the cloves apart.  Put the cloves into a cup/pot of cold water and soak for a good few hours, or overnight.  They'll peel really easy after that, the skin just comes away as you top & tail them.

The same thing can be done with onions.  If you can manage a sneak peek into an Indian restaurant's kitchen you'll see one or two massive buckets full of onions soaking in water, to be used the next day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

As mentioned above, try to buy bulbs that have the biggest cloves possible.  I just discard the tiny little cloves out of a bulb, they're not worth the hassle

Put your bulb of garlic on a solid surface and smash it with the heel of your hand to break the cloves apart.  Put the cloves into a cup/pot of cold water and soak for a good few hours, or overnight.  They'll peel really easy after that, the skin just comes away as you top & tail them.

The same thing can be done with onions.  If you can manage a sneak peek into an Indian restaurant's kitchen you'll see one or two massive buckets full of onions soaking in water, to be used the next day.


Alrighty, that’s a plan.

I did wonder how an indian restaurant would do their onions - I get mine in 20 kilo sacks from a farm shop for about £2 a bag but with 1 day before they go past their best. At £2 a bag I put on swimming goggles and just hatchet them - more goes in the compost bin that the pot 😆

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Mungler said:

.........they go past their best. At £2 a bag I put on swimming goggles and just hatchet them - more goes in the compost bin that the pot 

That explains the reports of toxic waste or nerve gas in parts of Essex

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want to cook proper restaurant style indian curries whole spices is the only way to go. I"ve been using a book The Curry Guy written by Dan Toombs, cannot recommend it highly enough, He has recently brought out The Curry Guy Bible which is all of The Curry Guy book plus a lot more, Tesco"s have it for about a tenner. I got everything I needed online from Spices of India, using Dan Toombs book as a guide £30 worth of various spices makes me a big variety meals for months. I was also using Easy garlic/ginger untill I was told to try fresh, definitely better and worth the effort. I blitz equal amounts fresh garlic and ginger in a food processor and freeze it in a tray for making ice cubes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much experimentation led us to the Laziza product, it's very hard to tell the difference twixt that and fresh, we use it quite a lot in Italian meals as well. Some herbs I grow myself which helps with freshness but as long as you cook the dry spices in a little oil you should get a pretty good flavour. Grate your Onions and squeeze out the water and if you use chicken breast then always velvet it before use - her indoors was trained by the Roux brothers so she's a fair cook!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was in the supermarket today.  In the herbs & spices section I spotted those jars of "lazy" garlic and the earlier posts in this thread sprang to mind about them not quite tasting right.  So, I reached up to take one and inspect its ingredients.... only to find that some numbskull had taken the top off the jar and not screwed it back on. 

I have no fear of getting bitten by a vampire tonight, or for the next few weeks.  And yes it doesn't exactly smell like freshly pressed garlic...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use the curry secret book also, but I make a few additions to both the base gravy, namele a few carrots, a red pepper and a quarter of a small cabbage* (trust me on that last one), plus some garam massala and a small amount of smoked paprika.

*per big batch, not per curry!

For the curries themselves, I will tune them a bit to get the signature flavour for the various styles in my area (e.g. ground fennel and whole star anise for a madras, nigella seed for a balti, black cardamom for a rogan josh etc).

The other revelation I've had in making curries is my pressure cooker.  With that I can produce melt in the mouth traditional northern pakistani dishes like lamb haandi in about 30 mins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Zapp said:

I use the curry secret book also, but I make a few additions to both the base gravy, namele a few carrots, a red pepper and a quarter of a small cabbage* (trust me on that last one), plus some garam massala and a small amount of smoked paprika.

*per big batch, not per curry!

For the curries themselves, I will tune them a bit to get the signature flavour for the various styles in my area (e.g. ground fennel and whole star anise for a madras, nigella seed for a balti, black cardamom for a rogan josh etc).

The other revelation I've had in making curries is my pressure cooker.  With that I can produce melt in the mouth traditional northern pakistani dishes like lamb haandi in about 30 mins.

I salute you on the pressure cooker, nobody seems to use them nowadays, last time I used one was just over 23 years ago in high school. A dangerous old contraption in the hands of idiot schoolkids!

I wish I could do lamb curries at home, sadly I'm the only one who eats it and the missus doesn't even like the smell of it cooking 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Rob85 said:

I salute you on the pressure cooker, nobody seems to use them nowadays, last time I used one was just over 23 years ago in high school. A dangerous old contraption in the hands of idiot schoolkids!

I wish I could do lamb curries at home, sadly I'm the only one who eats it and the missus doesn't even like the smell of it cooking 

Its honestly the best kitchen gadget I've ever had.  Melting pheasant stew in 25 mins.  Irish stew in 35. Beef shin in 45.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, D_shooter said:

You can buy jars of ginger/garlic paste from most big supermarkets or Asian stores. Saves a massive amount of time peeling and mincing. Doesn’t have the vinegar preserve like the lazy stuff. 

Be careful which one you buy if you go for the larger sizes - some have short shelf lives once opened, the Laziza offering simply says "refrigerate after opening", ours last a good couple of months in the fridge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Be careful which one you buy if you go for the larger sizes - some have short shelf lives once opened, the Laziza offering simply says "refrigerate after opening", ours last a good couple of months in the fridge.

Luckily we use a fair amount in various recipes so haven’t had any issues yet. 
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not bad at a curry, I've been told its comparable to the local shop. I disagree with that however will say that doing it in a pizza oven totally transforms a "good" or "average" curry into an "excellent" or "xxxx me" curry. If you have a pizza oven then try it, if you don't then build one and be amazed. 

No excuses for not building one as I did it and can't lay a brick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...