The Shed

My search for Curry Nirvana (http://shed.robhealey.com.au/cooking/curry-nirvana) continues.

Yesterday I tried using the intriguing ingredients from Curry Z  – http://www.curryz.com.au/

On opening the packet I found two sachets, one of dried leaves, chillies ,berries and a cinnamon stick -

The other packet was a good quantity of ground spice -

The packet was labelled ‘Southern Indian Chicken’ but I decided tio use Lamb because I already have a very successful Indian Chicken Curry – http://shed.robhealey.com.au/cooking/chicken-vindaloo-amazing

The serving suggestion was for 4 -6 people, using Ikg of Chicken, but as usual with these dried ingredient packets it doesn’t matter very much and I decided to use it all on 5650Gms of Lamb.

There was not much aroma coming from the slowly cooking meal, I think that it needs a few hours slow cooking to release everything from the dried ingredients.

The result was a lot better than I expected. Curries usually improve by being left for a day or too and I have frozen a second helping, which will be very interesting to try.

My Recipe -

Saute one diced onion until clear.

Add 6 pressed large garlic cloves and 1 diced tomato.

Fry gently until tomato disintegrates, then add packet of dried leaves, stir for 1-2 mins and then put aside.

Quickly brown large chunks of lamb, in butter, in a wok that is as hot as you can get it. Don’t take too long or meat goes tough.

Add sachet of spices to wok, add more butter or oil oil if too dry. Once mix is saturated (10-15 seconds) turn heat down and  mix meat and spices around , add Onions etc that was put aside.

Add sachet of tomato paste and water to suit. Look at how much sauce you will need to judge how much water.

Put into dish with lid and put in oven at low heat- I try for 60-65C degrees

Wait minimum of 3 hours – 6 to 8 hrs would be better at this temp.

NOTES.

Meat goes tough if too long in Hot Wok, so get that Wok hot and try to brown meat within 1 minute.
Oven at 60-65C. Meat is cooked when it reaches 62-65C, the hotter it gets above that , the more it shrinks. Meat that shrinks is tough.

Garlic:Next time I will use 4 large cloves of Garlic instead of 6. I didn’t notice the garlic while eating but the following day I knew I had had a lot of garlic by the taste in my mouth.

UPDATE 6 March 2010

One week later – I tried the frozen serving last night. It had matured. The garlic was a little bit less strong. It was hot enough with 3 chilli’s, it was tasty, it was spicy but it didn’t have the ‘life’ that a curry should have. It was ‘dead’. It was ‘flat’. I can’t describe it any better than that.

There was plenty of live ingredients like Tomato, Onions and Garlic but there was a secret ingredient missing - I don’t know how to make that ‘life’ .

Looking back I notice my comment “There was not much aroma coming from the slowly cooking meal” – On the plate it wasn’t without a spicy smell but not as strong as usual.  The meal tasted good but perhaps a larger than expected part of enjoying a curry is the aroma coming from the food ?

This one was about 8 out of 10 for sure-  a bit of ‘life’ would have made it fantastic.

My search for curry Nirvana continues -

Why are curries so addictive?

For me it is the aroma of spices filling up the house, the flavour, the chilli bite, the battle with sweating forehead – it’s a full eating experience.

I enjoy all versions of curry, but Indian Curry is my favourite – nice and hot!

In about 1970  I was introduced to Indian Curries in the UK . My friend Martin Dix could handle the very hot Vindaloo’s while I struggled with Madras.

In Cairns in the mid to late 70’s there was an Indian restaurant called ‘Thugee Bill’s’, run by Brian Cassey. His curries were every bit as excellent as the English curries, and when I asked him why, I discovered that he had learnt to cook curries by working in Indian Restaurants in the UK.

Since then I have had many Indian curries in many different cities. My favourite restaurant for the last 6 years has been Marinades Indian restaurant in Cairns. Their Vindaloo’s are superb.

Curry Nirvana for me has always been the taste of  the curries I remember from those earlier days in the UK and I’m constantly searching  for the right ingredients to re-create that amazing taste experience, at home.

Of the bottle sauces, Maharajas Choive Vindaloo Curry Paste is by far the best.  http://www.maharajahschoice.com/    

For non Vindaloo curries Passage to India simmer sauces in large sachets are the best. http://202.130.197.238:8080/passage-foods/passage-foods/1169147637891000.do?menu=1169147187183042

I particularly enjoy their Rogan Josh which has a mild bite that suits most people.
For a curry full of spices with very little chilli I use their Butter Chicken sauce.

I’m always experimenting with curry recipes. The main ingredients remain the same but each one has it’s peculiarities; for instance one recipe that unusually used a lot of poppy seeds was by Graham Kerr the famous ‘Galloping Gourmet’ TV chef from the 1960’s.

There is a great indian Chef, Sanjay Thumma, who has hundreds of  recipes and cooking video’s on his website. Sanjay is really emotional about his cooking and even burst into tears in one of his vids because the food had turned out so well.  It showed how much he really cares about his food.

His website is extremely extensive, and who can cook Indian food better than an India? http://vahrehvah.com/

In 2007 I was fortunate to get a cooking lesson from an Indian lady, Lena, and her Chicken leg curry can’t be beat. This recipe always turns out great and by adjusting the chillies it can be very hot or mild. Full recipe here http://shed.robhealey.com.au/cooking/chicken-vindaloo-amazing

Bruce shed mate showed me a set of these and said they fit everything on his Camaro.
I had to have a set!!

There is a 13mmm /  1/2″ clearance through centre of extension and sockets

New set of rachet spanners SCA brand. All metric numbers from 10 to 19mm

When we moved to our present address there was no room for a shed. Space was very limited buit I needed a work bench and tool cupboard.

I was looking at an old Chinese writing desk one day that had a very clever mechanism to support the lid which became the worktop. I drew up some plans and made a tool cupboard base on the same principles, as this video demonstrates -

I have occasional problems with Gingevitus, caused by DiabetesII and was getting some gum inflammation even though I use a powerful Braun electric toothbrush.

I researched dental waterjets, described by my excellent dentist as ‘A gurney for teeth’. 

There were various types on ebay at good prices but looking closely there were always problems - one was made for 110 volts and would need a converter, another was an old model, some had small reservoirs and were battery powered.

After a lot of searching I bought a Waterpik from Prevident – I’m so glad I did !!!

http://www.waterpik.com.au/pages/waterpik-australia-homepage.html

I brush my teeth for about 2 minutes and after that I use the Waterpik - It’s so good that it often pulls out debris that the toothbrushing hasn’t dislodged. I’ve read this in other reviews, and it’s true – and amazing! 

It’s more powerful than I need;  I’ve got it set at  2/3rds and it stings my tongue as the water blasts through the gaps between teeth. It has a good size reservoir that runs for 110 seconds which allows a thorough cleaning.

There is a fitting for cleaning out gum pockets and another for cleaning the tounge but I find the basic jet does a good job. I use it three times a day and I can see it is holding back plaque and keeping my gums healthy.

It makes a rattling sound, a little less noisy than a hair dryer. I soon learned to keep my mouth almost closed to stop the spray going everywhere. It’s slightly messy (as all Gurneys are!!) with water running down my arm, as well as out of my mouth, but this is not a problem.

I’m really pleased with the Waterpik, well worth the money.

Two Corvettes, a Harley and a Corvette forum – great mate

The Authority – knows EVERYTHING !

Rom – guitar genius and superb artist

Mike – expert navigator and sailor, daredevil pilot.