The Secrets of British Indian Restaurant Curry Recipes (1 Viewer)

ShiftZZ

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The restaurant food enjoyed in British Indian restaurants for generations is very different to traditional Indian food, largely because the majority of "Indian" restaurants are owned and run by Bengalis, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. In addition, the original recipes have changed to reflect local tastes and available ingredients. This has resulted in what is today identified as the "BIR" or British Restaurant Curry.

This recipe has been contributed by a customer who asked to remain anonymous (Thanks again "M"!) who has spent 20 years trying various combinations and recipes - his own personal "Holy Grail" and we reproduce it here exactly as he wishes.

The Basic Curry Sauce

(Tip: have a read of ALL of these pages first - pick a curry and ensure you've got all the things you need before starting).

4 large RED onions, coarsely chopped - yes red onions!
2oz unpeeled fresh ginger, chopped
3oz peeled fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
6tbs vegetable oil
1tsp heaped salt
½ tsp sugar
240g tin of chopped tomatoes
1tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (important!!!!)
1tsp Paprika
1tbs tomato puree
1tsp tomato ketchup

1. Fry onion in 1tbs of oil for 10 mins on a low heat until soft (not browned)
2. Put in the garlic, ginger and salt then add enough water to just cover the top of all ingredients.
3. Bring everything to boil then turn down to a simmer for 30 mins (no lid)
4. While this is simmering, place remaining 5tbs of oil, tomatoes, puree, ketchup and spices into another saucepan - boil then simmer for 10 mins on low heat.

Separately blend both of the above VERY FINELY and combine, then simmer for another 15 minutes to ensure cooked and well mixed. The blending is vital to the flavour/correct texture. Add water if it ever gets too dry during this phase. The end result should should be about 1600ml of gravy - if it's not, add water to this volume now.

The Secret Onion Paste (biggest secret!)
2 lge white onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic
3tbs vegetable oil
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of cinnamon

Place raw onion and garlic into blender. Add enough water to come about halfway up the side of the blender and blend until WELL smoothed.

Heat the oil in a pan on a high heat, adding the mixture (it will spit!!!)

Reduce this down until it gets dryer then add the spices and continue frying until it turns into what looks a bit like bread dough. This may take some time but is worth it for the final taste! Be careful not to burn this as it will be ruined. Taste the finished product - tastes almost "soapy" - remind you of anything familiar?

Special Spice Mix (not that special)
Equal amounts of cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala and dried fenugreek. If unsure which brand to buy, try NATCO - especially their garam masala which is superb. I mix up a few tablespoons of each at a time and keep in a Tupperware tub, etc!

The above are a MUST for all recipes and corners cannot be cut in any way.

The above recipes could be doubled up for ease and stored in the freezer in pre-measured amounts.

How to make a basic 'Medium Curry'
800ml of basic curry sauce (should be around half the basic sauce recipe!? - this is enough for 4 people's main meal)

5tbs Vegetable Oil
1 level tsp of salt
1tsp of ground coriander )
1tsp of ground cumin ) (This is the special spice mix but listed individually!!!)
1tsp of garam masala )
1tsp dried fenugreek leaves )
¼ tsp of chilli powder
fresh coriander leaves

Add oil and heat. Add basic sauce (along with fresh chicken/other meats if using them) and simmer on high heat for 2-3 mins.

Add all of the spices and salt and continue for 5 mins or sauce separates from the oil. Add the prawns (if your cooking a prawn curry!) and simmer for a further 7 minutes - add any water if you feel it's getting too dry.

Although the curry is now cooked, further frying is now required and this must be done in individual portions.

At this stage (if you've doubled up the quantities) you can measure out lots of bags of 200ml/400ml at a time and freeze them for a quick curry whenever you need.

You can now take out a bag from your freezer along with a couple of frozen chicken breasts in the morning and be eating within 20 mins when you get home.

400ml of this basic curry sauce will be enough for 2 main dishes, therefore one entire recipe should be enough for 8 main dishes and so on.

1. Add some oil to your 'individual curry' pan.
2. ***NOW REFER TO THE STYLE REQUIRED AND OBEY INSTRUCTIONS***
3. Then add the required amount of sauce and meat/cooked vegetables for one portion (only 200ml of sauce as it's got to be an individual portion for authenticity)
4. Heat everything up and then add 1 tbs of the onion paste in the final minute
5. Taste, if necessary add more of the 'special spice mix' - more fresh coriander for garnish

Voila ! your individual curry!!!

From this method, you can have people round for a curry and given them all differing ones according to their personal tastes.

THE CURRY STYLES
For all of the types below, I recommend having the ingredients to hand as you'll have to work quickly - no time to start raking around your cupboards for stuff once you've started!!!!

Dupiaza
Whilst you are preparing the basic curry recipe, prepare the following

1tbs of vegetable oil
1tsp of Cumin seeds
2 large onions, sliced into rings
4 green or red chillies, halved lengthways

Heat the oil and add cumin seeds. 5 seconds later add onions and chillies and reduce heat. Fry until onions are soft and slightly charred.

Add to basic sauce, check seasoning, serve


Bhuna
Same as dupiaza but replace 1 of the onions with a chopped green pepper! (easy innit?)


Jalfrezi
1 tbs of vegetable oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 large green pepper, chopped into chunks
4 green or red chillies


Korma
5 mins from end, add 1 tbs of ground almonds and 3 tbs of single cream. (It's that easy!)


Pasanda
Cook the basic korma and add 1" of a standard coconut block, ½ tsp sugar and ½ tsp turmeric 5 minutes before the end.


Madras
Replace ¼ tsp chilli with 1 tsp of chilli. Add some lemon juice if you want. (how easy was that!?)


Masala
Add 4 tbs of Heinz tomato soup (& red food colouring) 5 minutes before end. Serve with single cream on top. (I guess the tomato soup fully justifies the £7.50 price in a restaurant!)


Vindaloo
Replace ¼ tsp chilli with 2 tsp chilli and add 1 tsp of malt vinegar 5 minutes before end.


Pilau Rice
Fill and switch on your kettle
Whilst this is happening heat up a little oil in a pan that comes with a tight fitting lid
Allow 3oz of BASMATI rice per person (weigh it!!! And it must be basmati - nothing else works! You can also be boring and soak the rice in water first but I never bother)
Salt to taste
2 green cardamom pods (split open slightly) per rice serving
1 whole clove per serving

When the oil is warm, add the raw rice and spices together
Mix well, ensuring the rice gets coated in the oil - don't worry if it starts to turn white
Turn down the heat to minimum

Quickly pour the boiled water into a measuring jug
(allow double the fl oz of water to the rice weight) ie for 4 portions: 12 oz of rice and 24 fl oz of boiled water.
Stir everything around to stop any sticking and place the lid on securely
Cook for 12 minutes on the lowest heat setting
After 12 minutes take from heat and leave for another 12 minutes (do not remove the lid - the steam will continue to cook the rice!!!)

Later take the lid off and you can add a drop or two of food colouring for that restaurant effect ( I use a drop of red at one end of the pot and a drop of green at the other - leave for a while and then mix through the white rice for a realistic effect)

I would normally make the rice first and, while it is resting, knock up the curry sauce. The rice stays hot like this for a couple of hours if you don't keep removing the lid and let the steam escape!)

This recipe will give impressive results if you measure/time things accurately.
A piece of cake….

(For plain boiled rice, omit the spices and food colouring).


Hope these recipes are of help - never forget this produces excellent results, but is like watching a film on TV (ie not as good as the cinema) so never forget how enjoyable good company and good food is in an Indian restaurant.
 

johnp10

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Some good recipes there.

Indian restaurants are like Chinese ones.
They sell us what we THINK is authentic Indian / Chinese food.

Authentic Indian food is beautiful, but in the UK we haver strange ideas.
For instance:
Korma is very mild.....not so. Korma is a style of cooking not a degree of heat, can be mild or hot.
Vindaloo is Indian....No, of Portugese origin.
Also Vindaloo is very hot....again a style of cooking, can be hot, medium or mild.
Tikka Masala is Indian.... No, invented by an Indian cook in Scotland. My Son in Law's family are Indian Malaysians, have never heard of TM.
Balti......Developed in Birmingham, not the sub continent.
Indians, Pakistanis etc eat red hot curries all the time.....not so, the hottest that they will enjoy would be what we call Madras. (Medium)
Madras style can also be mild / hot / whatever.
It's amazing how foreign ideas and foods get into our National Psyche and become part of our culture.
That's how Nations develop, I suppose.

If you ever get an invite to an Indian household for a meal, jump at the chance.
Food to die for.
Shifty, you would love the sweets.

I would love a good recipe for authentic Scouse. (Foreign dish originally, to be eaten properly, accompanied by beetroot, etc.)
 
Sep 4, 2011
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Cheers for the recipe ShiftZZ, I love a good curry and our local Munal tandoori is run by Nepalese and its fantastic so if your ever in London (putney) and fancy a great meal give us a shout and we will gladly join you:thumb: but will steer clear of you the next day:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:phoaarrrrrrr


I have two brother in laws and a sister that spend five months of the year in India every year and they always bring me back good curry powder:thumb:

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johnp10

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Cheers for the recipe ShiftZZ, I love a good curry and our local Munal tandoori is run by Nepalese and its fantastic so if your ever in London (putney) and fancy a great meal give us a shout and we will gladly join you:thumb: but will steer clear of you the next day:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:phoaarrrrrrr


I have two brother in laws and a sister that spend five months of the year in India every year and they always bring me back good curry powder:thumb:

I get mine brought from Malaysia.
The brand is Baba's.
 

jhorsf

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Why not cut out the middleman when cooked just throw it down the loo Yes I do not like this sort of food:ROFLMAO:
 
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Johnp10 this is for you

A Scouse recipe fit for the stars.

INGREDIENTS
2 lb leg of lamb, cubed, fat removed; 1lb stewing or braising steak, cubed, fat removed, 1pt beef stock, plus extra hot water for topping up, olive oil; 3 onions, peeled and sliced; 2 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced; 2 lb mixture of carrots, parsnips & swede, peeled and cubed, salt and pepper; 1 tbsp fresh thyme
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the Dutch oven to wood mark 6
Seal lamb and beef cubes quickly in an iron skillet, turning often over high heat, in a little oil.
As meat begins to brown, add onions, and cook for five minutes. Stir often.
Pour into Dutch oven and add all other ingredients (except salt and pepper)
Add enough hot water to just cover all ingredients.
Cover with lid and cook in the centre of the fire with ashes drawn up the sides of the Dutch oven for approximately four hours.
Taste and add salt and pepper.
Serve with crusty bread for dipping and pickled red cabbage or beetroot.

Will Redfearn

The noblest of all the animals is the dog,and the noblest of all the dogs is the hotdog, it feeds the hand that bites it!
 

Chris

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I love Indian dishes.

I particularly love Cobra and Bangla beer:thumb:
 
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Thanks for the recipes. Made me realise how good value the ones from the supermarket are. I will stick with ready made sauces and just add the few extra ingredients I like lol. Saves all the washing up as well:winky:

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Johnp10 this is for you

A Scouse recipe fit for the stars.

INGREDIENTS
2 lb leg of lamb, cubed, fat removed; 1lb stewing or braising steak, cubed, fat removed, 1pt beef stock, plus extra hot water for topping up, olive oil; 3 onions, peeled and sliced; 2 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced; 2 lb mixture of carrots, parsnips & swede, peeled and cubed, salt and pepper; 1 tbsp fresh thyme
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the Dutch oven to wood mark 6
Seal lamb and beef cubes quickly in an iron skillet, turning often over high heat, in a little oil.
As meat begins to brown, add onions, and cook for five minutes. Stir often.
Pour into Dutch oven and add all other ingredients (except salt and pepper)
Add enough hot water to just cover all ingredients.
Cover with lid and cook in the centre of the fire with ashes drawn up the sides of the Dutch oven for approximately four hours.
Taste and add salt and pepper.
Serve with crusty bread for dipping and pickled red cabbage or beetroot.

Will Redfearn

The noblest of all the animals is the dog,and the noblest of all the dogs is the hotdog, it feeds the hand that bites it!


Jesus Bigfoot
How many does that serve?, take the 3lb of meat out and make it Blind Scouse and you still feed an Army:RollEyes:
 

johnp10

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Cheers Bigfoot.
That'll be good scaled down to non industrial proportions.
My sister used to make the daddy of all Scouses.
Not had a pukka one for years.
 

jhorsf

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So what do you like?

Its more a question of what I am able to eat Dave anything with Curry ,Spices,garlic,onion,etc. well you get the idea is out I am afraid as it really upsets my tummy

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Chris

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I went for a curry last night to a place I hadn't eaten in before. I ordered my standard chicken vindaloo with plain rice and plain nan bread( creature of habit).

When it arrived there were some green things on top of the curry which I mistook for Parsley. I mixed it all in and tucked in.

Within about 5 minutes the sweat was running down my face and my mouth was burning.

The green things were hot chillies:Doh:
 
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Not into too much curry myself but I have just mailed it to Chicago. My son has several attempts at creating a UK/Indi curry there but never 100% happy with results. Keep an eye out you could become famous over the water. ShiftZZ... curry writer on the Glenn Beck show.:coolthumb:
 

chrisgreen

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here you go buttons send him the full link:thumb:
Link Removed

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chrisgreen

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i have tried and tried to find an indian curry that i like,and failed,although i have eaten many indian currys there are only 2 that i could say i enjoyed,one cooked by a friend of ours and one cooked by taran las,out of the 2 i think taran las's curry just piped our friends curry by a small margin:Smile:
chinese for me every time:thumb:
 

MHVirgins

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Glasgow was voted the curry capital of the UK, years ago, no doubt another town/city will have re-claimed it by now:RollEyes:

However, there is a chain of Ashoka curry houses run by Indians/Pakistanis or whatever, they have thriving curry restaurants all over Glasgow and the surrounding area. They produced a small book called the "Korma Sutra" a while back and we've got a copy of this with loads of great curry recipes, main dishes, desserts and drinks etc

I always find it amusing when an Indian from Glasgow opens his mouth to speak and you get that half Pakistani/half Glaswegian accent:roflmto:


 

MHVirgins

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I've got a recipe for Spiced Onions, will try to find it and post it on here. Very spicy and hot! It would go well very Shifftz curry recipes.:thumb:

I've been told that it's a "Glasgow" thing rather than readily available everywhere across the UK, but someone will put me right if their local Indian does it no doubt:roflmto: I got it from a Glasgow website.



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MHVirgins

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Spiced Onion Recipe

This is a tasty starter that can be found in every Indian restaurant around the West of Scotland. I’ve tried loads of recipes but this one really hits the spot in terms of authenticity in relation to the best of restaurant recipes. In Scotland we eat our spiced onions with Indian poppadoms but you could serve these as a chutney, side dish or dip.
Top Tip: Make sure your onions are finely diced – this recipe works best with very small pieces of onion (happy to leave details of how chefs do this if required.)
Wot u need
One large Spanish onion or two medium onions
1 tsp chilli powder
5 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp ready made mint sauce
2 tbsp ready made mango chutney
1/2 tsp salt
How u do it
Chop the onions finely and add the chilli and salt – mix. Add the tomato ketchup and mint sauce and mix again. Finally add the mango chutney and mix. Refrigerate for 30 mins to let all the flavours infuse and mature. Makes enough for four.


You can always adjust the ingredients to suit your personal taste, it can be quite fiery:whatthe:
 

gawatt

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Fantastic recipe. We've been cooking a decent butter chicken for years, but it never quite tastes like a restaurant curry. Looking forward to trying it out. :Smile:
 

artemis

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Kerala cooking

We spend four months every winter in Kerala where a lot of coconut milk and oil is used in their cooking. The locals eat copious amounts of rice and tend to have only small portions of curry, dahl, chutney or chicken (or fish) fry. I was quite surprised that packet mixes for dishes like Butter Chicken Masala are now used by the locals who find it so much quicker than grinding spices. They do still think rice tastes better cooked over a wood fire.
Elizabeth :Smile::Smile:

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enery8

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There is an Indian Dish on TV, she reads the Weather!:Cool:
 

DuxDeluxe

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I've probably said this before, but for a reasonably authentic curry dish, try getting your spices online from Rafi's spice box (www.spicebox.co.uk) with shops in York and Sudbury - they'll do all the standards plus will adjust as you like. Having worked and lived with Indians most of my working life I think this is pretty close to the various dishes that have become favourites. Worth a look

Edit - just realised, got some Lamb Rogan josh out of the freezer today for tonight. A Rafi's one - we tend to make up larger amounts and freeze the remaining portions. Curry, dhal, naan, pickles, beer. Heaven....
 
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Deckard

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Only just found this thread or i'd have stuck my nose in earlier! :ROFLMAO:

I love cooking - I currently also grow a lot of stuff (actually struggling these last 2-3 years as its been so wet)...

The curry recipes are fine and maybe do work out well, however, its just as easy to cook them authentically. The hardest bit is gathering up your spices and some of the obscure ingredients....I prefer whole to powdered, but i still have powdered stuff too.

We have a large Asian community here so there are lots of Asian food shops - way cheaper than the supermarkets for fresh herbs, onions, garlic, ginger etc. You can get fresh curry leaves (rare in supermarkets) - seek them out in your area!

Get a decent spice grinder... ~ £20 (not seen a 12v tho :( )

A food blender will help but you can chop by hand with knife skills...

There are a series of books called the The Food of xxxxxx a Journey For Food Lovers
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Food-India-Journey-Lovers/dp/1740454723/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368105628&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=food+guide+india+murdoch"]Indian Food[/ame]

I can strongly recommend this series as I have the indian, thai and chinese ones. I have been cooking from them for the last 3 or 4 years - amazing stuff.

Yes I have learned to "cheat" ie you don't have to follow all of the processes sometimes, other than marinading, these can all be knocked out in 30-40m (except lamb dishes which usually need longer cooking times of course)

I dont buy anything ready-made (save tins of tomatoes) and the recent horse meat scandal reinforces one of the reasons i dont - along with knowing whats in my food and isnt loaded with preservatives and other mysterious stuff!

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There's a Curry Nosh Shop in Tewksbury almost facing you as you leave the road that leads to the CC Site, If you really love Curry, that's not the place to go:Sad:
 

DuxDeluxe

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There's a Curry Nosh Shop in Tewksbury almost facing you as you leave the road that leads to the CC Site, If you really love Curry, that's not the place to go:Sad:

Site? Curry shop? Must put Tewksbury on my list......::bigsmile:
 

Bailey58

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Saw a "Like" from Roadrunner earlier in the thread and thought "Ah, he's back", then I saw the date. :Doh:

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