I only ever order Chicken Tikka Masala...

Psycho Sonny · 3 Jan 2012 at 05:01

Van Hellseek said:
Beef Madras. Always a win.

i'll give you a tip mate, beef is not eaten by indian's traditionally, i know personally that sikh's don't eat beef because they produce milk and help plow fields, etc, so they don't eat them out of respect for providing for them. hindu's don't eat them for another reason, i can't remember what. for this very reason it is not popular within such restaurants and take away's alike.

most places hardly ever get orders for beef curries, so the beef usually sits in the fridge for ages before it get's used. i know in my restaurant/takeaway we usually had to throw it out every other week, etc because we only ever got an order on rare occasions. i then decided to slowly remove it from all menu's and then stopped ordering it in.

therefore even if you have the option for beef, you should always pick lamb.

Zefan · 3 Jan 2012 at 05:50

Korai/Karahi/however they spell it.

lookitsjonno · 3 Jan 2012 at 08:57

normally a rojan josh, but had lamb tikka jalfrezi the other night and it as hot but the flavours were out of this world.

Dave M · 3 Jan 2012 at 08:59

Psycho Sonny said:
most places hardly ever get orders for beef curries, so the beef usually sits in the fridge for ages before it get's used. i know in my restaurant/takeaway we usually had to throw it out every other week, etc because we only ever got an order on rare occasions. i then decided to slowly remove it from all menu's and then stopped ordering it in.

I know chicken is more popular but surely most guests are white rather than ethnic Indian? I guess it depends on the area you serve but that would be the case for most in this thread.

I get around · 3 Jan 2012 at 11:09

I go for lamb, lamb is the best meat anyway.
Or king prawn.

In your case bhoona/ jalfrezi/ rogan josh/ balti is probably worth a go.

dave_beast · 3 Jan 2012 at 11:12

Chicken Tikka Dopiaza

Mr Jack · 3 Jan 2012 at 11:55

timbob said:
...but I fancy something different next time I go for a curry!

The main problem is I don't want to end up with something that's just dry meat, like my mate did last time he ordered a pure chicken tikka by mistake - this is what stops me taking a pot luck choice off the menu.

Why don't you just ask the staff for a recommendation? Tell them what you want, and see what they suggest.

Glaucus · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:10

Beef curries, what is this. What is it 1 in 100 Indian restraints have beef, if that.

My rule of thumb is
Sweet and creamy chicken
Spicy and tomato based lamb.

Hot curries over power chicken, lamb overpowers mild curries.

Makhaira · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:18

Mr Jack said:
Why don't you just ask the staff for a recommendation? Tell them what you want, and see what they suggest.

In a good restaurant this is an excellent route to go, you can discover all sorts of things!

Mr Jack · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:27

Makhaira said:
In a good restaurant this is an excellent route to go, you can discover all sorts of things!

It doesn't even need to be a good restaurant for it to work; even a halfway passable takeaway will do it.

I get around · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:50

I really want a curry now, cheers OCUK.

pepp77 · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:52

Dhansak would be my suggestion.

BunnyKillBot · 3 Jan 2012 at 13:23

Psycho Sonny said:
extra hot - vindaloo, phaal, etc

A bad vindaloo, like what you get from curry night at weatherspoons, is 'extra hot' and rather unpleasant to consume. A good vindaloo is a hot but pleasant blend of spices which is more than breathing fire hot. Its the difference between drinking a bottle of wee £2.99 wine vs a vintage red. The latter excites the palette, the former nukes it with chemical nastiness.

For this reason, if you are somewhere cheap and nasty, get somthing creamy, almondy and or mild.

If you are out for proper curry, go as hot as you can get.

Russinating · 3 Jan 2012 at 13:49

As said, ask the staff. Tell them what kind of thing you like and they'll likely recommend a few for you to pick from.

One of the best curries I've ever had was just a "chef's special". My girlfriend's dad knew the staff and chef well so we just asked for what he'd want himself. Was amazing and something not on the menu (which in turn is bad as I have no idea what it would be called)!

famas · 3 Jan 2012 at 17:13

I had a bengal jalfray the other night and it was bloomin lovely, just the right heat with lumps of mushroom and chicken tikka in a tangy sauce.

I really like dhansak and rizala too. I Tired a madras not long ago too but I found it too sour for my liking.

Psycho Sonny · 3 Jan 2012 at 17:23

Telescopi said:
I know chicken is more popular but surely most guests are white rather than ethnic Indian? I guess it depends on the area you serve but that would be the case for most in this thread.

i would say nearly everyone who goes to an indian is white, but they hardly ever ask for beef.

like someone else stated only 1 in 100 indians will even give the option of beef and chances are that is not an indian restaurant but pakistani's posing as indian's or "indian muslims".

chances are it's most likely being sitting their for a while whereas chicken and lamb have a much higher turnover, when it comes to food, i know which one i would pick.

on a side note it's funny how if a person from that region owns a restaurant it's automatically an "indian" restaurant but if the own a shop it's automatically a "****" shop (p word for pakistani's).

either way im trying to help you out here, never order beef as hardly anyone does, sometimes we only got an order once a month, sometimes we could get 4 orders on the same night. the reason why i just slowly removed it from every menu when they needed updating and if anyone asked if we had beef i said no we have lamb which is much better, due to it's tenderness and juicyness.

mince is another slow mover, it's mainly used in seekh kebabs and keema nan's, and there could be day's before anyone order's one of them. another item which was thrown out on a regular basis, i tired to explain to my chef it would be a lot better that instead of throwing it out when it became bad, he made a staff curry with it or even used it all up in the buffet by making kebabs, etc. but the idiot refused to do so, he was excuse the pun, "thick as mince".

ecksmen · 3 Jan 2012 at 20:08

I always order a side of Saag Paneer - Cheese and Spinach, love the stuff!

A keema Naan, pilau rice and then a pick of the main dish. Currently, I am leaning towards lamb rogan josh, but I generally eat Chicken the most.

A lot of places I know offer taster dishes, where you get a little bit of say 4 dishes. Can be a bit expensive mind.

Landy · 3 Jan 2012 at 20:57

I'm a Lamb Bhuna man, our local sit in Indian does a beautfull Bhuna, its not too spicy, but with a little kick and it so flavoursome, you can almost taste all the different spices and what not used... Pasander is similar but is creamier ( i presume they use cream ) but is very rich and satisfying, like a Korma but i reckon it's nicer and a little richer, most of the Indians takeaways around here are crap though, but there are one or two gems

Psycho Sonny · 3 Jan 2012 at 22:29

ecksmen said:
I always order a side of Saag Paneer - Cheese and Spinach, love the stuff!

A keema Naan, pilau rice and then a pick of the main dish. Currently, I am leaning towards lamb rogan josh, but I generally eat Chicken the most.

A lot of places I know offer taster dishes, where you get a little bit of say 4 dishes. Can be a bit expensive mind.

that paneer looks like it's been made the scrambled egg way, i prefer it when it's in squares and has been fried before hand so it's slightly brown for saag.

i like the scrambled egg way on it's own with nothing else apart from maybe fried onions.

DcD · 4 Jan 2012 at 03:08

Tandoori Chicken Masala wins the 'creamy and not too hot' category hands down.

I love North Indian curries, though they are more often tomato based rather than creamy curries like masala.