Spec me a curry menu

DcD

DcD

DcD

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A friend of mine is moving to Pakistani in December, so all our group are going round to his place for a sort of 'farewell curry night'.

Myself and another friend are doing the cooking - we've never really cooked Indian food before. The host is making a chicken biryani, so we now need to make for about 10 people;

2 wet curries, 1 hot & 1 mild.
A few sides that accompany the above?
Assorted starters?
Poppadums will be bought before hand and warmed in the oven.
Want to try making some naan bread - will this actually work without a tandoor?

Desserts are being made by the host's wife - so we don't need to worry about that.

Let the ideas flow!
 
One curry I make that is somewhere between a korma and a vindaloo is a bit like the below recipe (I play it by ear normally so I will have to guess the amounts a little).

Recently I've started making things more unauthentic if it improves the food. Sue me :p

Ingredients
1 pack of chicken thigh fillets (460g /sainsburys)
2 large onions
6 gloves of garlic
2 small mushrooms
2 red chillies
1 red pepper
2 heaped tablespoons of tomato puree
1 inch cube of fresh ginger
2 inch cube of creamed coconut
1 tablespoon ish of lardons/bacon
1 heaped teaspoon cumin powder
1 level teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 level teaspoon fenugreek powder
1/2 level teaspoon cayenne powder
1 level teaspoon coriander powder
- extra naga chillies to taste

Method
Chop meat into quarters.
Chop onions, garlic, ginger, 1 chilli and bacon lardons finely.
Heat some ghee/butter in a pan at medium heat.
Add the onions, chilli and bacon - fry until onions soft and starting to brown.
Add the ginger, fry for 1 minute.
Add the garlic, fry for 1 minute.
Add all the spices, fry for 1 minute.
Add the meat, fry for a few minutes.
Add the tomato puree, coconut and a "bit" of water. Enough so that you can leave it simmering for about 30 minutes and have the right consistency.
Lower heat and leave to simmer for 30 minutes.

The above might be missing some stuff as I've not written down my curry recipe before. Apologies if so - and feel free to ask for anything.

The end result is a curry that has a slightly creamy consistency (but this is only a hint) but the rest is very savoury and has a nice kick. I've had this so hot that we struggled to finish it (we all like hot curries) and mild enough that we ended up sprinkling chillies on it to pep it up. It works equally well at both ends of the heat scale though.
 
http://bircurries.co.uk/forum/index.php

This is honestly the ultimate in curry guides, CoryAnders recipes knocked my socks off. And it has the upside of most prep can be done before, the actual curries are very quick to make at the time.

Note though, that in order to make "curry base" or "garabi" you will probably want to do it the day before or even when you've got a few hours spare before the event, save rushing.

My tip for naan breads is get a cast iron baking stone, put it under a grill for at least half an hour, get both sides disgustingly hot, use this to cook your naan breads. Only way I've ever known it to work.

Additionally, don't buy poppadoms, just buy the "ready to fry" pappad and fry in oil, they're so much better.

Presumably in "mixed starters" you'll do bhajis and samosas at a minimum so you'll have the pan of oil anyway.
 
pitchfork said:
Additionally, don't buy poppadoms, just buy the "ready to fry" pappad and fry in oil, they're so much better.

Presumably in "mixed starters" you'll do bhajis and samosas at a minimum so you'll have the pan of oil anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. We did discuss doing bhajis and frying poppadoms properly, but as it's someone else's house I didn't really want to stink their place out with the smell of hot oil - plus it's a faff.
 
DcD said:
Thanks for the link. We did discuss doing bhajis and frying poppadoms properly, but as it's someone else's house I didn't really want to stink their place out with the smell of hot oil - plus it's a faff.
Click to expand...

Do what I do, wok full of oil in the back garden + a camping stove.

It's impossible to do indian food without a deep fryer, oven bhajis/ samosas/ poppadom are naff.
 
I would look into chapattis or flat breads instead of naan. Very easy to make and cook; you can prepare before hand and just cook. Chappatti flour is different; how I couldn't say, maybe its finer?

Try and grab a nice bit of mutton; I think its the time of year although it may have just gone. I'd cook the curry the day before and heat it back up on the night; it'll taste better and you can get away with a nice slow and very long simmer.

Find recipes on UK good food. Cooking most curries is similar.
 
jms198 said:
I would look into chapattis or flat breads instead of naan. Very easy to make and cook; you can prepare before hand and just cook. Chappatti flour is different; how I couldn't say, maybe its finer?

Try and grab a nice bit of mutton; I think its the time of year although it may have just gone. I'd cook the curry the day before and heat it back up on the night; it'll taste better and you can get away with a nice slow and very long simmer.

Find recipes on UK good food. Cooking most curries is similar.
Click to expand...

Chappati flour is wheat flour I think.

Chappati's are fairly easy to make, and far healthier than naans.

Though if I go out for Indian food, it's always a naan :D
 
If you want hot look up Nagraj its a very hot curry I get this every time off a indian mate hot as hell if you don't use pickeled peppers.
 
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