Easy Indian

ems_12

Hi everyone,

Not a regular in this forum - I'm culinary challenged!! But.....I have undertaken to do a dinner for a party for the parents. I hope to use my slow cooker for the main course, so I can stress about the other bits and pieces while it's happily cooking away.

Anybody have any good Indian recipes? I love indians but need something that's quite general because of the mix of people coming (not too spicy, not too 'strange' as some are v. meat and two veg, don't want to challenge too much!)

I wanted to avoid masala and korma, and would have liked to do a chicken and mango type thing. To be honest I'm just throwing ideas out there and would be happy to hear any suggestions......even if it's not an Indian idea!

Eviledna

There is a terrific series that BBC made called Indian Food Made Easy, which shows the beginner exactly what is needed to make tasty healthy simple indian food quickly. This show really changed the way I cook!

And the best thing is, they have put them a few on google video to be watched, here!
Now if BBC didn't agree with these being hosted there, then this may be illegal. Mods, I'll remove the link if needed;)

olaola

If you have a slow cooker - I think meat on the bone, lamb - chicken etc would taste great. I think most Indian cooking (at home) is done in a pressure cooker with tougher (and tastier) pieces of meat.

Here are some great recipies: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1851549,00.html

ems_12

Both great replies! The meal isn't until end of August (I'm planning ahead!!) so I might try a practice run of some of these. Thanks for your help

olaola

Oh - if you have UKTV food, Gary Rhodes has a program on at the moment called Rhodes Across India. http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/6277

Some video recipes there too. I'm not normally a fan of his - but some look good!

ems_12

Thanks for all your help guys, I haven't even tried a practise yet, :eek: better get down to it.

Another question - how much meat do I need? I'll try and bulk up the dish with veg, but in general....e.g. if I'm doing a chicken dish, how much chicken per person? (a fillet? ??grams?:o) It'll prob be diced. People will be mixed, i.e. granny won't eat much but some uncle will prob have triple portions if u know what I mean - it'll prob balance out!!

olaola

One breast, or two thighs pp - I'd say about 150g?

lg123

olaola wrote: »

One breast, or two thighs pp - I'd say about 150g?

150g of meat would be ok for a girl but personally i would be very disappointed with less than 200-250g or a 1.5 breasts. especially as you are going indian, many indian mains have little other solids apart from the meat, obviously depending on the main.

there is an indian cookbook in easons called Easy Indian in Minutes, there is a chicked balti recipe in it i think would suit you perfectly. its pretty mild and nothing too weird, all the spices are relatively easy to source too. you should get them all in a supermarket rather than going to an asian shop which may be a problem for some. i can post it up if you like but i would recommend getting the book, there are loads of 'easy' meals in there. cant remember how much it cost, there is a price of £4.99 on the inside no €€.

Minder

Biryani is an easy, tasty dish that is perfect for large numbers. Dhal too.

Lamb Biryani
1 Kg lamb cut into bite sized pieces
A pinch of saffron strands infused in 3 tbsp warm milk

Marinade ingredients
100g youhurt
2 onions cooked in a little oil until soft and golden
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
A handful of mint leaves chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp of salt
¼ grated nutmeg
Green chillies split – to taste depending on the heat you prefer

For the rice
400g basmati rice
3 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
4 cloves
2 blades of mace
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Salt

Garlic and ginger pastes are made by whizzing each with a couple of tbsp of water in a blender. Each will keep in the fridge for a week – I made 4 oz of each which looks like a lot when you are only using 1 tsp for this recipe.

Add all marinade ingredients to a bowl with the meat and leave for at least 4 hours.

Wash the rice in a couple of changes of water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Part-cook the rice in plenty of water with the whole spices and drain off the excess water. It should take about 10 minutes uncovered and should still have a little bite in the centre.

To cook the dish, add the meat and marinade to the casserole. I lightly oiled the pot before adding the meat to help prevent sticking. Spread the rice over the top and sprinkle on the saffron milk. Dab with a little butter. Cover and seal the lid with tin foil leaving a small hole for the steam to escape. Cook on a high heat for eight minutes or until the steam starts to escape. Reduce the heat and cook for 25 minutes on the lowest setting. Once cooked leave to stand for 5 minutes before opening.

For the Dhal
300g red lentils
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric

Seasoning
1 tsp chopped garlic (or paste)
1 tsp chilli powder (or less to taste)
2 medium fresh tomatoes chopped

Put the lentils in a pan with 1 litre of water, the salt & turmeric and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes. For the seasoning, fry the garlic in a little oil and add the chopped tomato. Cook for 5 minutes. When the lentils have softened and the dhal has thickened, add the seasoning and cook for another 10 minutes. Garnish with a little chopped coriander.

The amount of salt in the recipes is best left to your own discretion. It is important in the marinade to help tenderise the meat, but the amounts for the rice and dhal etc are a matter of taste.

lg123

looks good. what are 'blades of mace'? what could be used instead?

Minder

Mace is the outer shell of the nutmeg - use cassia or cinnamon if mace is hard to get. Not exactly the same but it all adds to the flavour.

ems_12

Hi everyone!

Well the dinner over the weekend went great! I cooked a lamb korma ( http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/591464) from the 'Rhodes Across India' series, it was easy and tasted great! I didn't make it too spicy, the different spices, nuts and raisins were enough to make the flavours. The slow cooker was great, as the lamb was nice & tender.
Thanks so much for all your help - I cooked for over 25 ppl! :eek: (Noone has reported dying/food poisoning yet!)

Curvy Vixen

That's great ~ I love Korma! We rarely get updates as to how things went so glad you had a good evening.

ETA: 25 ppl....from a slow cooker :eek: How big was the slow cooker??

olaola

mmmmm... lamb korma, I'm drooling here. Might try out the recipe myself - seems to have worked well

ems_12

Lol actually we had two slow cookers and still had to put some in a casserole dish in the oven!! So was very crazy in the morning, but had died down by dinner time - so I was able to do the starters (samosas, bhajis, pakoras) and naan and rice without too much hassle!

I'd def recommend it because if it turned out well for me it must be an easy recipe!

Oh and in the end just asked the butcher for enough meat to feed about 25-30 people, he gave me about 10-12lbs!

joseph brand

There is a terrific series that BBC made called Indian Food Made Easy, which shows the beginner exactly what is needed to make tasty healthy simple indian food quickly. This show really changed the way I cook!

Sound like the one for me. Hope I can find a nice Balti or Bhuna. Yummmm!!

leopardus

Bit late I'm afraid, but for next time I have a recipe that I was delighted with. Slow roasted marinated leg of lamb with almonds.

Remove fat and skin from leg of lamb
Pierce all over and make 12 deep incisions

Blend:
garlic (6 cloves)
Ginger (50gram)
Tumeric
Chilli
Ground cloves
Lemon zest
lemon Juice
Salt

Put the lamb in a flame proof casserole dish and cover with this mixture. Leave for an hour.
Mix two tablespoons of brown sugar with a big pot of natural yogurt add almonds. After the hour cover the lamb with this mixture and leave for 48hours covered in fridge.
Bring to rooom temperature. Place two tablespoons brown sugar on top of lamb. Place in blistering hot oven (220-240) for 30min-45min. Lower oven to 160, cover the casserole dish and cook for three hours, 'basting' occasionally with the marinade.
remove the lamb from the casserole, cover with foil.
Skim the fat from the remaining sauce in casserole, heat and pour over lamb.

It's the best lamb 'curry' I've ever had. Meat falls off the bone. Seriously tasty. My mouth waters thinking about it. Give it a go.

tomcollins97

joseph brand wrote: »

Sound like the one for me. Hope I can find a nice Balti or Bhuna. Yummmm!!

Any luck finding a good Bhuna recipie? I'm looking for one & cannot find anyhting. The one I get from my take-away has a good bit of a chunky tomatoe style sauce but all of the web/book recipies are for a dry dish...

The Hill Billy

Tom - Why not start a new thread asking for a bhuna recipe rather than dragging up old threads?

rubadub

olaola wrote: »

I think most Indian cooking (at home) is done in a pressure cooker with tougher (and tastier) pieces of meat.

Did a curry in my pressure cooker last week, turned out great. Was round steak but rib would have done. Problem is most PCs only go to 12psi nowadays. I have a 15psi one but ran it around 20psi, came out really tender after just about 20mins at 20psi, then leave it an hour to depressurise, it is still cooking during this time of course.

Minder

tomcollins97 wrote: »

Any luck finding a good Bhuna recipie? I'm looking for one & cannot find anyhting. The one I get from my take-away has a good bit of a chunky tomatoe style sauce but all of the web/book recipies are for a dry dish...

Minder wrote: »

Bhoona seems to have a variety of different ingredients in depending on the recipe - see if this fits the bill...

Bhoona chicken for 4 from Curry Club books by Pat Chapman - I usually can't be bothered with these recipes from the Curry Club because you have to make 3 or 4 different gravys or pastes or stocks before you are ready to cook the dinner. But it is supposed to be a restaurant recipe from the Dilshad Tandoori in Hartlepool.

650g chicken
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp tumeric
8 tbsp curry masala gravy (see below)
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2 tbsp natural yoghurt

Spices whole
4 bay leaves
6 pieces cassia bark
6 cloves

Spices ground
1 tbsp garam masala
chilli powder to taste

Heat the oil and stirfry the whole spices for 1 minute. Add chicken and tumeric and stirfry for 5 minutes, add a spoonful of gravy and allow to absorb, add more gravy and allow to reduce each time - it should be cooked in 15 minutes. Next add ground spices, yoghurt and chopped coriander. Stirfry for 2-3 minutes. Done.

Curry masala gravy - a base for a lot of curries that needs to be frozen as this recipe makes a lot.

2 tbsp oil
5 tbsp garlic puree
5 tbsp ginger puree
8 large spanish onions - puree
6 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp salt

Spices
2 tbsp tumeric
4 tbsp curry powder
chilli powder to taste
2 tbsp ground cumin seeds
2 tbsp chopped coriander

Mix the spices with water to form a paste. Add oil to a pan and stirfry the garlic for 3 minutes, add the ginger and cook for 3 minutes, add the spice paste and cook for 5 minutes, add onion puree and cook for 10 minutes, finally add the tomato puree and cook for 10 minutes. Add the salt. divide into 10 portions and freeze.

So tell me, after I copied out the recipe for you the last time you asked for a bhuna recipe; did you bother to try cooking it?

tomcollins97

I did but was missing some of the spices. Tasted good but obviously didn;t have the depth of flavour you would expect as i didn't have all the ingredients. just looking around for a few alternative recipies!