FAQ for uk.food+drink.indian Newsgroup
Faq Index	Main Dishes and Sauces	Topics Index

The Questions

• Basic Curry Sauce
  1. How do I make a curry sauce that can be used with different meats?
  2. What is the sauce that is used when a restaurant doesn't give a name to the curry?
  3. Is there a basic curry sauce recipe that can be modified?
  4. Hi everyone, I bought the Curry Secret from Amazon, it had to be ordered from England, sent to the USA then to Canada, that UK6.00 cost me close to $25 CDN. Well I hope it's worth it.
     Have any of you had successful recipe's out of it? The curry sauce they mention, you use it throughout different recipes, won't everything taste the same? Does anyone have any personal favourites I can start out with?
• Indian Food and Diabetes
  1. Are Indian recipes suitable for people who have diabetes?
• Chicken Tikka
  1. What is the "Tikka" in Chicken Tikka Masala and how is it cooked?
  2. How do I make the sauce for Chicken Tikka Masala?
  3. Can I make something similar to Chicken Tikka Masala without grilling the chicken pieces?
  4. What's the difference between Chicken Tikka and Tandoori Chicken?
• Dhal
  1. Tinned chick peas seem to be a bit stodgy and tasteless, but they seem to be widely available so what do people do with them?
  2. I've tried dried chick peas, but the skins are a problem, they don't seem to be in the tinned variety.
  3. Recipes using dhal often refer to the different varieties by their Indian names, I haven't been able to find out what they all are.

  top

• Sambhar
  1. I have Home-Made-Sambar Powder from India. I am bit confused how to make Sambar deliciously though I know/do in my own way. Can any one here please explain to me how to make? For the reference, I will briefly explain on my approach of doing.
     I boil the lentils in the pressure cooker with Tamrind Juice, Sambar powder, Tomatos with enough water. That's what I do (without any oil). Somewhere I am going wrong. Any suggestions?
  2. I went to the local Asian store yesterday, a very big one, and asked for sambar powder but all they seemed to have was a complete mix for it - the pack says "No need to add dal". I asked the staff there and thay said it was all they sold. Is that the same thing you meant or should I be trying to get one that is just a seasoning, and if so do you know where I could get it?

  top

• Vindaloo
  1. What should be in a Vindaloo, potatoes or not? (Anonomous TV personality) said vindaloo was vinegar­potato I thought it was vinegar­garlic from Portugese, aloo not being a Portugese word?
     and
  2. I could be wrong but I believe that the 2 key ingredients are vin (vinegar) and aloo (potato). Can anyone clarify this?
  3. I have been reading this group for the last week and you have had me in the kitchen for the last 3 evenings.
     I give up, I cannot make a good curry (Vindaloo).
     I have been trying for a few years now on and off but I have failed, I admit defeat.

The Answers

• Basic Curry Sauce
  1. Click here for some recipes which have been posted to the group.
  2. Although you may be of the opinion that your favourite eating house produces the ideal curry sauce there can be no really definitive version.
  3. There are a number of "basic" curry sauces, each recipe book and each restaurant owner will have a variation of the «basic» sauce.
  4. Kris Dhillon answers (while you're here you might like to take a look at two people's experiences whilst following Kris Dhillon's recipe)
     1. I've been working through them all. I was specially impressed with the Tandoori marinade and then made chicken tikka massala.
        The first curry-gravy session was a bit of a marathon, and still various cloths in my kitchen are a lovely tumeric yellow.
        The curry sauce is used for everything, and yes that means everything pretty much tastes the same. He tends to vary the flavours with chilli powder, paprika, cumin and coriander, as well as ambchoor.
        You gotta get the Garam Masala right, as in his recipes it pretty much is the curry powder. For the few pence that they cost, go out and buy fresh whole spices for grinding, don't rely on stuff that's been hanging around in your cupboards for years ;)
        Overall, the curries are great. Though I still haven't made one that is exactly the same as a restaurant, they're pretty damn close. I'm experimenting with longer oven cooking (specially for the lamb dishes) at the moment, basically cooking the meat in the curry sauce until its so so tender, and then adding the creams/garam masala etc just before serving.
        
     2. So far I have only made the Chicken Bhuna Masala.. I did it without mushrooms since I've never had a bhuna with mushrooms (that i know of). The result was astonishing, I have to say. I'm no chef but the resulting curry was every bit as good as a meal from a local takeaway -- I can only hope that it wasn't a one-off and that my next try will be as successful.
  5. There are alsoWazza's Variations, recipes devised by one of the posters to the group and based on a vegetable stock.

  top

• Indian Food and Diabetes
  1. Indian recipes are no different from any other recipes, in that the majority can be adapted to suit your individual diet requirements. Click here for a page showing examples of modified recipes.
• Chicken Tikka Masala
  1. Chicken Tikkas are pieces of chicken, marinated then skewered and grilled (in a western style kitchen without the Indian oven) but can be «oven-baked» if necessary. Click here for recipes and ideas.
  2. There are a variations on the Masala sauce, take a look at the recipes.
  3. You can make a similar dish without grilling the tikkas (Chicken Makhani) but you may still need to marinade - see the CTM recipe page, or look for Butter Chicken on the Chicken Recipe List.
  4. In India, tandoori chicken is either served whole, to be torn up and eaten with a tandoori bread called naan, or cut into serving pieces and doused with a quickly made sauce containing butter, tomatoes, cream, ginger and toasted cumin. This is what is known as chicken makhani. The sauce for this can be made while the tandoori chicken is grilling.

  top

• Dhal
  1. Fancied something tasty yesterday but couldn't be bothered with anything complicated so we had the oft used "chuck it all in a pan and boil it" chick pea curry.
  2. I like the old tried and true method of soaking dried chick peas overnight or even for just a few hours, then skimming off the floating skins... if there are any.
  3. Take a look at the Identifying Dhal page

  top

• Sambhar
  1. How I cook my sambar .....
  2. I have seen it in a shop or two. It is usually available in some shops who cater for South Indian dishes. It will never be in a Pakistani shop, Although both the shops look similar and mostly sell the same kind of things. Try one or two more shops. The seasoning would be better.

  top

• Vindaloo
  1. Definitions of Vindaloo
     There has been a fair amount of discussion about this in the group, with varying opinions:
     1. As far as I know, Vindaloo is a Goan dish and, besides being rather hot, the essential feature is the use of vinegar and other acidic ingredients. Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery has a good recipe.
     2. Alan Davidson says its Vinegar. He goes further to say vinegar was introduced from Portugal "vino de alho" (ie vinegar) to India. I reckon the spuds are a retro addition, a misreading of aloo/alho as meaning potatoes. Or there could be two dishes converging?
     3. Other books list the wine-and-potatoes thing, but as others have pointed out Vindaloo, at least today, doesn't contain potatoes. There may be a widely disseminated etymological myth here! Definitely worth a FAQ entry.
     4. I was categorically assured by two different chefs when I was in Goa that a real vindaloo did not have potatoes in it. The point of a real vindaloo is to use only vinegar in the cooking and to end up with what is basically a pickle - you eat a fairly small amount with a lot of rice, along with veg, dhal etc. I've experimented, and if you put the vindaloo (with no spuds) in a sealed jar in the fridge, it'll keep for over a week (that's as long as I could resist eating it!).
     5. And then an impeccable source of information (Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India see the book page) which states:
        

        The correct spelling, vindalho gives away the main seasoning of the original dish, which was once a kind of Portuguese pork stew seasoned with garlic (alhos) and wine (vinho) vinegar. There were probably some black peppercorns in it as well, especially at the tables of affluent families. The vinegar acted as a preservative, allowing the stew to be eaten over several days.

     6. and another: CURRY    fire and spice, by Mridula Baljekar
        

        Vindaloo is Goa's most famous export, but it's origins are in fact Portuguese. In the 16th century, when the Portugese traders embarked on their long voyage to India, they carried pork, preserved in vinegar, garlic and black pepper.

  2. Vindaloo Recipes
     
     1. There are a couple of Vindaloo Recipes on site.
     2. Or you could try the following links:
        1. Goan Pork Vindaloo on Guy's Kitchen site (where you'll also find a Chicken Vindaloo recipe)
        2. The Curry House where you'll find a Chicken Vindaloo, originally published in The Poultry Advisor 1970
        3. Taking No Notice - Homesite for Mick Gower has a Pork Vindaloo recipe.

  top

Faq Index	Search Facility	Topics Index