Indian curry

[Damian Ryan]

Had a couple of spicy indian curries last night and drank the Mountain Range IPA with it. I thought it went exceptionally well.

[Duffman]

If I could only eat and drink curry and IPAs for the rest of my life, I'd be very happy with that!

[Rob Courtney]

Now, if there is something I love to do, it is make curries and drink beer, they just go together so well.

 

Tonight I made some home made curry puffs ( really easy, ) and a butter chicken, once again, not too hard, happy to give out recipes and I have chucked on a keg of 3 month old Lawn mower lager. Now, I think there are ales that suit curry better but lagers do a pretty good job in a pinch and tonight, the Lawn Mower is drinking so nicely. For a beer I wasn't going to order...3 pints, maybe 30-40 minutes (2 curry puffs) and just hitting my stride.

I would say "let it sit for as long as you can" but this is one of those beers that evolves, I was really surprised how well it drank early, the strong, cut grass taste was in your face but as it has grown older it is such a nice beer, the flavours are more subtle with notes of floral, citrus, passion fruit and a hint of the lawn still there.

If this was one of those "$17 beers", I'd probably be reluctant to buy many others

 

 

[Captain 3 Droids]

Love curries and cook a few myself. Like using a clay Moroccan tajine, slow cook 6 to 8 hours. You must try the Birra Italiano lager, I reckon it goes with just about any meal.

Just noted you have just brewed this one, you’ll enjoy.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Barrelboy

[Rob Courtney]

53 minutes ago, Barrelboy said:

Love curries and cook a few myself. Like using a clay Moroccan tajine, slow cook 6 to 8 hours. You must try the Birra Italiano lager, I reckon it goes with just about any meal.

Just noted you have just brewed this one, you’ll enjoy.

 

Birra at 3 weeks secondary, will try a bottle before I re order stock. Given you have talked this up a few times, I have the feeling it will be a good beer. Once again, this is a beer I wouldn't usually pick, have had Peroni etc a few times, not a huge fan but this year took the family on a day trip and a cafe I had Nachos at, I had a Birra Morretti and it just went together so well, so am looking forward to it 

[Rob Courtney]

Strangely enough, I avoided curries til I was 21. Absolutely refused to eat the curry my Ma made (Singapore curry) through a number of years. Then when I was 20 I started doing a lot of training with some Maori boys which was always a little intimidating when you had to spar with them. Anyways, one day I went to Timmys house and he opened the door and said, "hey bro, just got some lunch, sit down and eat"

I said" what are you having?" and he said "Vindaloo" and I ignored all Maori customs and said " no thanks mate, I don't eat curry"

The look he gave me, the look... and then the " I didn't ask what you like, you don't come over to a friends house and refuse the food he has cooked".

So I shut my mouth and sat down and ate...and I found I loved curry. He even shallow fried his Naan bread (never had it like that again but it worked). Given Tims forearms were the same size as my thighs, it was pretty ballsy to disrespect him in his house like I did, was probably lucky there wasn't an open hander for my troubles :) 

So, a week later I tried my Mas Singapore curry, much to her surprise and wolfed it down. I had to explain to her that all it took, was a Maori, twice my size, who I had saw knock someone unconscious with an open hand slap and had disrespected in his own house, to make me try curry.

She still has a lot of time for Tim, I think less for training me and more for forcing me to eat curry.

[Captain 3 Droids]

Top yarn. Know a few boys here from the Onkaparinga Rugby Club, no arguing with them. 

[Captain 3 Droids]

Rob, can you give us your Butter Chicken and Curry Puff recipes.

Thanks, Mark

[Rob Courtney]

Butter chicken...using breast chicken. Now, I make it hot but cutting down on the chilli powder or cutting it out will bring it to mild and you would just need to adjust the sugar used to sweeten the dish. With mine you go "christ that is hot" and when it gets to the back of your tongue "nice, creamy and sweet". At its hottest, don't muck about, have beer ready and cold.

For 2 people

Ingredients

 300 gms Chicken breast boneless 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (apparently the mildest one FFS) pinch salt

 

Sauce

500 gms  roughly slit tomatoes 100 gms roughly cut onions 1 tbsp garlic paste 50 gms cashew 1 tsp Fenugreek 1/2 tsp garam masala 4 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder 5 tbsp butter 3 tbsp cream 2 tbsp malt vinegar / 1.5 tbsp White Vinegar Salt to taste

 

Doing it

Marinate the chicken with ginger paste, garlic paste,  chili powder, and salt and keep it aside for 15 to 20 minutes - In a pan heat, some oil then stir fry the marinated chicken pieces in it, bit of colour then put it into a bowl for later.

Using the same pan add onion, oil, a spoonful of butter and when the onions are cooked add chopped tomatoes and cashew nuts, toss then add a cup of water and garlic paste,  good pinch salt, malt vinegar, sugar, garam masala powder, and chili powder. Evenly mix it and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes (maybe 30 mins if you lose track because you're on the beers), Pour sauce from pan into a bowl and blitz with a stick blender until smooth

Using a sieve, strain the mixture through, (you will be left with what is left from the tomato skins in sieve...throw that away) into the same pan the add butter, cream, chicken and Fenugreek and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. - Be artsy with the cream and Fenugreek the way you see cream through butter chicken in restaurant.

My wife likes Butter Chicken but likes it with breast chicken, so I learnt this method. It is basically stir frying the chicken to get some colour on it, taken it out of the pan, putting the sauce together, putting the chicken back in and cooking for 5 mins. It is best to get all the ingredients ready before you start.

 

Apart from the heat, this is the sauce you will get from an Indian restaurant...it doesn't look like it til you blitz and then put through the sieve, then you are like, this is the shiz. If you like mild butter chicken, lay off the chilli powder and put the sugar in last, adjusting to taste

 

[Rob Courtney]

Curry Puffs are real lazy

250gms chicken or beef mince

1 Potato

Puff pastry

Curry paste

onoin

 

1 pan

oil, put onion in, cook til clear

add 1-2 tbsp of curry paste ( your choice, Yellow paste goes well but really, they all are good)

stir for a minute on med/high heat til you can smell the paste ( or until the next door neighbour comes round asking if you are having curry)

 

add mince, stir break up, add chopped up real small pieces of potato (thin slice down, cut thin piece in half, then thin slice again so they are like really thin fingers)

 

Cook for 10 mins

 

Lay puff pastry out, cut round circles out, finger paint water around the edge, then put filling in middle, pull up to make pasty like shape, making sure all ends meet.

 

Oil in pan, shallow fry like you would prawn chips, oil not to be too hot, cook til brown.

 

This sounds really easy and it shouldn't impress...eat two of these and you will be like "those bastards at the restaurants...was this what they were doing?"

 

Of  course you can make your own pastes...and I have recipes for that but unless you are making lots of curries, then it is a lot of work to show off

[Captain 3 Droids]

Thanks so much for both recipes. Love chilli as well so will definitely do a “hot-ish” version.

Cheers

[Rob Courtney]

Just now, Barrelboy said:

Thanks so much for both recipes. Love chilli as well so will definitely do a “hot-ish” version.

Cheers

 

Yeah, the hot version is the balls...just don't think " I'll replace tablespoons of chilli with tea spoons", that will make it milder...that is still hot...but it is a balanced hot because you get heat and then sweetness. If you use the original recipe, you could drink 6 pints with it and probably still blow under .05 :). 

 

 

[Captain 3 Droids]

12 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

 

Yeah, the hot version is the balls...just don't think " I'll replace tablespoons of chilli with tea spoons", that will make it milder...that is still hot...but it is a balanced hot because you get heat and then sweetness. If you use the original recipe, you could drink 6 pints with it and probably still blow under .05 :). 

 

 

6 pints is a good start 😋