Conquer Club

Because I'm bloody hungry

and can't be bothered to wash up

We went out for a curry on Friday - both kids were off at some friends' houses and I said "Sod cooking". THe local curry house is not as good as the average one in the UK, but it's passable - and they've finally started doing popadoms.

jonesthecurl wrote:We went out for a curry on Friday - both kids were off at some friends' houses and I said "Sod cooking". THe local curry house is not as good as the average one in the UK, but it's passable - and they've finally started doing popadoms.

I'm jealous. For me to get curry, I either have to make it myself or drive over 2 hours.. : (

I wouldn't live anywhere that didn't have a bunch of restaurants within a half-hour's walk...

What do you guys mean by "a" curry? What dish exactly? Or approximately....

Basically the name "curry" is a lazy European catch-all term for spicy dishes from the INdian sub-continent, which has been picked up by many Thai and Chinese restaurants for Indian-inspired dishes or their own hot dishes.

There is a leaf sometimes known as the "curry leaf" whose proper name escapes me right now, but it's not involved in that many "curries".

Traditionally, British "Indian" restaurants (actually very often Bangla-Deshi) had a standard menu in which the spice heat would be arbitrarily measured by a regional nomenclature only vaguely related to reality - so that "Vindaloo" would be really hot, "Madras" would be pretty hot etc. Many macho lager-drinkers would actually challenge each other to eat hotter and hotter curries, leading to the invention of the ludicrously-named "Tindaloo". Eating curry became sometimes a macho competition rather than a pleasant experience.

Luckily these days that is less and less often true, and many authentic dishes are offered - differing from restaurant to restaurant depending on where the restauranteurs originate. And now, if you order a Vindaloo, it's not just a competition, it's an authentically hot, vinegar-enriched concoction which is actually pretty nice if you happen to like hot food. (it's a little too hot for me, unless it's been cooked for a long long while).

If you want to cook your own curry, have nothing to do with curry powders or bottled/tinned curry sauces. Find somewhere that will sell you fresh spices, and grind them yourself. There's plenty of recipes available, but I'd be very happy to put forward some of my favourites, with starting-from-scratch instructions, if anyone wants to hear that.

HapSmo19 wrote:What do you guys mean by "a" curry? What dish exactly? Or approximately....

Its actually a group of dishes that use curry spices (don't ask me to name them), meat and/or vegetables, often over rice, sometimes with a type of flatbread. It can be quite spicey, though western versions are generally mild.



From Wikki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry

jonesthecurl wrote:but I'd be very happy to put forward some of my favourites, with starting-from-scratch instructions, if anyone wants to hear that.

I would be interested!

Thanks Player

I've had the chicken curry from a local chinese restaurant and it is gooood. It stains the carpet permanent-like though I also get a beef pad thai from the thai place that will blow the top of your head off if you ask for it 'five star'. Do'nt know if thats curry or not though. I think it's red pepper flakes.

jonesthecurl wrote:If you want to cook your own curry, have nothing to do with curry powders or bottled/tinned curry sauces. Find somewhere that will sell you fresh spices, and grind them yourself. There's plenty of recipes available, but I'd be very happy to put forward some of my favourites, with starting-from-scratch instructions, if anyone wants to hear that.

I'd love to hear a recipe jonesey but I'll need spice names and all that cuz I've never tried cooking thai. I'll try it sometime this week and report back on it

jonesthecurl wrote:Eating curry became sometimes a macho competition rather than a pleasant experience.

A friend of mine has a obsessive/compulsive fixation with extremely spicy food. Indian, Thai, Cajun, Mexican, whatever. The spicier, the better as far as he's concerned. And if it's not spicy enough, he'll happily drown anything in any sort of hot sauce. He also happens to dye his hair blue. It is endlessly amusing watching him douche his Hooters 911 hot wings down with extra hot sauce and then try to act all suave with the Hooters girls as blue rivulets of sweat trickle down his forehead.

My brother used to have a bet with the local curry house that they couldn't make anything so hot he couldn't eat it.
Arse.
In almost any other context he is the fussiest eater you ever saw. Rabbit? Oh no! Offal? Yuk! Huge side dish of raw chilies? I can handle that, I'm a tough guy!
Of course they never won the bet (and of course they could have) - else he'd have stopped eating there every week.

Personally I like Thai curry the best.

But I guess that could just be that the Thai restaurants in my town are better than all the other restaurants here.

It's actually just because Thai food is better than any other that uses curry.

That also, but seriously, the only good restaurants in my town are Thai restaurants.
I live in a town of a little under 100,000, and there are at least 9 Thai restaurants.
There were five of them I used to go to a lot, but one of them burned down.

My town also has total shit mexican, Italian, steakhouse and pretty much any other type of restaurant. To be fair there's an ok Chinese place.

I have to go a long way to get a decent Thai unless I cook it myself. Around here there's a large proportion of sushi places, which is one style of food I don't care for.
Thai food takes a lot of time.

There's only 1 thai restaurant in Istanbul, a city of somewhere betwenn 10 and 25 million people (depending on who you believe). How can that be? And it's bloody expensive... Good kebab though...

PLAYER57832 wrote:I'm jealous. For me to get curry, I either have to make it myself or drive over 2 hours.. : (

I’m surprised that you have to travel so far to reach an Indian Restaurant. After looking at the amount of red dots, on a recent thread, that indicated the amount of Chinese restaurants in New York.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=indian+london&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=12.165846,35.375977&ie=UTF8&z=13l

Pedronicus wrote:

PLAYER57832 wrote:I'm jealous. For me to get curry, I either have to make it myself or drive over 2 hours.. : (

I’m surprised that you have to travel so far to reach an Indian Restaurant. After looking at the amount of red dots, on a recent thread, that indicated the amount of Chinese restaurants in New York.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=indian+london&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=12.165846,35.375977&ie=UTF8&z=13l

I live about 8 hours from New York City and over 2 hours from Buffalo, NY. Also over 2 hours from Pittsburgh. We are pretty much in the "boonies".

We do have a Chinese restaurant, but they cook the standard American-Chinese stuff... even for me, and I know them! LOL
(though not that well...)

19th post!

HapSmo19 wrote:19th post!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=83555&hilit=too+much+Conquer+club%2C+when+%E2%80%A6

"when you know your post count ... "

jonesthecurl wrote:
Traditionally, British "Indian" restaurants (actually very often Bangla-Deshi) had a standard menu in which the spice heat would be arbitrarily measured by a regional nomenclature only vaguely related to reality - so that "Vindaloo" would be really hot, "Madras" would be pretty hot etc. Many macho lager-drinkers would actually challenge each other to eat hotter and hotter curries, leading to the invention of the ludicrously-named "Tindaloo". Eating curry became sometimes a macho competition rather than a pleasant experience.

So was it the British or the Indians who settled Texas, now?

(seems they have transferred to Chilis)

If you want a food history thread, that's ok - but it is a separate question.
The cuisine (and more) of the whole world has been altered by the "discovery" of the Americas.
No Americas, no turkey, no cocaine, no tomato, no chili, no chocolate, no marijuana, no tobacco, no corn, no potato, (feel free to join in, folks)...about half of the world's basic foodstuffs came from the "New World".

jonesthecurl wrote:If you want a food history thread, that's ok - but it is a separate question.
The cuisine (and more) of the whole world has been altered by the "discovery" of the Americas.
No Americas, no turkey, no cocaine, no tomato, no chili, no chocolate, no marijuana, no tobacco, no corn, no potato, (feel free to join in, folks)...about half of the world's basic foodstuffs came from the "New World".

No, I was just trying to make an obviously failed joke about the "macho" type competition to eat the spiciest foor.

Sorry.

jonesthecurl wrote:Traditionally, British "Indian" restaurants (actually very often Bangla-Deshi) had a standard menu in which the spice heat would be arbitrarily measured by a regional nomenclature only vaguely related to reality - so that "Vindaloo" would be really hot, "Madras" would be pretty hot etc. Many macho lager-drinkers would actually challenge each other to eat hotter and hotter curries, leading to the invention of the ludicrously-named "Tindaloo". Eating curry became sometimes a macho competition rather than a pleasant experience.

actually Curl there is a curry that is rated hotter than a Tindaloo. it's called a Thal/Phal/Fal (depending on the curry house). far too hot for my liking, but a lad in work can polish it of no problem.


i'll stick to my Tandoori Mixed Grill, Saag Ghosht, Mixed Madras, Mixed Pathia, Chicken Tikka Shashlicka or Chicken Tikka Shahee.


Tandoori Mixed Grill: usually consists of pieces of Chicken Tikka, Lamb Tikka, Shish Kebab and a 1/4 Chicken Tandoori. your choice of sauce usaully.


Saag Ghosht: this is a medium dish of Lamb and Spinach.


Mixed Madras: very hot dish. you can get just chicken or beef Madras, but i usually get mixed which inculeds both and Prawns if you want.


Pathia: fairly hot dish. this has a nice hot and sour flavour. same as above for variations.


Chicken Tikka Shashlicka: it's hotness depends on the choice of sauce or you can usually have a Balti sauce(medium) with it. big thick pieces of succulent Chicken Tikka served with Pilau rice and salad. more expensive than normal Chicken Tikka dishes, but if done well it's worth it.


Chicken Tikka Shahee: succulent Chicken Tikka chunks, with a medium Balti sauce full of minced Beef. save the best until last.