Girabi - (BIR) British Indian Restaurant Base Sauce

This recipe is for the Indian restaurants base sauce natively know as Garabi. All Indian restaurants have a base sauce to make all their currys, in fact the same sauce is used for Madras and Korma, it's the spices and the additional ingredients that makes the dish but the base sauce is always the same. 

Ingredients 

6 Large Onions

1 Green Pepper

1 Red Pepper

6 Cloves Garlic

Large Piece of Ginger

1 Carrot

Bunch of FreshCoriander

2 Fresh Green Chillis

1/2 White Cabbage

1 Table spoon Garlic Paste

1 Table Spoon Ginger Paste

Vegetable Oil

Water

For The Mix Powder

8 Tea Spoons of Turmeric

5 Tea Spoons of Corriander Powder

4 Tea Spoons of Curry Powder

4 Tea Spoons of Cumin Powder

4 Tea Spoons of Garam Massala

3 Tea Spoons of Paprika

1 Tea Spoon of Ginger Powder

1 Tea Spoon of Garlic Powder 

Method

Roughly chop the onions and add to a large pan

Chop the carrot and add to the pan

Chop the peppers and add to the pan

Roughly chop and add the rest of the ingredients to the pan, that's the 6 Cloves Onions, Large Piece of Ginger, Bunch of FreshCoriander including the stalks, 2 Fresh Green Chillis, 1/2 White Cabbage

1 tablespoon of Garlic Paste, I table spoon of Ginger Paste.

Add 100ml of Vegetable oil and then add enough cold water to cover 1/3 of the pot the place on a very low heat for at least 1 hour.

After 1-2 hours your garabi should look like this

Let the mixture cool enough to blend.

Once cooled blend the ingredients together to make a really smooth mixture. Try to get this as smooth as you can, we will however be blending it again later.

Add the contents back to a pan and add the same amount of water of the mixture

Place on a low heat and add 4 tablespoons of mix powder and mix the contents together.

After 30 minutes to 1 hour blend the contents again and make as smooth as possible

Make sure you blend it really well then your mixture is now ready to use. Look out for my curry recipes which will use this base sauce.

Chilli Pickle

Ingredients

20 - 30 Chillies

3 Tablespoons of Mustard Seeds

2 Teaspoons of Tumeric Powder

2 Tablespoons to Fenugreek Seeds or Leaves

50ml White Wine Vinegar 

25ml Chilli / Mustard Oil

2 Limes

Salt

Method

1. Chop the Chilies up into bite sized pieces around an inch long and place in a mixing bowl

2. Add the white wine vinegar and add some salt and mix together

3. Leave the chilli mix for at least 2 hours

4. In the meantime roast the Mustard seeds and Fenugreek in a frying pan dry for 2-3 minutes

5. Transfer your roasted seeds into a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder

6. Now add the oil, Tumeric, juice of 2 limes and your mix powder into a saucepan and mix together for around 3-4 minutes, add more oil or lemon juice if required.

7. If your chillies have been in the white wine vinegar mix for at least 2 hours then add this to the pan and mix together

8. Cut your limes into chucks and add to the mix and mix together

9. Transfer the contents back into your mixing bowl

9. Let it cool then add to glass jars

Enjoy!

Chicken Madras & Pilau Rice (BIR Style)

This is my Chicken Madras recipe. Its a BIR version (British Indian Restaurant) that has authentic ways to make the perfect restaurant curry at home. There are quiet a few steps that need to be completed but most can be done in advance.

Stage 1 - Garabi

The Garabi or Gharbi is the main base sauce of all curry's. All different restaurants have their own version and I've tried and tested quite a few but to date this is the best one I have found. You will need this to cook the madras recipe but you can do this up to 3 days in advance

Ingredients

6 Large onions
500 ml of Vegetable Oil
1 - 2 Tablespoons of Cumin Seeds
1 Chef Spoon of Salt (1 Chef spoon is around 3 tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons of Garam Massala
1 Teaspoon of Tandoori Massala
1 Tablespoon of Chilli Powder
1 Chefs Spoon of Watered down Tomato Paste
3 Litres of Water

Method

1. Chop the onions roughly and place them in a large pan

2. Sprinkle on the cumin seeds

3. Add water to the pan until it is about 3/4 full leaving the top of the onions uncovered

4. Boil for 1 hour on a high heat.

5. After 1 hour check the water and ensure the water is covering the onions add more if needed and reduce the heat to a simmer for another hour.

6. After 2 hours add the oil and continue to cook for another hour.

7. After the 3 hours are up add the salt and spices and continue to cook for a further 30 minutes to an hour.

8. Blend together to get it as fine as possible.

Stage 2 - Mix Powder

As with the Garbi each restaurant has its on blend of spices known as the mix powder, the mix powder is a blend of different spices that is used in most curry's as a base. You can play around with the spices to get it as you like it but this is the mix I use. This can be done in advance then put in a air tight container to use again and again.

Mix the following together,

8 tablespoons of Turmeric powder
5 Tablespoons of Coriander powder
4 Tablespoons of Curry powder
4 Tablespoons of Cumin powder
3 Tablespoons of Paprika powder
1 Teaspoon of Garlic powder
1 Teaspoon of Ginger powder

Half the quantities if you don't want to make as much.

Stage 3 - Pre Cooked Chicken

Ever wondered how your local curry house can create really lovely dishes really quickly? The reason apart from the stages above is because the meat/poultry is already cooked. All Indian restaurants cook the meat or poultry off in advance for speed and for ease.

Ingredients

Chicken cut into good sized chunks (At least 1 inch cubed)
2 Table spoons of Methi (Fenugreek Leaves)
2 Tablespoons of Mix powder
Water

Method

1. Add the chicken to a saucepan and cover with water

2. place the pan on the hob on a high heat

3. Add the Methi leaves and mix powder and stir together

4. Boil for 20 minutes until the chicken is succulent (Open a piece up and make sure its not pink inside). You want it to be as tender as possible but cooked all the way through.

5. Drain the water away and place the chicken to the side.

Madras

You will now be please to know that we have completed all the prep to make the curry and we will now be constructing the Madras. 

Ingredients

1 Chef spoon of oil
1 to 2  Tablespoon of Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of Chilli powder (More if you want it hotter)
1 Tablespoon of Mix powder
1 Tablespoon of Ginger Paste
2 Tablespoons of Garlic Paste
2 Tablespoons of watered down tomato paste
Pre Cooked Chicken
Garabi
Salt if required
Sprinkle of Tandoori Massala

Method

1. Heat up your pan on a high heat and add the oil

2. Add the Ginger and Garlic paste and mix with a wooden spoon/Chefs spoon or equivalent for around 1 minute. Then add the lemon

3. Add the spices and mix with the garlic and ginger and and cook for 1 - 2 minutes, be careful not to burn the spices, turn the heat down if necessary.

4. Add the watered down tomato paste and mix together.

5. After 1 minute add one ladle of Garabi and stir together

6. Keep stirring and keep on a high heat for 5 minutes.

7. Add you pre cooked chicken (As much as you want to use)

8. Add another 1 or 2 ladles of garabi and mix together

9. You want to keep cooking this for at least 10 minutes, you want to get it to the correct consistency that's right for you, I often add more garabi whilst cooking and cook it to my desired consistency. I personally would cook it for 20 minutes in total occasionally topping it up with garabi.

10. Taste and add salt if needed.

11. Sprinkle over a little Tandoori Massala & serve with some fresh corriander.

Pilau Rice

This is how i make my pilau rice which comes out great every time

Ingredients

Basmati Rice (How much you want to make)
2 Bay Leaves
4 Cloves
4 Cardamoms
2 Tablespoons of veg oil
1 Cinnamon stick
Water
Colouring for that Restaurant look

Method

1. Heat up a oven proof pan of salted water with enough water to completely cover the amount of rice you are going to use.

2. Once the water is boiling add your rice and mix so it doesn't all sit on the bottom

3. Bring back to the boil then continue to boil for 7-8 minutes only

4. Remove from the heat and drain

5. With the back of a knife slightly crush the cardamom pods

6. In your now empty pan heat up the oil and add the bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon stick. Keep moving them about for a few minutes until you can smell the aroma coming out of them

7. Turn off the heat

8. Place the drained rice back into the pan with the spices and mix together

9. Add 2 straight lines of colouring into the pan but don't mix

10 Heat the oven to 100c or gas mark 1 and place rice mixture into the oven for 45 minutes with the lid of the pan on or use Tin foil if you don't have a pan with a lid.

11. Remove the lid and continue to cook for 15 minutes.

12. Remove from the oven and mix together (The colour now is amazing)

More pics will be added next time I make this recipe.

Enjoy

King Prawn Curry

Ingredients 

1 Pack of Cooked King Prawns

1 Medium White Onion

800g of Chopped Tomatos (2 Tins)

3 Tablespoons of your favorite curry paste like Pataks

1 Green/Red Chilli

2 Tablespoons of Cumin

2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon of Tandoori Massala (Powder)

2 Garlic Cloves

1 Tablespoon of Garam Masala

1 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder or More to Taste

Optional - Small can of coconut cream or 1/3 of a block 

Fresh Corriander

Vegetable Oil

Salt & Black Pepper

For the Onion Salad

1 Small Onion

Fresh Corriander

1 Tomato

Cucumber Chopped

Method

1. In A Pan heat up some oil and add the chopped Onion until soft but not brown 

2. Add the garlic and Fresh chili and leave on the heat for a further minute or so. 

3. Next add 2-3 tablesppons of curry paste and mix together. 

4. Add the lemon juice and tomatoes and mix together. 

5. Add all the spices and mix together. 

6. Add some of the chopped corriander and leave on the heat to get to your ideal consistancy. 

7. At this point you need to decide if you want a chunky tomato curry or a smooth curry with loads of taste, if you want a chunky curry then just add the prawns, if smooth then add the coconut cream then blitz in a blender then return to the pan, then once you have the right cosistancy add the prawns for a few minutes till cooked, then serve with some rice & fresh Corriander.

Enjoy!!!

Bombay Jeera Potato's

Ingredients  For 1 Portion

1 Large a potato cut the way you want

2 Tablespoons of Turmeric

1 Teaspoon of Tandoori masala

1 tablespoon of Cumin seed

2 tablespoons of yellow mustard seeds

1 handful of fresh coriander stalks chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 a small onion

1 tomato

1 chef spoon / 4 tablespoons Vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of chilli powder or more to taste

Method

1. Par boil the Potato's until soft but not falling apart

2. In a pan heat heat the oil

3. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seed until they start popping 

4. Add the Potato's and mix with the oil

5. Add the turmeric and mix together carefully

6. Add the tandoori Massala and the chilli powder and salt.

7. Add the chopped tomato and onion and mix together

8. Keep on the heat for a few minutes then add the coriander and mix together

9. Make sure everything is mixed together then remove from the heat

10. Taste & Serve.

Enjoy.....

Beef Madras

Ingredients 

400g Lean Beef Steak

Garabi - Recipe Here

Curry Paste if Not Using Girabi

1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste

Bunch of Fresh Corriander

2 Fresh Medium Chillis

1 Tablespoon of Chilli Powder

1 Tablespoon of Garam Massala

1 Tablespoon of Corriander Powder

1 Teaspoon of Tandoori Massala

1 Tablesppon of Garlic Paste

1 Tablespoon of Ginger Paste

20ml of Pemon Juice

6 Tablesspoons of Vegetable Oil

Method

1. Place the beef in a slower cooker with 2-3 ladels of Girabi and cook for 3 to 4 hours on low. If you are cooking without the Girabi add to the slow cooker with 3-4 Tablespoons of curry paste and 100ml of water. If you don't have a slow cooker place in the oven at 110c / Gas Mark 1/4

2. Now add the oil to a frying pan on a high heat until hot, then add the ginger and garlic paste and mix around in the oil.

3. Add the spices and the lemon juice and allow to cook for a few minutes. (add more oil if needed)

4. Add the tomato paste and continue to cook for 1 minute (Turn the heat down if needed, Do not burn the spices)

5. Add 1 - 2 Ladels of Girabi to the pan or Curry paste with some water and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Chop some fresh Coriander and add it to the sauce along with the fresh Chillis 

7. Add the beef and the sauce it was cooked in to the sauce you just made.

8. Taste and add more ingredients as necessary for example more lemon or more chilli etc.

9. Cook on low for 20 - 30 minutes.

10. serve with some plain boiled rice.

Enjoy!! 

Aromatic Lamb Minced Curry

This recipe is full on favour, a lovely aromatic lamb curry that you wont be disappointed with. 

Ingredients

400g Lamb Mince

2 Medium sized onions

30 - 40 Cardamon pods

3 Cloves

Bay leaf

Handful of Methi leaves

Fresh Coriander

Coriander seeds

Cumin seeds

4 Tomatoes 

Gravy granules
Cinnamon Stick

Lamb stock cubes x 2

Ginger paste

Garlic paste

Fresh ginger

2 Medium chillies 

Chilli powder

Oil

1 Lemon

1 Lime

Lemon juice from a bottle.

Salt to taste

Method

Finely chop the onions and add to a hot pan with some oil 

After 5  minutes add the lamb mince & 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds and the juice of 1 lemon or if you are using lemon juice from a bottle use around 4 - 6 tablespoons 

Mix the onions, cumin seeds, bay leaf  and mince together until the mince is brown, 

Once brown remove from the heat and put contents through a colander to remove any excess fat.

Put the contents back into the pain and add the juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime + another 4 tablespoons of lemon juice from a bottle

Finely chop the chillies and add to the mix

Add 2 tablespoons of garlic paste and 1 tablespoon of ginger paste

Add 4 tablespoons of garam masala, 2 tablespoon of chilli powder 3 cloves and 4 Cardamon pods and mix together then remove from the heat.

In a pestle and mortar open 30 to 40 Cardamom pods and take out the fresh Cardamom inside, add 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds and a 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds, using the pestle and mortar mix and crush together and add contents to the pot with the cinnamon stick.

Boil the kettle and pour boiling hot water onto the mix so it covers the mix, add more water depending on how wet you want it & return to the heat.

Add the handful of Methi leaves. If you have time put them in a dry frying pan for 2 minutes to release the flavour a bit more, if you don't have time just throw them in.

Chop the 4 tomatoes into quarters/half and put them in.

Chop some fresh coriander and add then get the 2 lamb stock cubes and sprinkle them in.

Add a tablespoon of gravy granules & grate some fresh ginger into the mix probably around a tablespoon's worth.

Taste and add more ingredients if necessary, for example chilli to make it more spicy, cardamons and coriander seed for a more aromatic taste, more lemon to get that lovely lemon meat taste etc.

 If you can, remove the skins from the tomatoes and mix together, keep it on the heat till you reach the consistency you want and taste along the way.

Serve with a plain boiled rice. Plain because there is so much flavour in the curry you don't want to take any of that flavour away by using a flavoured rice.

Add some fresh coriander to top it off.

This is Vietnamese coriander, its really nice and aromatic, if you can find some try this otherwise regular coriander will be fine.

Enjoy!