bigbrowncow

Oh dear. The dough is the most important part. Agreed. And then half the programme focuses on the tomatoes? Where's the sourdough? Where's the obsesive attention to detail? I might try the trick with the bottom of a Le Creuset frying pan if I save up a bit... What are your reflections? Steve

Thankyou for your tips - life is so much better already! Hot soapy water definitely makes a big difference - soaking everything for a few minutes before clearing up. I'll invest in a dough scraper soon too. I've also experimented with oiling the worktop, bowls and my hands before I start handling any dough and this really helps with not making the mess unmanagable in the first place. Steve

Like many others on the forum I am having a wonderful time learning about and experimenting with sourdough. I think its time we talked about how to clean up our bready experiments. I'm making another batch this weekend. I'm slowly learning not to put the mixing bowls in the dishwasher as the dough bakes on and can only be slowly chipped off with a knife later on. I've tried soaking dirty bowls and spoons in cold water and that's just made a bigger wet doughy mess which I'm sure is sitting in the drain and plotting its revenge. My hands are covered in bits of scaly dry dough. All the cloths are dirty. The sink is full. I've tried using paper towels, rubber spatulas, metal spoons, cold water, hot water. Please give me your dough cleaning tips before the sticky glutenous mess takes over the kitchen and then the house! Steve

Lovely work! Are you going to try making naans or is it just too hot in there? Steve

Thanks for your suggestions. Someone on the blog also thought durum atta flour was worth trying. I'll probably do another session in a couple of weeks and will report back. Steve

Slicing half my fingernail off and going right into my finger while chopping chillis with a brand new japanese santoku. It did heal up relatively quickly but I can't recommend wiping a whole load of chilli into your cuts. Unless you like that wierd kind of pain. Steve

No doubt someone out there has got mustard and onion and mushrooms to work brilliantly, but I would go for something a bit gentler on salmon. I like to put some smoked salmon on top of the salmon and then some cream cheese. Or ricotta with spinach mixed in and some nutmeg. I'll also sometimes make the whole shape very fishy and put some pastry fish scales and fins on. Just in case someone can't work out what they are eating Are you happy with how you presented it? How did your pastry turn out? How else would you like to improve it? Steve

I've been a bit busy with the day job so experimentation has slowed down. I tried the Madhur Jaffrey recipe for naans which turned out with perfect texture but a cakey/scone/biscuit flavour. I did manage to get my naan spreading technique under way with some coaching from the local curry house. More experimentation required with recipes. The clay was from a potters supplier and cost about £50. Now that it has been fired it seems totally stable and there has been no more cracking at all. Steve

Thanks for your comments. Windtrader, the tandoor takes about an hour and a half to get to cooking temperature. I could probably do it a bit quicker with an improved lighting technique. I'm aiming for about 280-300°C to cook although on reflection I think some of the food would work better even hotter (some of the damper foods don't crisp enough for my taste). I'm doing a 1.8kg chicken with 15mins in the tandoor, 5mins resting/basting and usually another 5-10mins in the tandoor. Roast chicken in 20mins! The deepest parts inside can be a bit pink but it is definitely cooked through. The food is very different to oven-cooked. The outsides are crustier and the insides are juicier. Even the blackest parts don't have the burnt taste of badly char-grilled food. I don't know whether this is the result of the clay, the marinade, the shape of the vessel or all these factors and more. It works though! Milagai, you are right about the angles. The food falling of the skewers I am most bothered about are the soft, hand shaped seekh kebabs. The mixtures (ground lamb based and potato+corn based) start off firm enough to hold their shape, but collapse when partly cooked... I'm using strong white flour for the naans. Maybe I should try white chapati flour? The recipe uses both yeast and baking powder. Some naan pictures for Kerry. http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3390/35...00/IMG_3202.jpg http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3390/35.../IMG_3235.0.jpg Steve Edited to fix "user posted images"

Bruce - I've created a thread here to discuss the tandoor http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=92535 Steve

Hello all. Some of you might be interested in my experiences building a tandoor from scratch in an oil drum. I've put lots of photos on oildrumtandoor.blogspot.com. I've also given step-by-step instructions in case anyone wants to copy (and improve) my approach. So far we've cooked: - whole tandoori chickens - tandoori king prawn - naan breads - sag paneer - roast peppers and onions - aubergine tikkas - home made paneer - corn and potato seekh - lamb seekh I would welcome any help on: - getting the seekh kebabs to stick to the skewer ... they all go limp and fall off when cooked - any tips on suspending a large chicken from a single skewer. Both chickens fell down onto the charcoal when nearly cooked...didn't taste any the worse for it though - tips on getting an authentic naan taste - what kind of flour? And of course I'm happy to answer any questions you might have! Steve

Hope I'm not breaking the rules posting after the next cookoff has started. Tandoori King Prawn prepared in my new home made tandoor! And they tasted as good as they looked. I'll post a bit more in the Indian cooking section. Steve