Curryfest

[Tempest63]

We have a curryfest planned for Saturday 10th August.

I am planning on trying some new dishes rather than stick to my usual tried and tested repertoire so have pored over the Dishoom cookbook.

I thought I would trial some of the planned dishes so did the tikkas for their Chicken Ruby, and the murgh malai. 
Got them cooking on the BBQ whilst dinner was in the oven. We trialled a couple of pieces and they were worth doing; I reckon both will go down well at the Curryfest.

The lighter colour is the murgh malai.

 

 

 

[Tempest63]

A wazwan is a ceremonial Kashmiri feast that traditionally has 36 courses.

Of those 36 courses seven are permanent and should always be included.

The seven permanent dishes are

1. Marchwangan Korma. A spicy chilli hot lamb dish

2. Rista. Meatballs in a fiery red hot sauce

3. Tabak Maaz. Lamb ribs simmered in yoghurt before being fried

4. Daniwal Korma. A mutton curry heavy on coriander (Cilantro) leaf

5. Aab Gosht. Lamb or mutton cooked in a milky gravy with black pepper

6. Roghan Josh. A very tender lamb dish cooked with Kashmiri spices including Maval, or cockscomb flowers

7. Gushtaba. Meatballs in a yoghurt gravy

 

My next project, following on from next week’s Curryfest, is to have another, focusing on a traditional wazwan. We have to consider that we have family and friends who are vegetarian, pescatarian or who generally avoid red meat, so I will have to explore the traditional wazwan menu to find other dishes to serve to replace a few of the Super Seven.

 

The other consideration is to go with the traditional Hindu or Muslim dishes. Whilst the Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu, they eat plenty of meat but avoid onions and garlic (wow that terrifies me). They do use asafoetida and fennel though.
The Muslim variant openly welcomes onions and garlic and seems to be up my street. I may have to cook each of the religious variants or two of every dish during the trial period to see what best suits.

 

This is going to be a labour of love and whilst I am on annual leave over the next week I will try at least two. I have a recipe for a Pandit Marchwangan Korma which is definitely on the cards, though it will be made with goat as opposed to lamb. A milder dish like Gushtaba or Aab Gosht would be more enjoyable for Mrs T63.

 

I reckon I may be all curried out by the end of the week. 

 

Edited August 2 by Tempest63 (log)

[KennethT]

Does Curryfest have to be Indian curries?  There are curries from lots of countries that are equally as good, if not as well known.... There are tons from SE Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore alone have tons of different curries, not to mention the curries that were adapted by China/Japan/Korea.

[Tempest63]

28 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Does Curryfest have to be Indian curries?  There are curries from lots of countries that are equally as good, if not as well known.... There are tons from SE Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore alone have tons of different curries, not to mention the curries that were adapted by China/Japan/Korea.

I enjoy any curry but I prefer the norther Indian ones, Punjabi, Kashmiri or a hop over the border into Pakistan or Afghanistan.

I do like Thai, Malaysian etc. I think maybe it was the availability of Indian spices that were more readily available when I was younger and made Indian more accessible that led me to get so heavily into it.

I may ask Mrs T63 if she fancies a home cooked Thai meal whilst I am on leave. I will have to stay away from the Massaman though…too Indian.

Edited August 2 by Tempest63 (log)

[Tempest63]

30 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Does Curryfest have to be Indian curries?  There are curries from lots of countries that are equally as good, if not as well known.... There are tons from SE Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore alone have tons of different curries, not to mention the curries that were adapted by China/Japan/Korea.

There are also similar dishes from Africa. South Africa has some great Indian inspired curries, and I am very keen to try some of the Ethiopian dishes I have seen. I would struggle to get Ethiopian ingredients locally but I could do a search for somewhere near to central London where I work.

 

Definitely another project to consider.

[Tempest63]

We are planning our next curryfest for some time in November. I was thinking about a Kashmiri Wazwan spread. My big problem is our local and traditional butcher is lost to us. It has closed down to be replaced by a delicatessen which is doing absolutely no business and will no doubt also close.

My caterers at work responded and sourced me 2kg of Pork Cheeks 2kg of ox cheeks and 2.5kg of lamb cutlets. I don’t think beef regularly turns up on a Wazwan menu, and pork is a definite no no. 
I will look at the ingredients we have available and build a menu around them.

 

[rotuts]

@Tempest63

 

Ive never been able to source cheeks.

 

would love to give them a ( SV ) try someday.

 

thoseLamb cutlets look like Lamy Lollipops tp me 

 

Rare on a hot grill.

 

congratulations on your find. 

[Tempest63]

32 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Tempest63

 

Ive never been able to source cheeks.

 

would love to give them a ( SV ) try someday.

 

thoseLamb cutlets look like Lamy Lollipops tp me 

 

Rare on a hot grill.

 

congratulations on your find. 

We have a butcher about half hours drive into the country. It is sited on the same site as a slaughterhouse so you know the meat is fresh. I will enquire if they can supply them.

I don’t know the US very well, having never visited, but I believed pork is one of the more preferred meats so I would have thought cheeks would be available if you knew where to ask.

The cheeks I brought home are much larger than I usually get so I suspect they are from a different breed of porker.

[weinoo]

https://www.regalisfoods.com/collections/2023_category-specialty-meat/products/berkshire-pork-cheeks

 

https://wildforkfoods.com/products/pork-cheeks-iberico/