Onion Bhaji

I found this recipe on the Internet and think there are a few similar examples but loved it and thought I would share it with you.  I tinkered a little bit with ingredient quantities and as I have tried it a few times now, I am fairly happy with the final version.

These bhajis are supposedly healthier as they are oven baked.  I suppose they are a bit healthier than deep fried bhajis but there is still quite a bit of oil used which is important for the authentic taste.  Anyway, I didn't cook them in an attempt to be healthy but rather a way of making our home cooked curries a little more interesting.  It certainly worked as they are delicious.

To make 4 bhajis:

Ingredients:

3 medium onions (half chopped against the grain and half the other way)
1.5 tablespoons of Gram Flour
1 tablespoon tomato puree
Ground Cumin
Ground Coriander
Chilli Powder
Ground Ginger
Ground Turmeric
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Butter (to grease the dish)

What to do:

First you need to make the onion mixture.

Gently fry the onions in a little olive oil for 10 minutes.  Add half tsp of cumin, coriander, chilli and ginger.  Add 1 tsp of turmeric.  Continue to cook for a further 2 minutes and remove from the heat.

Next, mix the gram flour with half a tsp of cumin and half a tsp of coriander, salt and pepper.

Then, add the onion mixture to the flour, mix in the tomato puree and enough water to make the mixture wet but not sloppy so it can be shaped into a bhaji (2 or 3 tbl spoons). 

Divide the mixture into 4 and place onto a buttered oven dish with a spoon.  Flatten with the back of the spoon to make about 1 inch thick.









Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated oven (160 degrees c), brush with a little olive oil and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Trust me - you will never buy bhajis again.

The Curry Secret

The Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon was first published in 1989 and set out to provide a method for home cooks to produce Indian Restaurant style food from the comfort of their own homes.  In its introduction, Kris explains how restaurant cooking has a distinct flavour often very different to that with a more home-cooked taste.  Now this in itself may be a little disappointing but I totally understand the notion in trying to re-create your favourite dish.

In her book, Kris reveals the "tricks of the trade" and secret recipes that are claimed to be the techniques often used by restaurants.  I am not about to reveal all these secrets but I will elude to the main points and tell you why I love this book so much.

"Kris Dhillon writes with the authority of an accomplished Indian restaurateur, with many years' experience and thousands of satisfied customers.   Most chefs guard closely the secret of their basic curry sauce, but here Kris Dhillon reveals all, and offers you the opportunity to reproduce chicken, lamb, fish and vegetable curries with that elusive taste."

The book provides a recipe for a curry sauce which is to become the main ingredient for most of the dishes listed (in varying amounts).  The curry sauce takes a few hours to prepare but the quantities shown make enough for about 12 main courses - and I have found it to be greater still.  This sauce can be frozen or chilled and re-used so when you come to make the final dish the process is quick and simple.

The curry sauce cannot really be used on its own as it has very few spices but instead creates the consistency and background flavour needed with the use of tomatoes, garlic, ginger and onions.  Another reason I love this book is that the spices used are mainly dried spices that are cheap to buy and can sit in your cupboard for a long time if you are an occasional cook.  Of the dishes I have tried the main spices needed are as follows:

Cumin
Coriander
Garam Masala
Chilli Powder
Fenugreek Leaves
Turmeric
Cloves
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Bay Leaves
Salt & Pepper

There are a few other ingredients used within the book but you will be able to tackle most of the dishes with these simple store cupboard ingredients.

Some of the dishes we have tried with success are:

Chicken Tikka Massala

Chana Aloo (Chickpeas and Potatoes)

A simple Pilau Rice (with cloves and cinnamon)

Saag Meat (Gosht) - lamb and spinach

A mix of some of the above








We have also enjoyed the Tarka Dal (needs Ghee but easily available these days) and Chicken Dhansak which uses some of the pre-prepared Tarka Dal (lentils), pre-cooked chicken, various spices as above and the incredible curry sauce.

I bought this book for Fran for Christmas but as you can tell, I think I have had the most use out of it so far.  Although, Fran has also enjoyed the tasting (she tells me).  This is a great book to use for dinner parties as you can easily make several very different tasting dishes and have much of it pre-prepared so you can spend more time with your guests.  there are even quick recipes for deserts at the back of the book like Indian Ice Cream and Yogurt flavoured with Garlic and Cumin. 

Why not get the book yourself and discover the secrets - you will love the dishes and will go back to it time and time again I am sure.

www.thecurrysecret.co.uk

Indus Tandoori, Denton

Before I write about this restaurant I just want to be clear about the way we review.  It may seem as though we love all the places we visit, however, as we mention in our profile, we are not food critics or experts which means we don't go out to find restaurants to rate.  The way our blog works is to talk about food we have enjoyed.  What this means in practice is that if we eat somewhere we are not keen on we generally won't write about it so our reviews are really recommendations.  Unless we feel compelled to tell you about a particularly bad experience, this is the way we intend to keep doing it.

With that in mind comes our latest discovery, Indus Tandoori in Denton.  They sadly don't seem to have a website but I did find this.

We have now been to the restaurant 3 times.  The first time was in its 1st week of opening and it has steadily improved since.  We have sampled a good number of their dishes now and think we can see what they are all about.  The 1st time we went we enjoyed the food but found it a little bland.  We had great discussions as to whether we had got used to such impactive flavours that when something more authentic/normal came along we weren't as bowled over.  The other concern was the plastic plates and smell of new fixtures.  We let them off for this as they had just opened.

On our second visit we were their only customers but again had a pleasant meal.  We were a little concerned, however, by the visit from licensing while we were eating - thought I was going to lose my beer!  Thankfully not.  Throughout our visits the service has been excellent and we really hoped that the place would get popular enough for them to invest in decent crockery!  Also, I think they may have suffered a little for opening so near Christmas time as I suppose people don't take too many risks when planning a festive night out and would more likely book somewhere they know.  We, on the other hand quite happily take risks.

We recently gave a general recommendation for Indus to friends who live in the area that wanted to try them for takeaway.  We told them the food tasted wonderfully fresh and individually created but we found the dishes we had ordered to be a little bland, however it may have been just a bad menu choice.  They ordered food and reported back that they loved it which gave us the impetus to give them one more try.  And we were very glad we did.

So this is to report back from our 3rd and most successful visit to Indus Tandoori.  Again the service was very attentive but not intrusive so full marks there.  There was another larger party eating there that seemed to be enjoying the night immensely which added something more to the atmosphere that was lacking previously.

We ordered the usual poppadom each in order to try the chutney tray.  They impressively serve up 5 trays (which you do pay for): Onion Chutney, Mango Chutney, Mint Sauce, Tamarind Sauce and a Lime Pickle.  All were lovely and fresh.





Next we had some mixed starters that I sadly cannot remember specifically and the menu adds no further clue but they were similar to spring rolls! And a portion of onion bhaji.
After a lengthy discussion with the waiter it transpired that the onion bhaji was indeed made with gram flour (as we thought) and safe for Fran.  But sadly Fran could not enjoy the rest which I had chosen.

Fran thoroughly enjoyed the bhaji and wasn't the least bit jealous of my excessive starter.







For main course we went for 2 main dishes; Butter Chicken and Manchurian Lamb which was described as "diced chicken cooked in thick sauce, garnished with green chilli, spicy, sweet & hot dish with mango chutney & spring onion" (well we were after flavour!)

We also had a side of Spinach (Saag Bhaji) which we have done on each of the 3 occasions we have visited.  This dish is absolutely delicious.  Wonderfully fresh and packed with flavour it is the best spinach side we have tried and has been just as good each time.





So did we have desert too?  I'm afraid not.  We ordered far more than we usually do but were able to take a doggy bag home with us which made a fantastic lunch the next day.

Our opinion of Indus has improved greatly since we first visited.  Initially we thought the food was a little bland but our most recent visit has put that thought right out of our minds.  One thing that stands out for us and I have touched on it in the post is the freshness of the food.  Each dish tastes like it was made to order and no 2 dishes have ever tasted the same.  The Butter Chicken was a winner for me.  It was all about the butter yet somehow wasn't overpowering in its richness.  The Manchurian Lamb was spicy yet sweet and unlike anything I have really tried before and was packed full of flavour.

We have been encouraged by the increasing numbers of diners and hope that the restaurant continues to impress.  They have a tough challenge though being situated so close to Blue Crown Takeaway and Aashiana Restaurant both of which are award winners in Tameside.  Despite this we think it is definitely worth giving it a try.  There are some very interesting dishes on the menu that we hope to gradually work our way through.  I get the impression that they are not a bog standard curry house and maybe for the more discerning diner.  The menu features a variety of fish dishes and some more unusual dishes like Kidney Karahi and Chicken Flambe cooked in red wine.  Well worth a visit.

Aashiana, Denton, Manchester

Aashiana Indian Cuisine

Being the bank holiday weekend we decided to treat ourselves to a sit-down curry. After some live music at Stockport Market we came home to Aashiana, the closest restaurant to where we live. We hadn't been here for a while, mainly because it is practically next door to a very good Indian takeaway (Blue Crown).

The restaurant, and menu, had been done up since our last visit, but even then the Chef's Recommendations did not have familiar names, which is something we like.

Aashiana's new menu

We ordered one Papadom each, and it came with the usual try of sauces. Not much to report, but instead of four standard items there were five - which we did pay for. Onion chutney, Mango Chutney, Mint Sauce, Hot Sauce, Plain Yogurt.

Papadom and bits

We decided to go for curries and sides that we hadn't had before, or in a while so I ordered the Salmon Shosha which promised to be cubes of salmon in a mouth-watering sauce consisting of cucumber and tomatoes and Tim went for the Shatkora Lamb which was apparently cooked in exotic spices and shatkora, which the menu says is a bitter fruit grown only in Bangladesh. We ordered one Pilau Rice, one Cauliflower Bhaji and a Tarka Dhall.

The two main curries, with the rice and dhall.

My plate of yumminess

We had a lovely meal, and they served us quite quick. It was quite busy, but the service was very good. The new (although not sure how new it actually is) refurbishments and decor were very nice, with nice subdued lighting and hints of green. The house white wine, however, was not good. So a more careful choice next time I think. We generally recommend the Aashiana, and coming in at less that £30, including two glasses of wine, we can't argue with the value. It does have tough competition with us though, as the range of different flavours available from Blue Crown seems more varied. Although, don't think they actually do a salmon curry with cucumber or use the lime-like exotic fruit from Bangladesh. Maybe we should suggest this?
P.S. We did ask, but it does seem that most food here is gluten free. Bonus!