Topic started by Victoria (@ spider-wm053.proxy.aol.com) on Mon Oct 30 00:57:19 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Does anyone have a recipe for this dish? There is an Indian restaurant in Memphis, TN that serves it and I am dying to know how to make it myself. Please help!

Responses:

• From: sujata (@ 166.70.184.218) on: Thu Dec 7 13:45:53 EST 2000
  
  checkout www.sanjeevkapoor.com
  
  
• From: funcook (@ toronto-ppp228631.sympatico.ca) on: Sun Oct 20 01:15:55
  
  That site will not have the recipe which the restaurant in Memphis uses. Generally Indian restaurants in North America and England have their own fancy way of making this. They use labour saving methods to make a sauce. A real Makhni sauce could take 1/2 a day to be prepared. The one in Memphis, probably is made in 1/2 hour or maybe minutes if need be. Its basically made with a fried onion based gravy (not all places will use this), cashewnut paste, thick cream, some kind of cooked tomato sauce with spices which again is made from canned tomatoes (yuks), paprika and other powdered Indian spices which normally are; powdered cumin, coriander, chilli powder, garam masala and roasted crushed fenugreek leaves. Not to forget their secret ingredient - BUTTER - LOTS OF IT!! - and I suspect they get away using cheap substitute. All this is cooked in a sauce pan for some time and simmered, adding salt and sugar. The cooked Tandoori chicken or tikka is then added to this sauce and cooked further till the sauce is fairly thick. Again this is a concocted dish, fighting to be a mainstream Indian classical preparation. Somewhere in the dhabaas of Delhi - where they had lots of left over cooked Tandoori Chicken, a cook reused it with lots of tomatoes, butter and some spices - and thus was born Murg Makhni.
  
  
• From: Verna (@ mke-65-30-153-131.wi.rr.com) on: Mon Oct 21 00:42:14
  
  Okay, Funcook, you seem to be everywhere on the forum, definitely having fun with all the questions. Your responses are informative and a bit tongue-in-cheek at times (no pun intended). Tell us, please, how is it you are so knowledgeable?
  
  
• From: funcook (@ toronto-ppp218460.sympatico.ca) on: Mon Oct 21 21:49:15
  
  Hello Verna! Yes am having fun on this forum. Do I sound not serious enough to warrant being called one making TIC remarks. A person making TIC remarks basically has the tongue rolled in the cheek. - (Implied to be after making the remark).However I will exercise more caution in writing my thoughts from now.
  I like this forum and would want to share the knowledge I have gained over the years. Verna, I have learnt cooking the hard way, dealing with tough and stubborn people and people who are resistant to change. People generally do not part with their cooking secrets/techniques so easily. Recipes mean not too much to me. I would rather lay more stress on food knowledge/culture. I have always been passionate about food. If my knowledge helps forum readers, I would be more than happy to share it. Hope I do not sound obnoxious.
  
  
• From: Verna (@ mke-65-30-153-131.wi.rr.com) on: Tue Oct 22 08:11:31
  
  Dear Funcook,
  No, no. No caution is needed and you don't sound obnoxious, just knowledgable. Well, perhaps at times a bit...impatient. However, I believe you will find the forum members very open to change and to learning in general. It should be rewarding for you to contribute and to receive feedback. Your entries have been informative re: the basis for so many culinary concoctions. You DO give recipes from time to time. My request? Be a bit more precise about measurements for those of us struggling to become good cooks of Indian cuisine. At any rate, thanks for sharing your unique perspective.
  
  
• From: funcook (@ 209.167.184.98) on: Tue Oct 22 10:18:06
  
  Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Verna. I presume and for a fact there are so many sites including this one - where recipes are published. Most of these recipes I read are pretty standard -meaning they give you a list of ingredients and a method to follow. These kind of recipes are not very educative AFAIK. Its a better learning process if one plays around with the ingredients on own rather than strictly following what's mentioned in the Recipes. Mind you - I am saying this from my own personal experience, most of these Receips are taken from another source and published. I have not come across one single person who has had a vast repertoire of recipes. Its very important to note that our foods, especially the Restaurant variety have so many common ingredients in them. You order half a dozen dishes in an Indian restaurant (excluding the 5 star hotels) - and be certain to discover they all have similar flavor. The reason is to a large extent, Indian foods were developed by cooks who do not understand the science of cooking. There is no real thought or school of Indian Cusine, unlike the French or Italian. Our cusine is stll in its infancy as far as keeping pace with the Hospitality aspects of it. We cook to eat and not to entertain. We believe in taste rather than eye appeal. Personally I feel the best Indian foods is made at homes. It is this aspect of foods, we should bring out to the world rather than boast about our curry (which I firmly believe does not exist) and our spices and laugh at non South Asians for not having steel lined stomachs to digest this food. All that hype we see in Inda about fusion cusines is not encouraging. If we do not pass our food culture to the generations coming, we will loose it. Hopefuly this forum has readers continuously craving for authentic ethnic foods. I was delighted to read about so many S Indian specialities. Had never heard about them before.
  
  
• From: funcook (@ 209.167.184.98) on: Tue Oct 22 10:18:20
  
  Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Verna. I presume and for a fact there are so many sites including this one - where recipes are published. Most of these recipes I read are pretty standard -meaning they give you a list of ingredients and a method to follow. These kind of recipes are not very educative AFAIK. Its a better learning process if one plays around with the ingredients on own rather than strictly following what's mentioned in the Recipes. Mind you - I am saying this from my own personal experience, most of these Receips are taken from another source and published. I have not come across one single person who has had a vast repertoire of recipes. Its very important to note that our foods, especially the Restaurant variety have so many common ingredients in them. You order half a dozen dishes in an Indian restaurant (excluding the 5 star hotels) - and be certain to discover they all have similar flavor. The reason is to a large extent, Indian foods were developed by cooks who do not understand the science of cooking. There is no real thought or school of Indian Cusine, unlike the French or Italian. Our cusine is stll in its infancy as far as keeping pace with the Hospitality aspects of it. We cook to eat and not to entertain. We believe in taste rather than eye appeal. Personally I feel the best Indian foods is made at homes. It is this aspect of foods, we should bring out to the world rather than boast about our curry (which I firmly believe does not exist) and our spices and laugh at non South Asians for not having steel lined stomachs to digest this food. All that hype we see in Inda about fusion cusines is not encouraging. If we do not pass our food culture to the generations coming, we will loose it. Hopefuly this forum has readers continuously craving for authentic ethnic foods. I was delighted to read about so many S Indian specialities. Had never heard about them before.
  
  

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