Disclosure: I was sent The Madras Curry Kit from Hari Ghotra to review and was compensated for my time to write this post. All opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.

Now, lets start from the beginning and answer the fable words of Who is Hari Ghotra?

Hari is an Indian cook and teacher but also a mother, a marketing professional and entrepreneur whom also likes to take the title as Foodie.

To get a little more information I went on my mission to find more out about Hari and found a little excerpt from the website that tells the whole story:

I was born in Wolverhampton to parents who brought to the UK their love of Indian food (along with a desire to hold on to what they could from home). But they fell in love with England and wanted to embrace this new culture at the same time. So for our expanding family it was all about learning new things and combining the best of our two cultures. Growing up into this world I soaked up their passion for food and their generous outlook on life while they absorbed their kids’ passion for school dinners (!), prawn cocktail crisps and all the English mealtime classics like shepherd’s pie and spag bol. 

 Its Daddy Chef time with Hari Ghotra

Right here we go… Aesthetically the box has a rustic yet authentic look to it, bringing in a modern, almost western feel that really caught my eye. The part that I enjoyed the most, however, is that this kit felt as if I was getting a gift or parcel from a friend, not from a high street brand or corporation and its not that often that you can turn around and say that now can we? But first things first is to open up the awesome box that has turned up and what a piece of kit it is.. Not only do you receive an entire plethora of ingredients to help you on your way but you also get a Hari Ghotra apron and little wooden spoon too.. what an absolutely awesome touch.

SO HOW DO WE MAKE THIS DISH CHRIS? I hear you ask.. well.. calm down.. I’m getting to it .. Ready? Okay …

Daddycamo’s step by step guide on his ‘awesome’ (self confessed) skills:

To create your madras powder combine black peppercorns, cassia, cloves, coriander, fenugreek, mustard, poppy, cumin and fennel seeds, and grind to a fine powder with an electric grinder (blender or pestel and mortar).

Now its not normally something I would say but well.. its exciting me. I finally get to use my pestle and mortar that has been sitting as an ornament for neigh on a year or 2 now with all these spices. The great thing about the spices here is the arrangement and numbering of each step, with 4 bags full to the brim with the ingredients you will be using and an even easier recipe to follow what can go wrong right? I have a pestle and mortar. Oh I shouldn’t moan because at the end I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved to use it but in the mix of it all I found myself there for a while grinding away to get a powder that, visually, I found was similar to the videos. As my wrist rotated more and more I felt the air around me begin to fill up with aromatic smells adorned for a walk through a New Delhi street and it sent my taste buds salivating. To say these are hand picked by Hari Ghotra says something about the nose this young lady has.

Stir in the turmeric and chilli powder.

This was easy enough as these were all tied up and ready to go in bag number 2..

Place the lamb Chicken in a large bowl and rub with 2 or 3 tablespoons of madras curry powder and the salt until all the meat is coated. Transfer the remaining powder into a well-sealed jar for another time.

Deciding on the meat was not of my choice as I was making this meal for my wife who is not a fan of the ‘meat of the gods’ so alas opted in for the just as scrumptious Chicken fillet.  Glass bowl at the ready with my little wooden spoon, I was mixing, no mean feat for a man as myself but enjoyable to watch the chicken start to soak in the powder. Now for the salt. opting in for a particular kind of salt tends to be my little twist on things and this came in the way of pink Himalayan salt.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron pan until hot. Add the mustard seeds once they start to pop stir in the curry leaves and then the onions.

OH DEAR GOD…. fire extinguisher at the ready. Oil and things that go pop? I’m taking this role and going with it… it’s soldier time. anyway sorry where were we? Ah yes the onions. Previously to starting on my curry journey I had taken my time to finely chop all of my ingredients a few minutes before take off just in case I miss something or got something wrong but this seemed to help me out as when the 2nd seed popped my curry leaves were in and my onions were not that far behind.. just a quick slip and slide of the curry leaves around the oil before we take the next step.

Soften the onions until they turn dark brown (about 20 minutes) before adding the green chilli and ginger along with the finely chopped garlic.

softening the onions, I find myself thinking more about the heat to get the onions just right *click click* I put down the heat and watch as they slowly turn to a nice caramel brown. Now this is where A) I messed up and B) I couldn’t use an ingredient. I may have been too fast reading the recipe on my pre shop to notice that I was suppose to get the green chilli and ended up with a red and ginger was not on the menu due to allergies. but not to worry, with such a mix of textures and tastes I’m sure it will be fine.

Keep stirring as this has a tendency to catch on the bottom of the pan. If it does catch add a splash of water.

I was lucky in this respect as no onions were harmed by the pan during the making of this recipe.

After a few minutes, add the tomatoes, tamarind and red chilli. Bring this to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer to create a thick masala sauce.

Now onto the fun part. Noticing a package tagged with a 4 I was curious.. what is tamarind? I was baffled as what it was and why I was using it. After i’d say half a second on my long arduous journey into le googlesphere I came across all I needed to know and to be honest, Its on my next shopping list. A quick boil of 150ml of water in a pan and the tamarind was braking apart after every mash I gave, turning the water into an… well… interesting colour. One that I’ve seen recently with my little Daisy-Ella but that did not and would not stop my progress

Plum tomatoes are in – CHECK

Chillis are in – CHECK

Bring it to the boil – CHECK

Once it is shiny and thick add the lamb CHICKEN to the pan. Stir to coat the meat with the sauce. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover and leave to cook very gently for 40 minutes – 1 hour until it is cooked through.

So I’m nearly there and I’ve got my egg timer on for 40 minutes. After around 20 minutes I wonder by as Daisy-Ella needs a much needed formula refill.. Stat.. but on my way I went to check on how it is going and take a glance at the recipe once more.. I grab the spoon and grab my apron as fast as my arms could muster.. Turns out chicken only needs 20-30 minutes to go through the same process. I’m in time and in luck and wow, I open up the pan and get a great life of smells and spices up my nose and I’m salivating at this point. I’m literally drooling like my daughter whilst teething.

And here is the final piece and to say it looks similar is, well, I messed up somewhere.. but that does not change the fact that this dish was absolutely incredible to taste and one of the best curry dishes I have had in many years.

Looking back on making this dish I have gathered a few thoughts about my own experience;

1. I’ve learnt new skills and succeeded in many of them.
2. I’ve learnt that I don’t need a ready pack or mix to make a good curry or dish when I can make it from scratch at home.
3. I feel proud that I completed this and it tasted so good

My curry experience relies on one restaurant in my area that I have been going to for well over 20 years and is a tradition in my family and sorry to say it BUT next time I’m staying in and I’m making HARI GHOTRA.

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