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Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Recipe Book Recipe Reviews => Topic started by: medusa on July 04, 2012, 11:15:10 am

Title: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: medusa on July 04, 2012, 11:15:10 am
Pg 83 but I got the recipe here as I don't have the book

http://www.7perth.com.au/view/today-tonight-articles/today-tonight-thermomix_20120621182311/

I have to say the only change I made was I used ground turmeric as I didn't have fresh (which in the recipe it stated it was fine). 

It was a flop, chicken totally shredded, very blah and not a nice curry at all.  My hubby who will eat anything at all without complaint even said it wasn't very nice was it.

I threw the recipe out and won't make it again

1/5
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 04, 2012, 11:35:38 am
Thats a shame, the ingredients look good >:(
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on July 04, 2012, 11:42:25 am
Sounds like there are more than a few duds in this  book. What a shame .

Gert
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: medusa on July 04, 2012, 11:45:18 am
Halle that is why I was attracted to it because of the ingredients.  I thought it would be nice but to quote Masterchef the balance of flavours was all wrong.  I wouldn't waste time or ingredients making it again or even playing around with it, it just didn't work taste wise or texturally.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 04, 2012, 11:45:33 am
Thanks Medusa, good to know, another one not to try.

Yes it is a shame.

What upsets me is that we all paid good money for a great book & in the hope we would review the recipes & more people would help save the animals.

It is sad, its not their fault. >:(

Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on July 04, 2012, 11:55:57 am
I wouldn't  worry too much H . I did not expect it to be a Great cookbook so much as an interesting one. In any case like most I bought it for the animals but I wonder just how much is going to save the tigers. They are doing the cookbook classes  all over the country including Cairns to promote the book charging $60 a head . Wonder where that money goes.

And I wonder if they are issuing the corrections at the same time. Not very  professional. And they are charging that money for a venue in a footy hall. Bags not.


Gert
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: judydawn on July 04, 2012, 12:15:49 pm
Well I am very disappointed in the reviews so far - the author ran a restaurant in Tasmania which was a huge success so that fact alone led me to believe it would contain great recipes. I held off buying it though - a wise move in hindsight.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 04, 2012, 12:19:24 pm
Yes JD, i thought it would be fantatic because she had a restaurant.

Dissapointing, the healthy chicken is good & the curry paste I made, mind you it says add to curries etc, but doesnt give you an idea about which meat or quantity. I love it but just rub it on chicken.

Gert, as long as the devils survive, , I woukd assume anything to do with the book would be donated, one would hope so.

 :)

Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Amy :-) on July 04, 2012, 12:25:08 pm
I just got my Devil of a Cookbook today... I feel like I need to go through and put big black crosses on some of the recipes already :-\
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on July 04, 2012, 12:29:01 pm
Yes JD, i thought it would be fantatic because she had a restaurant.

Dissapointing, the healthy chicken is good & the curry paste I made, mind you it says add to curries etc, but doesnt give you an idea about which meat or quantity. I love it but just rub it on chicken.

Gert, as long as the devils survive, , I woukd assume anything to do with the book would be donated, one would hope so.

 :)

H do you think that all the costs involved in travelling around the country, hiring the venues , providing the food , printing the invites, are provided free of charge? The only people who would be  donating their time  would be the demonstrators twho  get roped in to support the tour from place to place.  The books are not getting sent around the country to be sold at the classes would  be walking there on their own. Call me stupid, call me a cynic  but I very much doubt that  every $60 collected plus the $ 40  for the book is  going to the devils.

You can hope  H.

Gert




Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 04, 2012, 12:31:08 pm
That s teally sad f its not going to the devils.

But Gert, your robably right >:( :-\
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: DizzyGirl on July 04, 2012, 11:00:40 pm
I think I might just send a donation directly to save the devils rather than purchasing the book. At least the money is going direct to the cause and I am not purchasing another disappointing cookbook.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on July 04, 2012, 11:59:46 pm
I think I might just send a donation directly to save the devils rather than purchasing the book. At least the money is going direct to the cause and I am not purchasing another disappointing cookbook.

Good idea.

Gert
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: cecilia on July 05, 2012, 12:54:03 am
Medusa,  I am sorry you had a disappointing experience with this recipe.  I haven't cooked it yet myself because I haven't got fenugreek at the moment, but I have enjoyed it twice cooked by others, both times with chicken.  I found it a very subtly flavoured curry.

I wonder would you recall if you used chicken breast or thighs?  The recipe in the book clearly includes chicken thighs and so does the recipe in the newspaper you read.  Chicken breast does shred readily - therefore thighs give a better overall result.

Based on your experience though, when I make it I will cut back the chopping times by half in both step 2 and step 3, until the official corrections are published. 

The sauce makes a lot - enough for double the amount of chicken, which still fits in the Thermomix bowl.

That's all I can tell you, but I hope it helps medusa and other people who like the look of this curry sauce.

I haven't seen an official list of recipe corrections at all, but there is a Devil cooking class this weekend, so I guess it will be out by then.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 05, 2012, 01:08:43 am
Cecelia how much are they wanting to raise?
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: cecilia on July 05, 2012, 01:09:14 am
I think I might just send a donation directly to save the devils rather than purchasing the book. At least the money is going direct to the cause and I am not purchasing another disappointing cookbook.

Good idea.
Gert

Direct donations to the Devil Island Project can be made by going to  http://www.devilislandproject.com/.

It was announced yesterday that so far the Devil of a Cookbook sales have raised $50,000 for the Devil Island Project.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on July 05, 2012, 02:46:01 am
If that is just the sales of the cookbook they should do even better with the $60 a head cookbook classes promoting the book eh? 


Ummmmm.

Gert
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: cecilia on July 05, 2012, 05:47:22 am
Let's hope that it continues to be a successful project for all concerned.  That donation amount has been achieved in a month.  I wish more forum members who have the book would post recipe reviews.  One person's review isn't the be all and end all. 
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: medusa on July 05, 2012, 06:24:05 am
I used thighs. The flavour is really not right. I have friends who are Indian, and another friend who is Indonesian. I have travelled through south east Asia and done numerous cooking courses in these countries so I am aware of flavours and balancing flavours with curries. This one was all wrong besides the fact it didn't taste at all nice. Obviously taste is a personal thing and what one person doesn't like another might.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: cecilia on July 07, 2012, 02:23:13 am
Well, you followed instructions in faith.  I can't give any more help, but hopefully some of the better cooks can, medusa.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, have you tried any of the other recipes that were in that newspaper review?  I liked the look of the mousse, but when I went to make it, couldn't find my cocoa!  One kitchen semi-cleanup later, I have no excuse for not trying that.  Won't you try it too and maybe I'll see you later on a different thread reviewing that one.  ;)
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: CreamPuff63 on July 30, 2012, 03:58:25 am
really disappointed with this recipe. I substitued fish as per the variation suggested, and it was disintegrated into the sauce. Could only taste its presence. Overall the taste was there and it was nice with the rice, but as this was apparently a restaurant favourite it therefore should be fail proof. 2/5

+1 good flavour
+1 easy
- 1 meat disintegrates
- 1 cooking times for suggested meat variations not given
- 1 despite thorough kitchen testing the recipe fails

Perhaps in future I would make the sauce in advance and steam the meat in the varoma
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 30, 2012, 04:21:30 am
So not on your new favourites list then CP. i am not going to even bother with this one.

H :)
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on July 30, 2012, 05:09:31 am
This is why cookbooks  fail. Every recipe should be tested at least  3 times under the same conditions.  And then properly proofread.

This book seems to be very inconsistent and therefor  a waste of space. Nobody can afford to waste food  and dollars.

Gert
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Amy :-) on July 30, 2012, 06:31:38 am
This was on my list of things to try, and like CP, I would have done it with fish. But I don't think I want to try it now, I hate wasting anything, but especially beautiful fish fillets.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Halex on July 30, 2012, 06:36:58 am
I hate food waste too, so no point attempting it, too many bad reviewws.

 :)
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: Thermo Mrs on July 30, 2012, 08:19:46 am
I had this on my 'to do' list aswell but I was waiting for more reviews... and this one seals the deal. Wont be trying it, nothing worse than wasting ingredients - especially expensive ones!
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: CreamPuff63 on July 30, 2012, 09:01:21 am
try it, but just cook the meat separately and don't add to the TM.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: sue_purrb on December 02, 2013, 01:18:19 pm
I planned to make this and had all the ingredients before I thought to look at the reviews. Not encouraging!!

As most reviews said the recipe was bland, I doubled all the spices, and added two teaspoons each of coriander seeds and cardamom pods. (I should have added the cardamom later as there were gritty bits all through the dish.)

I only chopped the onions and tomatoes for half the time stated.

I thought it was odd that there was no liquid in the bowl when the chicken was added, so I used the whole tin of coconut cream (400ml), and also added a chopped capsicum and sliced mushrooms.

I chopped the remainder of the bunch of coriander and used it as a garnish.

It smelled delicious, and the family were all happy. I will make it again.  :)
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: gertbysea on December 02, 2013, 08:56:56 pm
So the recipe was perfect. ROFLMAO!  I like your version  better Sue. Sounds like the recipe is a guide for flavours  only.

Gert
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: judydawn on December 02, 2013, 11:18:24 pm
I was amazed you tried this one Sue, the reviews weren't good but you made it your own and enjoyed it.  Good for you.
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: sue_purrb on December 03, 2013, 07:49:57 am
I wasn't brave, Judy - I had seen the recipe in the book and decided to make it before I read the reviews, and I didn't want to waste the ingredients. I'm glad I checked here, as it's such a disappointment if recipes are bland.

The finished result was very much like the Zanzibari Chicken  (http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/node/36494)from the recipe community, which I've made a few times and which always turns out well.

 I must make a note of the additions in the book, so I don't forget and make a dud next time!  :D
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: judydawn on December 03, 2013, 07:58:30 am
Or check the forum again for a review and find you own Sue  :D
Title: Re: Devil of a Cookbook - Fragrant Curry Sauce with Chicken review
Post by: sue_purrb on December 03, 2013, 08:01:12 am
 :D :D